Dreamcast.com converted into phishing scam, Sega warns

by James Ransom-Wiley on Mar 10th 2008 6:05PM

"Do you still own a Dreamcast?" asks dreamcast.com. By all appearances, the supposed official site of Sega's cherished console has received a legitimate update, exciting loyalists that have been anticipating the system's 10-year anniversary later this year. By clicking on the question, visitors are prompted to accept a user agreement for an @user.dreamcast.com email account (apparently tied to Gmail). Applicants must supply a console serial number, email address, and password before being granted a [serial number]@dreamcast.com Gmail address.

The thing is ... Sega no longer owns dreamcast.com. Oh dear. While we have yet to obtain an English language statement from Sega, Japanese news site Mainichi has confirmed that dreamcast.com is no longer owned by Sega and is using the official Dreamcast and company logos illegally. Additionally, the current dreamcast.com domain registration information is also fraudulent. Engadget Japanese reached out to Sega for further clarification, and a representative stated that Sega is considering "appropriate measures." As we wait for further information, please (please!) do not submit any personal information to dreamcast.com. You've been warned.

Read - Mainichi.jp [Japanese]

Tags: breakingnews, dreamcast, phishing, scam, sega

Reader Comments (61)

WHAT?!?!?!?! How DARE someone use my love of Dreamcast as a tool in some fiendish plot?!

I say we have a RAPE-PARTY for the guys who are responsible. And Michael Clark Duncan is invited.

I love my Dreamcast, I just started playing Shenmue yesterday.

On a side note, does anyone know where you can get the marraccas for Sabma de Amigo? I have the game but it sucks playing it with the controller.

Funny, I just pulled my Dreamcast out of storage and hooked it up to the little tv on my workstation. Played some San Francisco Rush 2049, Ikaruga, Rez, Puyo Puyo Fever, and Marvel vs Capcom 2 this weekend! I had no idea how much I missed the thing.

After not using it for a year, I was amazed at how much better the graphics are on the DC compared to the PS2, and even to most games on the Wii (better Anti-aliasing)... That, and how awesome are Dreamcast games, play-wise anyway? It's definitely a system to keep around!

Pfft, Grandia II people. I started replaying this today. I love the game.

My 3rd disc was bugged. It wouldnt be recognized at all. Not a scratch on it. :( I never got the finish. *crys*

OMG, RYU FOR BRAWL DLC CONFIRMED!

I love the DC graphics. If you ever used the VGA adapter, its fantastic. I got it for college and played it on my monitor - Soul Calibur looked absolutely beautiful - its one of the best looking games period.

I just took my DC out of my closest solely to mess around in Shenmue a bit.

Playing through that games was truly one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life.

that game bored the shit out of me....

Shenmue is EPIC. I played through most of it for the first time awhile ago. I'm near the end, just need to finish it. (Hard when I've got all these other games taking up my time!)

I wish there were more games like Shenmue.

lol. Amazing that they wouldn't at least renew it, regardless as to whether or not support for the system has ceased. How much is it a year, 100 dollars or something? At least have it redirect it to another sega site or something.

Its like $10-30 a year generally. Very weird they didn't keep it.

Probably so people don't get excited. Remember that one time where they just redid the logo and everyone just flipped!

i have two one in my truck and one in the den alpha 3, MVC 1 and 2, ready to rumble 2 FTW

Too late. I gave dreamcast.com my CC number, my SSN, my pin number, my Mother's maiden name, and paid a $3000 processing fee.

How was I supposed to know???

All for a overrated system? That's commitment!

*flameshield activated"

it asked me:
"‚±‚Ì‚½‚ÑAƒZƒKŒöŽ®ECƒVƒ‡ƒbƒv‚Å‚ ‚éwƒZƒKƒ_ƒCƒŒƒNƒgx‚ÍA2008”N3ŒŽ31“ú‚ð‚à‚¿‚Ü‚µ‚ÄA‚·‚×‚Ä‚ÌƒT[ƒrƒX‚ðI—¹‚³‚¹‚Ä‚¢‚½‚¾‚‚±‚Æ‚É‚È‚è‚Ü‚µ‚½B"

how could i refuse putting my cc# in?

