Scamming Methods Exposed

[KeynesAlley]

Originally Posted by Pepper

Indeed it is.

MA do care - but they are still obeyed to follow Swedish law. When there are scammers operating, they do break the EULA just by the fact that they're breaking:
16:c (EULA). You cannot interfere with any other Participant's ability to enjoy the Entropia Universe according to its rules.

What MA in fact does, is to earmark participants who cannot behave. If enough valid support cases comes in, they can and will act upon that according to the EULA - it happened before.

Every game has that clause in their EULA and rarely is it ever treated to count scamming. It's more about harassment and such.

I have never heard that Swedish law treats in-game crimes {scams, etc} as real life crime like South Korea,Taiwan, China, etc do.

But MA can't ban people just because one or two claims of scamming comes in. But they do investigate if the scamming is continuous and documented.
Again: take screenies, note time place and avatar name.

I'm sure the EULA has a section that lets them ban for any reason or no reason at all.

I haven't seen a EULA without this clause.

Here's from Ma's own website;

The Entropia Universe Scam Prevention Policy

Due to the diversity of human nature, not all participants in the Entropia Universe will be honest upstanding citizens. Just like in real life, the virtual universe may be home to unscrupulous people looking to scam others out of their hard-earned possessions. MindArk PE AB ("MindArk") does not support or condone this exploitative behavior inside the Entropia Universe. However, if one is 'scammed' out of goods or funds, MindArk is in no way responsible. The company cannot and will not return items lost in a scam. The loss is your own responsibility.

If an Entropia Universe participant reports another participant as a 'scammer', MindArk will investigate and determine if any action needs to be taken. Each case is unique and will be treated as such. One means of disciplinary action is the issuing of a warning and a call for the behavior to cease. If the behavior persists, the participant risks suspension of his or her account, or permanent expulsion from the Entropia Universe.

ADVICE

Always be cautious and wary of people offering deals that seem too good to be true - they usually are!

When trading, always research the market to see if the suggested price is reasonable. People will use all kind of arguments as to why a certain price is the correct one, or why a certain piece of equipment is the best.

Do not trust anyone unless you know them personally.

If someone attempts to sell you many items and you cannot see them, they probably don't exist.

If you want to make a purchase, buy items one at a time.

Always remember to right-click on the offered items to view their individual ITEM INFO data.

If you have a valuable item that someone wants to see, do not just show it willingly. Place it in the trade window instead. This allows both parties to view it. Remember! Do not hit the 'ACCEPT' button. If the other user says he or she cannot see it or get the information on it, you are probably dealing with a 'scammer' at work.

Do not listen to 'hard luck cases'. Scam artists will say or do almost anything to get your items from you.

If you kill a creature that was close to death and then loot it, do not give up the loot to someone claiming it as theirs. The user who does the most damage has the right to loot the kill.

Think a deal through, as all trades are final.

Remember that MindArk will not return items lost in a scam, so protect yourself!

[Pepper]

Originally Posted by KeynesAlley

Every game has that clause in their EULA and rarely is it ever treated to count scamming. It's more about harassment and such.

EULA stands for ENTROPIA UNIVERSE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT and I sincerely doubt other games has that.

Originally Posted by KeynesAlley

I have never heard that Swedish law treats in-game crimes {scams, etc} as real life crime like South Korea,Taiwan, China, etc do.

Well, maybe that is because MA acts before that happens?

Originally Posted by KeynesAlley

I'm sure the EULA has a section that lets them ban for any reason or no reason at all.

Yes they do, and you just told me that you havn't even read the EULA - which in fact makes your post rather pointless since it's based on guessing, and not on facts.

Furthermore this seems a lot like the kind of posts I specifically asked not to be posted in this thread:

Originally Posted by Pepper

I also, if possible, like to keep this thread free of a philosophical masturbation of the question what is a scam?. Please start a new thread if you find this subject necessary to scrutinize.
It would be great if you think twice before posting off-topic posts, does it really belong in this thread?

