Tips to avoid a scam

[sir odd]

Anti-Scam guide

Yes, it is quite unfortunte that there are some people who are here just to rip people off. Also bad if it was for a high price. Since the number of post about people complaining about getting scammed is becoming bigger exponentally (either the scammers are attacking more frequently or people are just starting to report them), I decided to make this guide as to warn others of the potentional dangers that you can face when making a deal.

A few tips from the wise:

- Scan the scammer: I f your not sure what they are, give them a quick scan with a scanner. If he/she says they can make better armor, yet a profession of 'poor sweat gather', do no trust them.

- Careful when selling skills: Make sure the person you give the GSI to won't run off with it without collateral. Also look for 'generic' and 'genetics', as they are two completey different things. Note it's also possible to sell a skill chip at TT value of 0, so look to make sure there are either skills on the chip, or it's completly empty. (No longer a threat thanks to MindArk Changing the name to 'ESI')

- Imposter name: If you see a person with 'NEVERDIE', 'Deathifier', etc. with some small variation (Mispelled, lower/upper case) nametag, yet jumping up and down with a orange jumpsuit, obviously they are not the real person. The scammers crate fake accounts in which to imposter the real players, as the only function is to rob newcomers who are playing seriously of their hard earned PEDs and items. Also, check their society name.

- #1 Rule: IF IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS!!

- Know the person you're trading with: Make relationships with people you trade with often. These will most often be your most trusted associates when you trade.

- Look through the BS: Sell on auction or other trusted contacts when selling ores and other minerals. Most street dealers will advertize "Best Buy!" or "Best Market Prices!", till you see TT+1 for your payload. (While this isn't techincally a scam, it's a rip-off in my book.)

- Ask for collateral: If the person is asking for a larger amount than you are comfortable with, ask for something in return (thus avoiding him running away with your high-priced items). Most trustworthy traders will aknowledge this and make sure you are comfortable with your trade. Take pictures of the transaction for proof of trade incase of needed evidence.

- Watch for mispellings/keywords: If the player is speaking in broken/not understandable english, do not trust them. Also, words like 'upgrade', or 'boost' are usually words to avoid from the trader. They use those words to sound appealing to newcomers who don't know the prices of items, thus tricking them into buying low priced items at rediculous prices and buying your high-end items for dirt cheap prices. Look at the auctions if unsure of an item's worth.

- Make them talk before trading: If they don't say anything but just run up and want to private trade reject it. It may seem rude but it'll either make the other person go away or lest say what he wants to sell.

- Note the items the scammer is selling: Some scammers will be selling items that they bought from the TT itself, and jack up the prices in hopes a newcomer will buy it, thus they gain profit from items that everyone has access to at lower prices.

- Linking to the just mentioned, caution must be taken during the first days of a new VU. New items will inevidably be discovered by people and the market prices will fluxuate greatly. Hold off buying anything new till the market prices stablize and you know what the item is (Brief example...the new Vivo-5 fap replaced the Fap-5, thus the auctions were full of Vivo-5's with 15 ped BO...even though it's only 9 ped at any TT)

- Never share your username/password!!(Note the big size, implies importance!) Hopefully I don't have to explain myself on this one. The system does not block the info if you type it in, people see your login info, and your account will likely be gone for good or robbed of its items and funds!

Best way to combat the just mentioned: Get a Gold Card!

- Fake e-mails: this follows up on the above tip, some scammers will make false e-mail addresses, and claim they are MindArk support, and they need your user/pass combo to fix a bug or give you an item that's 'locked'. MA will NEVER ask for your login information, so do not give it to them!

- Limited items: While these are often decent items, they are expensive to buy and cannot be repaired. Often in auctions you will see them for many times over their TT value, thus checking the condition of the item(s) is crutial.

-Warn others: The more people know about the scammer, the less damage that can be done by that person. Posting on the forum boards can also help spread awareness (Forum rules must be followed, as always.)

- Drop trades: Some people may claim that they can't see their inventory window, so they say just to drop the item and they will drop theirs. Well, first thing, if they can't open their window, they can't access the item you want in the trade. So that leads to the second point, in which if you put your item to the ground, they will most likely grab it and run/log off/TP, and you no longer have your item, nor the item you wanted

- CHECK THE CONFIRMATION WINDOW!: This window isn't here to look pretty, it's a window that can spare your ass in a second. Once you click accept trade there is no getting your items back (All trades final...RL quote also applies here.) Double and triple check the list to make sure both parties are playing fair. Be sure to check the values of the items you want, as you don't want to be paying full price for broken armor or getting paid too little for your good items.

I hope people read this guide first before more scams are done and people posting about their losses.

And for all you scammers out there...

[FleshCleaver]

Nice work Odd,
Let's hope ppl see it and Rotten's b4 it's tooooo late

[Noggin]

Nice work! One of the most comprehensive and least condescending posts of this type I've seen +rep...

[e-lite]

Scamming Prevention guides

[PECalc]

Are the people that post these anti-scam guides the people that just got scammed?

[rotten ice]

Originally Posted by Noggin

Nice work! One of the most comprehensive and least condescending posts of this type I've seen +rep...

Is mine condescending then I tried to make it not so

And great work on the guide you have got a fair few bits that i have forgotten about the (L) items being a great one +Rep for you

and the link to mine
Scamming Prevention guides
this one is updated unlike the sticky one, and no PeCalc I have not been
scammed I had noticed that alot of people were being scammed and that was the main reason behind me starting mine and then once I started I found sharpshots guide at EP and with his permission posted it here allthough I have made a few adjustments to try and keep it uptodate

[steffel]

Originally Posted by sir odd

- Watch for mispellings/keywords: If the player is speaking in broken/not understandable english, do not trust them.

dont see a sense in this rule. not everyone is able to speak proper english, not even the englishmen can. i know of the scammers/romainian link but this criteria only spreads intolerance and racism into the game imo

[sir odd]

steffel - I'll keep that in adivsement if I change it.

PECalc - No I was't scammed but a few months ago when I posted on EP forums there was quite a flurry of newcomers flooding the forums with tales of how they gave over 100k+ PEDs all for an 'armor upgrade' and were compalining about it, so I put together a small list of what and what not to do.

[mrproper]

As my signature tells,

Stop scamming now! Follow my simple 2 rule anti-scamming advice:
1. Do not trade naked/half naked avatars.
2. Do not trade avatars that have enlarged long blue eyes.