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

[Zaonabiuibil]

Scamming.

It is one of, if not the biggest negative of the STS games. In this guide, I will teach you what a scam is, and how you can avoid it.





Scam:

A spurious attempt at a fair deal. A fraudulent way to make quick money with tricks and lies.




Common Types of Scams:

1) The worst type, in my opinion. The account snatch. The account snatch is the sadly quite common "I'll buy you platinum for credits!" NEVER DO IT. NEVER give out your account information. It even says so on the welcome screen when you join anywhere in the game. IT'S THAT IMPORTANT. If someone offers to buy you platinum, they just want access to your account. It sounds highly insane, right? But, in reality, happens a lot more often than you'd think.

2) Doubling money. This is when someone says "I'll double your money! Give me 100k and I can give you 200k!" Really? Why would ANYONE do that? That one is hopefully obvious.

3) The snatch-up. In trade, the person removes their items right as you're about to hit the check. Then you confirm without looking over, you have nothing and they have your items/gold. ALWAYS check the confirmation window!

4) Merchant one, scammer two. This is where someone says "Buying (item X) 1m!" Now item X is way overpriced, but you don't know that. You look in auction and see it's in auction for 500k. You buy, thinking you can make a quick 500k, but the person leaves when you buy the item. He was selling the item for way more than the real value on an alt of his. Watch out, this is starting to become quite popular now.

5) The accomplice. Someone forces you to give them items or gold or they'll hack you. REMEMBER, if you don't give out your account information, they can't hack you.

6) The early farmer. You're out farming a new map for items, when, what luck! You get a new legendary! You try and sell it for 200k in town. Now a well-known pro and community member says "man, I would buy, but I don't have enough. Could I pay you 100k now and 100k later?" Knowing he is a well-known person, you say what the heck, ok, and go for it. You never see the other 100k. When confronting said person he says "dude, it's 15k in auction now. Be lucky you got 100k." You made the deal, you can't do anything.

7) The item lend. There is a reason it's called GIVE. Don't expect to get the gift back. There is little STS can do for this. You gave them the item, you knew what you were doing. Even if you're best friends. Don't expect "gifts" back. Here is a quote.


The gift function was designed as just that--to give items to other players with no expectation of having them returned to you. When you lend things this way, getting your stuff back depends solely on the goodwill of the “borrower.”

Please always keep in mind that we are on the Internet, and that there is no way to be sure who's on the other side of the connection. No matter how many raids you do together, no matter how much you hang out in-game or on the forums, unless you know someone in meatspace, there's no way to be sure that they're as cool as they've made themselves out to be.
-RS
And the thread: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?69958-And-Now-A-Word-From-Your-Customer-Support-Team…&highlight=now%2C+word+customer+support+team

8) The stasher. If someone offers to move your items from character to character, why? You have a stash for a reason. Don't fall victim to this. Please.

9) The Midas Touch. Based off King Midas, everything touched turns to gold. A little joke I thought of for this scam. The person offers to show you a "hack" for unlimited gold, if you give them money. If they have unlimited money, why would they need to get gold from you?

10) The impersonator. Say your name is Joebob. You're a super popular person, and you have many close friends. Someone, seeing this, goes around impersonating as you, let's say they made the alt Xjoebobx. They could scam items from your friends if they lend to said scammer (Please also refer to 7) and boom. Gone goes their items.

11) The Cross-Gamer. This is simply trading between games. IT'S NOT ALLOWED. Samhayne once said "If it doesn't fit in the trade box, it's not allowed."
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?35270-No-cross-game-trades!


*Scams added by players:

I've met a scammer with "method" :

Congratulation! You've been chosen to Test New Items in Pocket Legend! You THE one StS chose! Give your account infos, we'll be giving you the item!"

____

A VERY DANGEROUS SCAM ALSO !

During event period, some players with sounding-like official names come and say :

"Free plats given by StS at "url of a website"! Enter your infos, and devs will give u platinum!"
careful, this is a scam which automatically change your account infos once they are entered :(

Cya :)



Proof the website scam exists,

22542

^ Note added February 23rd 2013 to Chickenrunnn's addition. Recently people have been asking for people to go to a website to reactivate their accounts so they won't be deleted. DONT GO TO THE SITE. Devs will not ask for your personal info., especially in game. It's a scam, but it's become an issue recently, watch out.