Please respect the topic of the thread, and feel free to start a new thread on the topic you're following here.

[KeynesAlley]

Originally Posted by Pepper

EULA stands for ENTROPIA UNIVERSE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT and I sincerely doubt other games has that.

EULA = End User License Agreement

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/EULA.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EULA

Yes they do, and you just told me that you havn't even read the EULA - which in fact makes your post rather pointless since it's based on guessing, and not on facts.

Hmm.

[Pepper]

Originally Posted by KeynesAlley

EULA = End User License Agreement

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/EULA.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EULA



Hmm.

LOL!
Sorry mate you're quite right!
My brain went on vacation for a while there...
*personal note* don't skill for more than 20h in a row and then answer posts on EF...

+rep

[HvSW]

Originally Posted by Pepper

EULA stands for ENTROPIA UNIVERSE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT and I sincerely doubt other games has that.

Pepper, be careful what you state so you don't confuse people and don't diminish the value of your otherwise great thread.

"EU" in EULA is only accidental match with "EU" (as in Entropia Universe).

Acronym EULA stands for End User Licence Agreement and was not invented by MA.

Not only most of the other MMORPG have one, but also many off-line games have one and majority of Serious Software packages cannot be sold without one.

Just try to install e.g. Microsoft Windows and you will stumble upon their EULA before too long.

[Pepper]

Originally Posted by HvSW

Pepper, be careful what you state so you don't confuse people and don't diminish the value of your otherwise great thread.

"EU" in EULA is only accidental match with "EU" (as in Entropia Universe).

Acronym EULA stands for End User Licence Agreement and was not invented by MA.

Not only most of the other MMORPG have one, but also many off-line games have one and majority of Serious Software packages cannot be sold without one.

Just try to install e.g. Microsoft Windows and you will stumble upon their EULA before too long.

Eeeerm... scroll up mate.

[Gunrod]

I had a player join my Soc recently then left after a short period of time. A few days later this player started asking for ped from the other SOC members giving a hard luck story about not being able to deposit till next week.

The reason I mention this, is I beleive he only joined to get the SOC members on his friends list...part of his little scam

[minsten]

i seen a new scam apear that new people easy fall for.....
where ive seen it or heard it appear is in pa and sweat camp.
The person will start screaming that someone stole his gun somehow by borrowing it or the other person was trying it or something. well infact there hasnt been any trade of a gun in the first place. but the person will keep shouting till the other person give up cus of fear from beeing seen as a scammer. i saw the same person doing it 3 times now so watch out for this.

[Sirhc]

Maybe I missed it but probably one of the biggest scams that affects new people is the Disciple Collecting scam.

Someone who offers mentorship to any and all willing new people but disappears after the time limit is up for the newbie to kick them. These Absentee mentors can collect a wide variety of ME gifts and ME skill with little or no work if new avatars just complete their discipleship and they are stuck in doing so unless they can get MA to reverse the process. It also leaves a bad first impression for newcomers which hurts us all.

One thing about many of the scams mentioned is that they come from Avatars who are named very similarly to well know honest and established avatars. I had one avie try the armor upgrade scam on me saying he was this high ranking crafter and that he was authorized by MA to do the upgrade. Sent a bunch of screenies to MA and he was soon kicked. One thing to remember is if MA wants you to have something they will give it to you and they don't need an avatar to be the go between unless its the RDI guy.

As long as there is real money involved there will always be someone trying to grift it off you. My best advice is don't lend out anything you are not willing to loose or at the very least be very very picky about who you lend and borrow from.

I am naturally distrusting but I am not immune to being scammed but once it happens I can honestly say it won't happen again. First time victim, second time volunteer.

Actually if you are in the right mood screwing with scammers can be fun. I usually let them say their scam and dig their hole then let them know I know what they are doing and just how lame it is. I am always amazed at just how far they will push it and exactly just what they will say. Take those screenies and submit to support and at the very least it will make it harder for scammers to justify new accounts.

[Aandar]

I was there at that time.

He finally succeded

(look at the chat window in that screenshot)