The following tips will help you to keep your computer and therefore your Habbo account, secure:

Keep your system updated
Windows often release service packs and patches which update the security of your system. Make sure that you check Windows Update http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ frequently to download the latest patches.

Use a firewall program
A firewall is a program which acts as a barrier between your computer and the Internet; it allows connections which are safe and blocks those which are not. Some free firewall programs include:

Zone Alarm Personal Firewall
Comodo Personal Firewall

Install anti-virus
Everyone who has a computer should have anti-virus software, but it's not enough to simply install the software and forget about it. If you don't regularly update the virus signatures of your software it will be become less and less efficient and will start letting nasty files through to your computer. Most anti-virus programs have an auto-update function, so it's usually just a case of making sure you enable it! You should also set your software to scan as many things as possible, especially incoming emails and all files you receive.

It's always a good idea to scan your computer in Safe Mode as some nasty files bury themselves in your system when it's running normally and even if removed, can reappear next time you start up your PC. You can get into Safe Mode by rebooting your computer and pressing F5 until you see a menu. If you're intending to use online scans then you may need to select the 'Safe Mode with Networking' option from the menu which will enable you to access the Internet.

Many people don't realise that no single anti-virus program can detect all Trojans, viruses and keyloggers. That is why it's always a good idea to have one main program on your computer but to also do regular checks with a few of the many free online scans:

Housecall free scan
Kaspersky free scan
Panda free scan

Install anti-spyware
Anti-virus will help you rid your computer of files such as viruses and Trojans, but not all of them will detect other malicious files such as keyloggers or diallers. For this reason it's wise to run anti-spyware on top of your anti-virus and keep it regularly updated. Some great free anti-spyware programs include:

AVG Anti-spyware
Spybot Search & Destroy
Windows Defender

No, it is a scam site. You should only ever enter your Habbo ID, email, or birthday into the form you use to log in to Habbo Hotel.

Other websites would probably be just collecting your account information to steal your account.

The following tips will help you keep your password safe. However, if you believe someone may have your password you should change it immediately by signing in to the Habbo homepage and going to your account settings.

Create a secure password
A good password should include letters and numbers and not include any personal information such as date of birth, name or anything else which someone could guess by asking you questions.

Habbo and your password
You should only enter your password on the official Habbo website in order to log in to your account. Habbo staff will never contact you personally asking for your password.

Never share your password
Sharing your password with a friend does not make your Habbo account more secure, in fact it becomes far less secure since you can't guarantee that your friend's computer will never be infected with a keylogger, nor can you guarantee that your friend will never share your password with someone else - especially if you fall out!

Don't recycle passwords
Never be tempted to use the same password for different services on the Internet. It may be easy to remember passwords if you only have a few, however if a password gets stolen it will result in you losing access to lots of your favourite services.

Be aware of password phishing
A common method of stealing passwords is to send an email or instant message that pretends to be from a member of Habbo staff. Some common signs of a password phishing email or instant message are:

- Promises of free credits or furni if you reply with your password
- Threats that your account will close if you don't reply with your password
- Invitations to participate in secret beta testing which requires you to enter your Habbo name and password into a website which is not the official Habbo homepage
- Promises to make you a Habbo eXpert or Moderator if you reply with your password or log into a website which is not the official Habbo homepage

Avoid common password scams
There are some common password scams which circulate Habbo and catch out unwary new players all the time:

- 'Look what happens when I type in my password! *******.' Since passwords are random collections of letters and digits it would be impossible for Habbo to filter them out of chat. Your password can be seen by everyone if you type it in the chat box on Habbo or put it in a Console message, Group discussion forum or anywhere else on Habbo other than the sign-in box on the homepage.
- 'Type your password and press Ctrl + M or Alt 013 or Alt 0525.' No matter what combination of keys someone tells you to press after typing your password in the game, the result will be that everyone sees it.
- 'Try this cool cheat! Change your password to "50credits" and you receive 50 Credits!' Never change your password to something you are told to change it to. There are no cheats and doing this will allow a scammer access to your account.
- 'The Hotel Manager just gave me credts on MSN!' If someone tells you to add a certain contact on MSN because it's a member of staff who gave them Credits, don't do it. This is a scam: Habbo staff do not communicate with players via instant messenger or hotmail emails, and Staff never give out free Credits or furniture in this way.

You can change your password anytime from your 'Account Settings' under 'My Password.'

Unfortunately, in any online community there will be a minority of people who will try to scam others. Habbo is no exception so it's important that you are aware of how common scams operate so you can avoid becoming a victim of a scammer.

