For the first case:
I heard it's something where in PvP if you capture an area you get a bonus item, in addition to your faction gaining some bonus while the area is yours. What happened is that someone had a level 1 alt account who'd keep capturing the territory back from him so he could keep gaining the bonus.
I know nothing about SWTOR so this might not be true, but it makes the first case make a bit more sense.
The swearing in tells thing is just inexcusable though.
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No amount of planning will ever replace dumb luck.