How can some people get so many points?

Up until a month or two ago, you got a point for voting for a best answer, even if you neither asked nor answered the question. 12 questions would be -60 points. 7 answers would be +14 points. So, he/she must have voted an awful lot. You also get 100 for signing up, and 1 per day for visiting.

Let me guess.... there are several accounts with Dev and Test in the usernames.

I added a couple of the accounts as contacts in the past and my mailbox has been full the last 2-3 weeks with questions just from those two accounts and so looking at the Leaderboard and seeing the about of Dev's there - if they are all doing it then I can well imagine how they've managed to acquire so many points.

I also caught one of them at it a couple of months ago with a paste screen that gave the game away as well https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140... and they were busted by another user here as well https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140...

Well from what I've seen over the years and from what Y!AT have confirmed in the past then those are members of the development team testing stuff on Y!A itself. Why they must test in a live environment is anyone's guess. With organisations I've worked for in the past then even development testing and user acceptance testing is done in a test environment replicated from production..... but NEVER in a live environment.

So the likelihood is that they can add/subtract points with no issues at all as they will have the same user access rights as what the Yahoo Answers Team will have and likely a load more including what they can do behind the scene.

So all in all I wouldn't bother spending time getting upset about those accounts. They aren't "real" for all intents and purposes.

I'm guessing that the account which you found was created on 7 December 2012. It may be the one which has now posted 7 questions and 13 answers for 5,886 points. I imagine that it (and the other 11 accounts which I know of in the gang, two of them Level 6) did lots of voting while that was still possible. They've now started awarding each other BA. The Answers Team has been asked to investigate.

That sounds like a major glitch as that shouldn't have happened, it doesn't make sense mathematically and I can't see a way a cheat would work that well

Chetak

Lets see,i am not sure about 5700 points with 7 answers.But you get 2 points when you answer a question,but you get 3 points back if you choose best answer.Choosing best answer is good as it shows your gratitude,plus the user gets 10 points and perhaps that will make heir day.Once you reach 250 points you will be level 2 and can answer and ask more questions.

No prizes are given,coupons,candy,or any cash nor can you trade points for cash.But,however points are for levels and give you another reason to answer questions.

for answering a lot of questions and voting

It is probably just a glitch that will get updated. Check it again tomorrow. The profile link would have helped us check it..