Remember!!!!!!
*Always check the CS, it's not always right, but it can help you get a feel if the price is right or not!
*Make sure you can't get those items on a quest, or somewhere else for a cheaper price!
*Make sure you hit the check in the trade when you are 120% sure everything is there!
*AND NEVER, EVER, EVER GIVE AWAY YOUR ACCOUNT INFO!!!

*Will be edited with suggestions from people!

Stay sharp, and don't fall for tricks,
-Zaonabiuibil

[gison]

Lol :p, nice guide bud!

[Astrocat]

Zao, very nice guide. Sorry but you deserve a...


...


...


...




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiCSu9ExOFY



...

XD

[Zaonabiuibil]

Astro you're going overboard with that thing XD. But...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKDdIJcSSQ0

[Flamberge]

Good guide man. This teach some of us how to become a good scammer. Lol jk. Good guide.

[Astrocat]

Copy that. I'll work on making meh self less addicted to that thanks. Jk jk ill calm dwn wit it :p

[Aracnus]

Another good guide by my bud Zao ;)

[Zaonabiuibil]

A certain incident made me think of #10. Do watch out for those.

[j0rdantran]

I got scammed by lending my "friend" "borrow" my death armor... He never gave it back, so i emailed STS with snapshots. Unfortunately, he did not get banned. Now i know why...

[j0rdantran]

Letting* not lending

[Babbare]

Nice thread bro! Glad my little forum post helped you think of an additional one!

[Taomab]

Thank you for the warnings Zaonabiuibil!

[Chickenrunnn]

I've met a scammer with "method" :

Congratulation! You've been chosen to Test New Items in Pocket Legend! You THE one StS chose! Give your account infos, we'll be giving you the item!"

____

A VERY DANGEROUS SCAM ALSO !

During event period, some players with sounding-like official names come and say :

"Free plats given by StS at "url of a website"! Enter your infos, and devs will give u platinum!"
careful, this is a scam which automatically change your account infos once they are entered :(

Cya :)

[Zaonabiuibil]

I've met a scammer with "method" :

Congratulation! You've been chosen to Test New Items in Pocket Legend! You THE one StS chose! Give your account infos, we'll be giving you the item!"

____

A VERY DANGEROUS SCAM ALSO !

During event period, some players with sounding-like official names come and say :

"Free plats given by StS at "url of a website"! Enter your infos, and devs will give u platinum!"
careful, this is a scam which automatically change your account infos once they are entered :(

Cya :)

Haven't heard of the latter one. I'm assuming you heard it in PL? Never seen this type in SL or AL before.

[Chickenrunnn]

Haven't heard of the latter one. I'm assuming you heard it in PL? Never seen this type in SL or AL before.

Yeah in PL during Xmas events.. Really massive scamming way.

[Chickenrunnn]

There is also those links speaking about scams :

By Thade : http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?17601-Be-Aware-of-Trade-Scams (about trade scam)

By superss : http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23590-beware-of-scamming!-list-of-common-scams (speaking about all scams, a bit like your guide :))

Cya :D

[Urqui]

This guy posted rude things on my guid so heres what i say .....

That wasn't very smart of you

[Zaonabiuibil]

Lol. You've gone from spamming the same topic to insulting people. And thanks for the pm threats. I appreciate that you immature kid.


-------------------
Sent using spray paint on the city walls.

[Smart]

First off i am not a kid and second i would appreciate if you would stop posting about me and last i appoligize for my post earlyer is has been removed

[Zaonabiuibil]

second i would appreciate if you would stop posting about me

I do believe it was you who made the copied thread. And I do believe it was you who pm'd ME. and I do believe it was you who posted that Chuck Norris meme on my thread. So perhaps when you get your act together and leave the rest of us alone then you can get the right.


-------------------
Sent using spray paint on the city walls.

