Possible to Trace Export to an IP Address?

[ptwarr18]

I suspect cheating in my league. Too make a long story short, I want to know if it is possible to trace an Export to an IP Address so I can compare to the other GMs.

Please let me know if this is possible.

[Jaxxvain]

if you can prove this, make sure to "out" the culprits on the boards and to fellow Commishes.

[Cooleyvol]

I'm not sure if access logs will show this, but that's where I'd start. If you have CPanel, there's a link to the logs on there.

[ptwarr18]

I'm working on this with Fidel. If I'm correct in my assumption I'll let everyone know.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by ptwarr18

I suspect cheating in my league. Too make a long story short, I want to know if it is possible to trace an Export to an IP Address so I can compare to the other GMs.

Please let me know if this is possible.

Unless you have something atypical, then you have exports uploaded via FTP. You need to find out what the team # is for the team you suspect is cheating. Then you need to look for the associated file in your server's FTP logs. So for Team 18, you would look for a file being uploaded called team18.ootp

The ftp logs should tell you the date, time and IP address that uploaded that file. You can then do a search of your log and see if that same IP segment also uploaded any other team files. Keep in mind if you search for the exact same IP address, sometimes ISPs will assign out different IP addresses or have them change semi-frequently (as a tool to try to discourage servers being hosted from home connections). So it is not a fool proof way, but it is the only dependable way to verify if one person is uploading for more than one team.

[ptwarr18]

Okay - I can't prove it 100% but based on the evidence and my experience with the situation, I think I'm pretty sure what happened.

We had a former GM, who I had to remove due to his negative attitude towards me and other GM's over the span of a few months and his unwillingness to even try to get his team out of debt. I pretty much tried everything but when it became hopeless, I had to "fire" him, only time I've ever done it, and I hope I never have to do it again.

But anyways, to make a long story short, we use a default password for all new GM's. He used the default password to log in as the new GM, changed the password, and effed with the team and then controlled it for a month.

The only reason I even found out was because I contacted the "new" GM about something, his forum activity. Turns out, he never got active and told me he never exported. Which puzzled me because I got exports from his team every sim so I never suspected a thing.

I guess the fact that a $100 Million+ contact was flat out released should have thrown up a red flag, but honestly, I just figured it was a 12-year old who was playing this like it was Madden or something.


If you want details of who the suspect is, contact me by PM, but I'm not going to out him publicly because I don't have 100% evidence.

[Tony M]

I'm going to move this thread to the Commissioner's Corner forum as it is more an online league issue than a problem with the game.