Good thing they shut the registration down before I registered :)

Over at DCEmus Forums They uncovered this scam days ago

check out the full info here --> http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=96112

God I love the system.

It's a good thing I was too lazy to look for my Dreamcast!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA

This is oddly funny.

I'm going to go play some DC now. Burned games, no doubt.

Haha I love that the DC plays burned games, it makes playing the unfindable DC games possible.

Haha and I love the fact that pirating games destroyed the dreamcast. I hate you people.

No, pirating saved the DC from going into the closet sooner. I bought 11 games for it the year it was my primary system. 11 games/year is all any system can ask for, as far as I'm concerned. Pirating is what allowed me to enjoy my DC for years after there was no longer games available for sale in stores. I still download games I haven't tried yet and play them.

I didn't "pirate" dreamcast games until this year. I wouldn't call that pirating anyways, I can't find any DC games anywhere other than ebay and amazon. When DC games were in stores I bought tons. That is pretty much what I do with any system, when it is a current gen I buy lots and lots of games, than once the next gen is out I usually get a modchip or something for the older system so I can play anything I miss. I pay for enough games that it doesn't concern me one bit:)

:'(

it appears we SEGA fans are here mostly to be made fun of/taken advantage of for our unwavering loyalty...

Er... yeah. =)

mark your calendars for 10/10/10! I just preordered @ the dreamcast website.

How the HELL do you copyright an orange spiral? I'm off to get the rights on purple circles. You shall soon all pay me royalties!

purple and circles usually deal with the homosexual community. no lie.

It's the orange spiral + the "Dreamcast" text. It's clearly marked "™". So...

If you'll read the article (!), they are talking about the site not being Sega's.

...as in UNofficial. Not real. Not to be believed.

If the spiral(without the words: dreamcast) was not protected, anyone in the world could slap that orange spiral on an old NES and sell you a nintendo 62.

Thousands of fanboys have officially been pwned.

I unfortunately signed up to this, however if you read the aforementioned DCEmu.co.uk topic, you'll see I did a bit of leg work that proved the site isn't legit... Unfortunately my suspicions were only risen when I had completed the form. I'm not stupid, however. I never use the same password for different email accounts and know that my Dreamcast S/N is next to useless.

Anyone who signed up, just take into account that the scammers waited about 3 years to conduct this scam, the domain was registered July 2005, and expires July this year (under false registration details, no less). So your email accounts are probably not safe for any time in the near future if they stick to their wait-and-see tactics they've shown so far. Change your passwords.

Yeah, I also registered to that "site" but I don't think it will harmful, of course, if you took the necessary precautions.

GAH... SEGA! What is wrong with you? You keep your domains FOREVER! They're so cheap.

This is almost as bad as the 30-is-clothes thing. We'll wander around like lemmings after our dreams.

Oh dear. They're fucked now. They messed with gamers on the internet. Dreamcast fanboys no less, they're already bitter! Hackers, do your thing!

Rule #1: Don't Fuck with the Internet.

This is madness!

Madness? THIS. IS. TEH INTERWEBZ.

This blue stinger is is gonna cause urban chaos! Defiling the Dreamcast makes you a tomb raider. The last revelation that we're about to get virtual. on Ontario. Tangram even shows and it makes me wanna start a project: justice.

(Quick, how many game titles are in the paragraph?

argh, i meant 5....

Wow, how lame of Sega to dump the domain. Why not just pay the 20 bucks a year to keep it going or link to the main Sega site?

Bwahahahahahaha?

What I love is how popular the site was on digg. God, it just goes to show that the average digg user is just ridiculously gullible. Oh, how I loathe digg. Actually, I'm the same way about Slashdot, but there's pretty much no doubt in my mind that the average Slashdot user would've easily uncovered this, given the difference between digg and Slashdot users. They probably would've taken a shot at Dreamcast for including support for Windows CE, though.

My dad almost bought me a Dreamcast a couple of years ago, but didn't....

Damn :P

i wasn't aware that almost buying something is worth mentioning

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Dreamcast.com converted into phishing scam, Sega warns

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