[Smart]

I did not know your thread existed and I was trying to help some new players but if you never would have posted on mine this would never have happend so please stop this argument thank you

[shayen]

+1 above post. Respect for the TS

[Ewok]

Thank you Zaonabiuibil (what a mouthful haha)! I was scammed once but only for 10k (a scam is a scam though) I am much more aware now and can keep my money where it belongs (on my account :D) Thanks again!

[Astrocat]

Zao! This thread made me avoid 254 scams! I FEEL SO PRO THANKS TO YOU. :D

[Seiyen]

Cool guide ,keep it up zao:)

[Smart]

Scamming.

It is one of, if not the biggest negative of the STS games. In this guide, I will teach you what a scam is, and how you can avoid it.





Scam:

A spurious attempt at a fair deal. A fraudulent way to make quick money with tricks and lies.




Common Types of Scams:

1) The worst type, in my opinion. The account snatch. The account snatch is the sadly quite common "I'll buy you platinum for credits!" NEVER DO IT. NEVER give out your account information. It even says so on the welcome screen when you join anywhere in the game. IT'S THAT IMPORTANT. If someone offers to buy you platinum, they just want access to your account. It sounds highly insane, right? But, in reality, happens a lot more often than you'd think.

2) Doubling money. This is when someone says "I'll double your money! Give me 100k and I can give you 200k!" Really? Why would ANYONE do that? That one is hopefully obvious.

3) The snatch-up. In trade, the person removes their items right as you're about to hit the check. Then you confirm without looking over, you have nothing and they have your items/gold. ALWAYS check the confirmation window!

4) Merchant one, scammer two. This is where someone says "Buying (item X) 1m!" Now item X is way overpriced, but you don't know that. You look in auction and see it's in auction for 500k. You buy, thinking you can make a quick 500k, but the person leaves when you buy the item. He was selling the item for way more than the real value on an alt of his. Watch out, this is starting to become quite popular now.

5) The accomplice. Someone forces you to give them items or gold or they'll hack you. REMEMBER, if you don't give out your account information, they can't hack you.

6) The early farmer. You're out farming a new map for items, when, what luck! You get a new legendary! You try and sell it for 200k in town. Now a well-known pro and community member says "man, I would buy, but I don't have enough. Could I pay you 100k now and 100k later?" Knowing he is a well-known person, you say what the heck, ok, and go for it. You never see the other 100k. When confronting said person he says "dude, it's 15k in auction now. Be lucky you got 100k." You made the deal, you can't do anything.

7) The item lend. There is a reason it's called GIVE. Don't expect to get the gift back. There is little STS can do for this. You gave them the item, you knew what you were doing. Even if you're best friends. Don't expect "gifts" back. Here is a quote.


The gift function was designed as just that--to give items to other players with no expectation of having them returned to you. When you lend things this way, getting your stuff back depends solely on the goodwill of the “borrower.”

Please always keep in mind that we are on the Internet, and that there is no way to be sure who's on the other side of the connection. No matter how many raids you do together, no matter how much you hang out in-game or on the forums, unless you know someone in meatspace, there's no way to be sure that they're as cool as they've made themselves out to be.
-RS
And the thread: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?69958-And-Now-A-Word-From-Your-Customer-Support-Team…&highlight=now%2C+word+customer+support+team

8) The stasher. If someone offers to move your items from character to character, why? You have a stash for a reason. Don't fall victim to this. Please.

9) The Midas Touch. Based off King Midas, everything touched turns to gold. A little joke I thought of for this scam. The person offers to show you a "hack" for unlimited gold, if you give them money. If they have unlimited money, why would they need to get gold from you?

10) The impersonator. Say your name is Joebob. You're a super popular person, and you have many close friends. Someone, seeing this, goes around impersonating as you, let's say they made the alt Xjoebobx. They could scam items from your friends if they lend to said scammer (Please also refer to 7) and boom. Gone goes their items.

11) The Cross-Gamer. This is simply trading between games. IT'S NOT ALLOWED. Samhayne once said "If it doesn't fit in the trade box, it's not allowed."
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?35270-No-cross-game-trades!


*Scams added by players:

I've met a scammer with "method" :

Congratulation! You've been chosen to Test New Items in Pocket Legend! You THE one StS chose! Give your account infos, we'll be giving you the item!"