Credit scams
One common method of scamming is the Credit Code scam. The scammer will offer a Credit Code in return for furniture and they'll ask that you trade first. If you trade you'll be given a false Credit Code and will have lost your furniture. The only safe way to trade for Credits is by trading furniture for Habbo Exchange items (coins, money bags and gold bars) which can be clicked on to redeem Credits.

Some scammers will claim that they know a special cheat; a way that Staff get Credits. They will tell you to telephone the Credits line and enter in a special code to receive your free Credits. The code is their Habbo ID and by entering it when you phone the Credits line, you will be paying to give the scammer Credits. Habbo staff don't get Credits by any of the advertised payment methods so anyone claiming to have a staff Credit cheat is scamming.

Furni scams
There are many ways scammers will try to cheat you of your furniture, some are very easy to spot and some more difficult. Here are some of the common things scammers try:

- Double your furniture. There is absolutely no way to have furniture doubled. Never hand over your items to someone who says they can.
- Pet trading. Pets cannot be traded or transferred, so never give items to someone who says they'll buy you a pet as a gift or trade one of their existing pets with you.
- Teleporter trading. It's not possible to know whether a pair of teleports in a trade window actually link and a common scam is to trade teleports which don't link. We advise never trading for teleports.
- Decorator scams. A scammer may offer to put wallpaper or flooring in your room in return for furniture. Never agree to this as it's not possible to place wallpaper, paint or flooring in another Habbo's room.
- Trophy scams. The trophy scam works by showing you a trophy with a Staff inscription on it in a room and asking you to trade furniture for it. However the scammer will pick up the trophy and replace it with an identical looking one in the trade window which does not have the Staff inscription.
- Scripted Items. A scammer may offer you sticky notes or furniture in colours you've never seen before and tell you that it's a very rare release. Unfortunately these items are almost always scripted (temporarily altered using a scripting program) and not worth trading anything for. Always check out lists of known furniture on reputable fansites before considering trading for anything unusual.
- Paying for room rights. You may be offered rights in a guest room in return for giving the owner furniture. Unfortunately once you have handed over the furniture you have no guarantee that your rights will be added or, if they are, how long they will last. Never pay for room rights.
- Pay to Stay. Some players' game rooms will advertise 'pay to stay', a scheme where you have to pay an item of furniture to stay in the room and play the game. Unfortunately you have no guarantee once you've given an item that you'll be allowed to stay and play or that you'll win anything in return. Treat 'pay to stay' in a game the same as giving your item away as a donation and then you won't be disappointed!
- Casino scams. Some rooms are set up as casinos where you bet items on the outcome of a spin of the dice. Never play such games if the room owner asks for your bet up front because you have no guarantee that you won't be kicked from the room as soon as you've handed over your item.
- Shared rooms. You may get friendly with a Habbo who suggests you pool your furniture to make one big room as a maze, casino or other function that will be popular to other players. Remember that if you give your furniture to another player to decorate a room they have created, they may decide not to give it back to you!
- Paying for jobs. Would you like a job that pays in Habbo Hotel? Of course you would, then you'd have lots of Habbo Credits or Furni. But would you pay to get a job in real life? Not unless you are stupid. So, ignore the Habbo who says:"If you give me some Furni and I'll give you a job that pays."

Always use the trading box in the Trading Rooms and Game Rooms category when you want to trade your furni or Habbo Exchange. To trade with another Habbo just click on them and a 'trade' button will appear under their name on the bottom right hand side of the Habbo window. If you click the 'trade' button a window will pop-up and you can drag the item you wish to trade from your hand to the window. When you are happy with the trade tick the box.

Scam sites
Scam sites are probably one of the most common ways that players get cheated out of their Habbo password. Scam sites come in many forms, but here are some main ones to look out for:

