Yeah, to be honest, just playing runs you the risk of being iced. I remember, I was like 9 or 10 playing neopets and I bought a 40k lab piece (the others were listed at like 90k). I got so excited because it was one of the pieces I needed. I bought it and two minutes later my account was frozen for cheating. I was a kid. I didn't do anything. I just happened to search secret lab map at the right time and I just happened to snipe a discounted piece. Hell, the idea of cheating was not even a concept in my mind. After that, my older sister helped me find a spider browser for random events, so I could get my neopoints back and remake my account. I was so devastated. My mom even joined NPs and played games earning me neopoints. How sad right?
So, there is not right way to cheat or even play Neopets. You just have to hope TNT won't ice you.