Guide: Scams, Avoiding Scams, and What to do if You are Scammed.

[Zylx]

•.•°Table Of Contents°•.•
•°•.•°Preface°•.•°•
•°•.•°Scams°•.•°•
•°•.•°What to do if You Become a Victim of a Scam°•.•°•
•°•.•°Helpful Links°•.•°•

Note: This thread is not a substitute for the Spacetime Studios support team. Any mentioning of any player's name in this thread without their approval is strictly prohibited by Spacetime Studios. You may share a story of a scam to further educate other players, but you MUST censor (not mention) the players' or guilds' names involved.

•°•.•°Preface°•.•°•

As you may know, scams are a serious issue among the players of online multiplayer games. STS's games are no exception. Every scam that occurs in the game happens behind STS's back. By this, i mean that there is no way STS can predict or monitor a scam right as it's taking place. STS takes these scams very seriously and they will take action against the scammer when they find out about it. But that's only after the damage has been done. That is what can be done on STS's part.

What you can do on your part is to prevent yourself from getting scammed in the first place. Do not trust anyone! Imagine that everyone is a scammer. Anything you give to anyone is considered as a donation. STS will not return your items in a scam. And there is one golden rule to mmo friendship. If someone truly is your friend, they wont request something that would demand 100% of your trust. They wouldn't put you through such a difficult situation.

•°•.•°Scams°•.•°•

•.•°Table Of Contents°•.•

-•-Account Trader, The-•-
-•-Charitable Donor, The-•-
-•-Developer Impersonator, The-•-
-•-Double-Crossing Doubler, The-•-
-•-False Support Email Scam, The-•-
-•-Foreign Site Scam, The-•-
-•-Generous Retiree, The-•-
-•-Greedy Lend-Me, The-•-
-•-Guild Barnacle, The-•-
-•-Guild Buyer, The-•-
-•-Guild Saboteur, The-•-
-•-Helpful Crafter, The-•-
-•-Helpful Transferer, The-•-
-•-Merching Scheme, The-•-
-•-Multi-Item Trade Scam, The-•-
-•-Not-So Midas Touch, The-•-
-•-"Or I'll Ban You" Scam, The-•-
-•-Plat Trader, The-•-
-•-Player Impersonator, The-•-
-•-Price Predator, The-•-
-•-PromoCode Scam, The-•-
-•-Real-World Trade Scam-•-
-•-Swift Trade Scam, The-•-
-•-Tricky Hackster, The-•-
-•-Unlocked Crate Scam, The-•-

•.•°Known Scams°•.•

The Account Trader: Before i continue, just know that telling your email/password to anyone is against the ToS of the game and can result in a ban. One player tells you they wish to sell their account for an amount of gold. You decide to give them an amount of gold in exchange for the info. After you confirm the trade, they run away with your gold.
Example: Player A tells you they are selling their account for 100k. You trade them the gold, but they never fulfill their end of the bargain.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Never trade anything for something that isn't tradeable via the secure trade feature. Revealing account information violates Terms of Service.

The Charitable Donor: A player says he is willing to buy you some platinum, but he needs your email and password. You give him your info, and you lose your account.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Don't give your email/password to anyone, no matter what.

The Developer Impersonator: A person tells you they are a developer and that you have won a certain amount of platinum. He requests that you give him your email and password so he can credit your account.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: The real developers have red names in the game, while moderators have green names. A developer/moderator will never ask for your email or password, because they will never need them.

The Double-Crossing Doubler: A player offers to double your gold. You give them a certain amount of gold in hopes of doubling it. He keeps the gold and doesn't double it.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Dont give/trade anything that you will want back. It is not possible to securely double your gold.

The False Support Email Scam: A player hears that you are having an issue with the game. He tells you to email a certain email to get help. He gives you a false email which is most likely his, and when you email that, you are revealing your account info.
Example: Click Here for an Example
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: The only emails that you will ever need to use is the true STS support email (support@spacetimestudios.com), the NativeX support email (support@nativex.com), and the TrialPay support email (support@trialpay.com). Dont trust any other email.

The Foreign Site Scam: Someone tells you that there is a website out there that credits your account with free platinum. All you need to do is enter your account information on the site. Once you do, your account will be taken over by an unkown person ("hacked").
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: There is no such thing as a site for earning free platinum. The only ways to earn free platinum are by completing the offers from Trialpay or NativeX. Entering your account information on a foreign site jeopardizes your account's security. DON'T DO IT.

