scams and banks.

[kira-red]

over the years, I've noticed an increase in the complexity of some of the confidence swindles that are being played upon us colonists. this isn't too much of a surprise, as I'd assume it's an expanding "opportunity", as the population grows.

in MA's description of the "banks" (virtual pawn shops), there is a reference to a player controlled NPC located within the pawn shop. likely, this is expedite transactions when the owner is off-line. I'd assume the NPC would be like a shopkeeper but have a list of what items the shop will accept as collateral and what price it'll offer.

so, the question is... will the existence of pawn shops actually help people who promote confidence swindles? they will have a "fence" (pawn shop) open 24h a day to dump their ill-obtained goods. there's no need to find a buyer, and they may turn over better coin than they would trying to rush sell on the street.

all of this is just a side-effect of what happens when new systems are introduced. we know that pawn shops have limited appeal to the masses because of the collateral issue. you can't pawn gear that you don't own or need to use. the masses would appea indifferent about these pawn shops. thus, their market is limited to the rich with things to hawk or the questionable with things to fence. I wonder which group will be bigger.

if the questionable group is then the de facto purpose of the "banks" will be to fence stolen (swindled/scammed) goods. I hope this does not turn out to be so.

[Nutarix]

This poll is boring, so I voted .. I don't care, because I know Mindark is a proffesional money earning company, that will do any and everything to ensure that EU is'nt gonna be a money 'washing' place.

and again sry but ... poll is boring .

[kira-red]

Originally Posted by Nutarix

[...]that will do any and everything to ensure that EU is'nt gonna be a money 'washing' place.

how?

I borrow your ml-45. I throw it into the NPC "banker" and collect whatever that shop's rate is for that item. it'll be less than market but pretty close.

what can you do? nothing - you gave me the rifle. what can MA do? nothing - all trades are final. but... the existence of the "bank" gave me a fast way of converting my loot at almost full price.

[Dunn]

I'm sure its better to sell the item to an avatar than it is to pawn it in the bacnks

[Yirrk]

Originally Posted by Nutarix

This poll is boring, so I voted .. Mindark is a proffesional money earning company, that will do any and everything to ensure that EU is'nt gonna be a money 'washing' place...

You can bet your last Ped that if there's any way MA is able to make money from it, they will figure out how to allow it and claim ignorance that it's being done.

[Squee]

I voted "I don't care" as I can't judge if the banks will be used or not for laundering. One thing im pretty sure of is MA won't do anything as long as its not costing them money.

[Skippie]

yeah, scammers have never seemed to have a problem laundering stolen goods in the past.

i doubt banks or virtual pawn shops are really going to help them, either. since scammers are usually smart enough to pull off some pretty complex scams. they are not then lazy enough to sell to a pawn shop rather than just transferring the item to another ava for the sell off.

so i voted don't care, since a no vote here has to do with ma preventing it, and i think that is not possible given their track record dealing with scams.