- Free furni/Credits. Sites which offer free furniture or Credits if you sign in to them with your Habbo name and password are always scams. Some may even pretend to be the personal homepages of Habbo Staff, but don't be fooled, they aren't!
- Spoof hotels. Some sites may look like Habbo, even down to the layout and graphics on the front page, but unless the website address at the top of the page is www.habbo.com.sg or www.habbo.com.my, it is a scam! A common way for scammers to get you to put your password into such sites is by pretending they are a new Hotel that's just opened or that it's a beta version of Habbo. Remember that your Habbo name and password will only ever work on one site, the Hotel you registered it on.
- Reloaders. A player may ask you to take a look at their website whilst you are playing on Habbo and when you do, your Habbo Hotel session mysteriously disconnects and a window pops up to log in again. This is a 'reloader' and what it has done is replace your real Habbo session with a fake sign-in screen which will steal your password if you enter it. If your Habbo session ever disconnects when you are on another site always close down your browser windows, start your browser up again and go straight to the official Habbo Hotel site to sign back in securely.
- Scripts and cheats. Some websites may offer you downloads of cool looking cheats or scripts to alter Habbo. Never download these sorts of files as they often contain keyloggers which record your key presses (eg entering your password) and email them to the scammer. They could also contain Trojan viruses which allow the scammer to access your computer and steal information stored there or do other damage.
-Session ID Hijack.The scammer will ask for your web session ID to hijack your Habbo log-in session. The scammer will tell you to type in a specific command upon which a pop-up message that begins with "JSESSIONID=xxxxxxxxxxxxx" will appear. In order to trick you into telling them that session ID, the scammer may say that there is a new program available that can give you free Credits or furni. Some may even tell you that they can give you a free Credits Maker.

Game room scams
There are lots of racing games on Habbo Hotel: races where you get food out of fridges; races where you rush to stand on a doormat; and even 'musical chairs' (without the music though).

These games and races are great fun, but not all the Habbos that run them are honest. Don't be surprised if they don't give you a prize when you win and never 'pay to stay'. We cannot help if race owners take your items or refuse to give you a prize, so it's best just to play for fun :)

Email scams
When you register with Habbo Hotel we ask you to include your email address in your Habbo ID. It's really important that you use a valid email address, that only you can access. If you put somebody else's email address, or if somebody else has access to your email accounts, they can find out your Habbo password and steal all your Habbo Credits and furniture.

Watch for these common email scams:
-Phishing.Some bad Habbos send emails to people whose email addresses they know, which seem to be 'official' Habbo mail. These emails ask you to reply with your password, sometimes as a 'security check'. Habbo Hotel will never ever request your password in an email. Delete any such emails and let us know about them so we can take action.
-Instant Messengers.The best way to stay in touch with your Habbo friends is via the Habbo Console. That way you can send and receive messages without ever giving out your email address. If you chat with people you don't know outside the Hotel, using an instant messenger you open yourself up to all kinds of problems. It's very easy to find out personal information over IM without you even realising you are giving it out. There are no Moderators keeping an eye on you either. You are also at risk from keyloggers. Keyloggers are nasty little programs that record every keystroke you make, including your password, and send it to the person who sent you the program. Never accept file transfers over IM, especially files ending in .exe. Always scan files you receive with antivirus software.
-Staff emails. Do note that Staff do not own Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail email addresses. So don't believe Habbos that tell you to add Staff into your messenger to get free furni or free credits. Neither will Staff email you to ask for your password so that we can pass you a free furni in your room.

Password scams
The only place you should type your password is in the 'check in' box when you come to Habbo Hotel. We will never ask for it anywhere else. If someone knows your password then they can log into your Habbo account and do anything they like. They can steal your Furni, delete your rooms and friends, walk round pretending to be you, or even break the Habbo Way and get your account banned.

Habbo Hotel has a Bobba Filter, but it is not able to recognise when you are typing your password. If someone tells you to type your password to see if it comes out as 'bobba' or 'xxxxx', they are trying to find out what your password is. Sometimes a Habbo will ask you to say your password and press Control M or Alt 013 or Alt 0525. When you type these commands your password will come up on screen. Never say your password out loud in Habbo Hotel.

If someone asks you to change your password to something they choose, they will then log into your account and steal your stuff. They might say things like: "Change your password to money and you will get lots of FREE Credits!" or "I can make you a Moderator, just change your password to get the Staff badge."

Never change your password when asked by another Habbo.

Help keep your computer secure with our quick tips.

1. Run anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall programs on your computer.
2. Always keep your software updated against the latest risks.
3. No single anti-virus catches everything; use some free online scans in addition to your software.
4. Enable auto-updates on Windows or check the Microsoft site for updates regularly.
5. Disable all unnecessary services such as Windows Messenger.

You step away from Habbo to get yourself a drink and the next thing you know your little brother has jumped on and got you permanently banned. Leaving Habbo open and unattended is a common mistake, but one that's easily prevented.

If you are going to be away from your computer for a brief time, either log out of your Habbo Hotel or put a password on your screen saver and activate it before you go. Screen saver settings can be found by right clicking on your desktop and selecting Properties and then Screen Saver.