The Generous Retiree: Someone tells you that they are leaving the game permanently for various reasons. They offer to give you their items (they show you in trade). BUT, they want to wear one of your items for a little bit before they give you their stuff, saying that they will give it back.
Example: Player A tells you they are leaving the game and they want to give you their items and gold. They want to give you 10,347,294 gold ("all of their gold") and a few mythic items. But, they want to wear your vanity before they go. You give them your vanity, excited, but they immediately leave, keeping their stuff and your vanity.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Never give an item that you will want back. All gifts are final.

The Greedy Lend-Me: A player asks you if they can "borrow" an item with the promise of giving it back, but they never give it back.
Example: Player A notices your lepre's particle effect emanating from your body. They ask you if you can lend them your lepre for a little bit so they can farm, with the promise of returning it. You give them your lepre, they run away with it forever.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Dont give/trade anything that you might want back. If it helps, ask for some collateral before you trade.

The Guild Barnacle: A member of a guild that never seem to level or progress but always needs a loan or help getting a lep or some vanity. You help them out and later they surprisingly have been hacked and lost everything. often it will transpire that they have multiple loans with people that are too kind.
Example: Player A is a member in your guild. He asks you for 10k gold because he is 10k short on buying a lepre (truth be told, he isnt saving for a lepre). Because he is in your guild, you decide to help him out. You give him 10k gold, and he moves onto asking another guild member for 10k for the exact same reason.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: This is a pretty hard scam to avoid because it isnt a direct scam. The best advice i can give is that just because a member of your guild needs gold, you aren't obligated to give it to them. If you want to give them gold, do so at your own risk!

The Guild Buyer: You are looking to sell your guild for an amount of gold. Someone offers, you make them the master, they dont give you the gold.
Example: Player A offers you 30k for your guild. You accept his offer and make him the master, but they dont give you the gold
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Never trade anything for something that isn't tradeable via the secure trade feature.

The Guild Saboteur: Player A is an officer of a guild. He abuses his power by removing a large amount of members/recruiters, ultimately sabotaging a guild.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: If you are a guild master, only promote players that you trust. Promote at your own risk.

The Helpful Crafter: A player offers to upgrade your gear or craft an item for a price, which would require you to give them your gear in the first place. This opens yourself up to getting your items taken away from you.
Example: Player A offers to upgrade your mythic armor for 5k and assures you that it will be full of super gems. You give it to them, and they run away.
Example: Player A offers to craft you an arcane ring. They have the shard, you have the dragon bar. You give them the dragon bar and 10k for the crafting fee. You never hear from them again.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Dont give anything to anyone and expect them to give anything in return. Scammers will run away with your stuff!

The Helpful Transferer: This is one scam that you dont see very often anymore, but it could still be an option. A player offers to help you transfer an item to another account (even if you dont need to). You go along and give him some items, log out, then go onto another account, and guess what? He's gone.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Use the stash feature for transferring items/gold between accounts. Never give anything to another player that you might want back.

The Merching Scheme: A player offers a ridiculously high amount of gold for an item. You find the same item in the auction house for cheap and buy it thinking you can make a quick profit, but it turns out that the item's seller was the same guy on a different character and when you go back to the potential buyer, he "already bought it".
Example: Player A is looking to buy a certain lvl 28 devourer maul for 2 million gold. you find that same one in the auction for 150k. You buy that one and offer it to him, but he has "already bought one". in reality, the overpriced maul was sold by his other account.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: This is a pretty hard scam to avoid. Best advice i have is to not buy anything that you think is outrageous and that you dont need.

The Multi-Item Trade Scam: A player offers a number of items greater than four (current trade limit) in exchange for another. After you give them first four items, the player runs away.
Example: Player A offers to sell you a leprechaun pendant for 9 locked crates. You trade him the first four, and then the next four, and after that, he runs away with your crates and his lep pendant
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Try to trade gold for an item if the seller asks for more than 4 items. Negotiate a reasonable trade. Never trust a scammer.

The Not-So Midas Touch: A greedy player asks people to help him with the The Midas Touch achievement, with the promise that he will return all the gold. You give him the gold, and he runs away.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Dont give/trade anything that you might want back.

The "Or I'll Ban You" Scam: A Player asks for you to give them an item of yours or a favor to be done or they'll "ban" you (report). When you say no, they tell you that they reported you.
Example: Player A tells you to give them your leprechaun pendant or they'll report you. Worried, you give them your pendant.
Example: Player A tells you to invite them into your guild or they'll ban you, even though the gm tells you not to invite them.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Just know that their report will not result in a ban. This is an example of abusive reporting, which is a suspendable/bannable offense on the scammer's part. STS takes the report feature very seriously. It's a waste of time for them to deal with fake reports. You are safe!

The Plat Trader: A person offers platinum for an item/service (real-world or in-game). You give them the item/service but no platinum is received.
Example: Player A offers 100 platinum for a level 8 storm sword. You give them the storm sword, but no platinum is awarded.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Just know that Platinum is untradeable and it is not possible for another player to credit your account with platinum.

The Player Impersonator: This is a pretty tricky scam. A player has a similar name as one of your good friends, and they tell you that they are your friend. They wish to "borrow" something of yours or for you to do something for them. Thinking they really are your friend, you give them the item or do the favor, but they run away with it. As it turns out, that person was someone else (not your friend).
Example: Player A is your friend. Someone named Playerr A tells you that they are Player A on a different character. He asks you if he can borrow your leprechaun pendant so he can farm on his "new toon". You 'lend' him your pendant, but he runs away with it. You ask Player A for your pendant back, but they have no clue who Playerr A is.
Example: You are the master of a guild. Player A is your friend and is also an officer of your guild. Someone named Playerr A joins the guild and tells you they are Player A on a different character. They ask to be promoted to officer.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: For one, never give anyone anything that you might want back later. And two, if the player claims to be one of your other friends, ask them to get on their other character and then tell you that they really are your friend.

The Price Predator: This can be easily confused with merching, but it's totally different. This isnt a bannable scam, because the other player may not know the worth as well. You have looted an item, but you dont know how much it's worth. You ask someone how much it's worth, and they offer to buy it for a crudely low price. If you accept, you would've lost gold potential.
Example: You looted an arcane egg from a locked crate. You have no idea that it's worth 20 million gold. You ask someone how much it's worth, and they tell you it's worth 50 thousand gold and that they will buy it. You accept their offer.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Always check the consignment shop/auction house before selling. This would help you determine the worth of an item.

The PromoCode Scam: A player offers to tell you a promocode... for a price. After you pay them, they either give you a false promocode, or they dont tell you anything.
Example: Player A offers to tell you a really cool promocode for 5k. You accept his offer (giving him 5k) and he tells you the promocode is "djieodoe". You enter it in, and it says that it is not a promocode.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Don't trade gold for anything that is not tradeable via the secure trade feature.

The Real-World Trade Scam: A player offers to give you an item/gold in exchange for a real-world item. You give them the item, but nothing was given to you in return.
Example: Click Here for an example
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Limit all trades/gifts to in-game. Never give another player a real-world item.

The Swift Trade Scam: A player offers to trade you their item/gold for your item/gold. Before confirming their trade, they will change the item/amount of gold in hopes that you wont notice.
Example: Player A offers 200,000 gold for your Leprechaun Pendant and you decide to sell it. In the trade menu, they put down the 200k and you put down the leprechaun pendant. Before you confirm the trade, they change the amount to 20,000 gold, and they confirm the trade.
Example: Player A is selling their Lvl 10 Storm Sword for 200k. You wish to buy it. In the trade menu, Player A puts his level 10 item down and when you put your 200k down, he changes his item to a lvl 30 storm sword (which is cheaper), and you both confirm.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Always double check the confirm screen before ending the trade. Check the 0's on the gold amount, and check the item name/level.

The Tricky Hackster: A player tells you they will hack your account if you dont give them a certain item.
Example: Player A tells you that if you dont give them your leprechaun pendant, they will hack your account.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Just know that it is not possible to get "hacked" unless you reveal your email and password to someone. Or if your device has been compromised by a virus that relays information to another person, but that's not from "hacking" the server.

The Unlocked Crate Scam: A player offers to open a locked crate of yours for you (either free or charged), with the promise that he will give you everything from that chest. You give him the crate, he opens it, and he doesnt give you the stuff, or he gives you junk not from the crate.
Example: Player A offers to open a locked crate for you for a price of 5k. You accept his offer, giving him the crate and 5k gold. He opens the crate and, low and behold, a Samael egg pops out, as well as a mythic armor and 200k gold. He gives you 6k gold and says that it only had 6k gold in it.
Advice on Avoiding this Scam: Don't give anything to another player that you may want back later. Don't give someone anything in hopes that they will be completely honest and give you everything they looted. Scammers are not honest people.





•°•.•°What to do if You Become a Victim of a Scam°•.•°•
Follow this Step-by-Step Procedure:

1a)Take screenshots of the trade menu that show the attempt of the scam during the trade.

1b)Take screenshots of the chat feed during the time of the scam that would show the scam taking place.

2)Report the player in-game by typing "/report [player's name] scam" in the general chat box. Be sure to include the reason for the report (in this case, "scam") after the player's name so STS knows why that player was reported!

3)Send an e-mail to STS at support@spacetimestudios.com. Tell them the date, time of day, and information about the scam. Attach the screenshots to the message as evidence. Due to their Privacy Policy, they will not inform you of their actions against the scammer.


•°•.•°Helpful Links°•.•°•

• How To Take a Screenshot On Your Device. -EliteFamily

• SpaceTime Studios Support Email

• SpaceTime Studios Support Website

• Arcane Legends Terms of Service. -Samhayne

• Spacetime Studios Privacy Policy

• Scams: What they are, and how to avoid them. -Zaonabiuibil

• Al official "scam patrol" guide. -EliteFamily

• Support Team: How to register a STS account and contact them. - EliteFamily

[kurd4ever]

Nice thread +1

[Zylx]

Nice thread +1

Thank you

[Visiting]

I've been playing since season 2 and I wish this guide had been here back then! +1 Great detail and Info!

[Zylx]

Thanks guys. Im working on getting this moved to the Guide Section.

[Anarchist]

There is already a scam guide linked with a older version and kept updated with scam issues that pop on the forum or cases heard around, if a case is not base on poor disattention it gets in that scam guide.

scam guide.

Good job though, more information will only do good to players. c:

[chitgoks]

one way to scare scammers especially noobs is to show them a notification that someone reported them.

[Zylx]

one way to scare scammers especially noobs is to show them a notification that someone reported them.

If they did this, they'd have to keep it anonymous or else it would cause drama.

[Xeusx]

Nahh, this is more good than Elitefamily's guide, advice on avoiding the scam are added it

[Anarchist]

Nahh, this is more good than Elitefamily's guide, advice on avoiding the scam are added it

If you say so, i believe you.



Zylx please can i link your guild to mine?
Informing players is crucial for preventing scam.

[Zylx]

Zylx please can i link your guild to mine?
Informing players is crucial for preventing scam.

You sure can.

[Anarchist]

You sure can.

thanks

[Remiem]

Phenomenal guide, Zylx! Thank you so much for posting it. If you don't mind, I passed the link along to the devs so that we can feature it in the game on the rotating banner players see when they log in. Great work!

[Zylx]

Phenomenal guide, Zylx! Thank you so much for posting it. If you don't mind, I passed the link along to the devs so that we can feature it in the game on the rotating banner players see when they log in. Great work!

Thank you Ami!

[Zylx]

New scam(s) added:

The Unlocked Crate Scam

[faefaefae]

Great guide! You must have spent a lot of time on doing this.

You may consider adding the famous 'selling promotion code' scam. You know what I mean.

[Zylx]

Great guide! You must have spent a lot of time on doing this.

You may consider adding the famous 'selling promotion code' scam. You know what I mean.

Thank you . Ive gotten most of these scams from personal experiences and word-of-mouth. Im trying to keep it up-to-date on all the current scams, so it's a work in progress .

New Scam(s) Added:

The PromoCode Scam
Credit: faefaefae

[Azemen]

In the Guild Saboteur scam, do not forget to provide an example, a link to what someone (sorry I forgot who) nicknamed

"The Purple Thunder Disaster"

[Zylx]

In the Guild Saboteur scam, do not forget to provide an example, a link to what someone (sorry I forgot who) nicknamed
"The Purple Thunder Disaster"

Do you have the link?

[Zylx]

New scam(s) added:

The Foreign Site Scam