____

A VERY DANGEROUS SCAM ALSO !

During event period, some players with sounding-like official names come and say :

"Free plats given by StS at "url of a website"! Enter your infos, and devs will give u platinum!"
careful, this is a scam which automatically change your account infos once they are entered :(

Cya :)





Remember!!!!!!
*Always check the CS, it's not always right, but it can help you get a feel if the price is right or not!
*Make sure you can't get those items on a quest, or somewhere else for a cheaper price!
*Make sure you hit the check in the trade when you are 120% sure everything is there!


*Will be edited with suggestions from people!

Stay sharp, and don't fall for tricks,
-Zaonabiuibil hmmm

[Astrocat]

hmmm

What's your point?

[TheHobbit]

Very informative guide indeed, useful for both beginner and seasoned players. Be cautious guys.

[ShadowGunX]

lol zao good guide bt....
that 4th point is NOT a scam :-)

[Astrocat]

One of my friends just got scammed. Lol. :/

[lakersrockftw]

Lol

[Astrocat]

Lol

It's not funny. He got scammed, and now he left the game forever. He got scammed 1337 gold, and even a dagger. /sarcasm

[Loopz]

The most common scam was not advertised here it seems. I'm very much in support of public notices like this. It's people like us who have to ensure that those young and unknowing and even those experienced and over confident don't get caught out.

This is what I would call the "It's way less in cs" scam.

Our main problem here is some people might not be checking the CS as regularly as some of us to know the general price range of some items. This allows an innocent person who has got all excited about their newly dropped Loki or Kettle eggs to get influenced and scammed.

Example

Scammer 1 - Paul
Scammer 2 - James
Scammer 3 - Tom (The Egg Carrier)

Innocent Seller - Harry (The Mark)

Harry: "OMFG KETTLE?!? YEEEESSSSSSS"

Excited Harry rushes to Kraag to sell his very rare pet for a small fortune and get the weapon he has always wanted.

Harry: "I have a very rare Kettle Egg for sale! 600k!"

Paul: "O.o it's 400k in cs"

James PM's Harry

James: "Hey I will give you 300k for a sale now"

Harry PM's James

Harry: "Ah man I was hoping for a lot more... 550k and it's yours!"

James PM's Harry

James: "Ah np I''ll leave it thx"

- Now at this stage Harry is deflated and decides that he wants to cash in before something else goes wrong. Conveniently James is still lingering around Harry.

Harry PM's James: "Okay I don't want to lose too much on this, if you will meet me roughly half way I will sell it now"

- Eventually James manages to talk Harry around and gets the egg for 375k

- In short the "Mark" was spotted advertising Kettle. Knowing that not everyone has the cash to jump in, Paul and James get ready to make their move. First Tom puts Kettle in the CS for 400k. Then moves in to position and gives Paul the message that he has planted the egg. Then Paul waits for another advert from the "Mark". When Harry advertises the Kettle Egg, Paul then makes him look stupid in public by announcing his price is way too high and that someone else has it advertised way cheaper.

At this point Harry's Egg loses value and almost becomes a sore subject for him. Emotionally, Harry is now deflated and all he needs is a little tap on the shoulder and a decent price to keep him sweet.

This is a very well planned scam and is common it seems. I find it interesting then that sometimes the once advertised 400k egg is gone shortly after the sale of the egg to James from Harry.


Tip - Don't always settle for sales outside of the CS if you're unhappy with the price. Hold on to it and put it in CS when you can afford to lose 30-40k. Prices go up and down all the time and you do have time on your side.

[Zaonabiuibil]

lol zao good guide bt....
that 4th point is NOT a scam :-)

Coming from you. LOL

[Astrocat]

Coming from you. LOL

Something has just been revealed!

[Chickenrunnn]

Proof the website scam exists,

22542

[Mrbananaz]

nice guide zao. too bad my nova got scammed :/ at least the player that scammed me doesnt play anymore. i confronted him on all of my 13 alts and he tried making more characters but i found out. lol

[Mondim]

Scammed ingame by Draoag, nvm. :)

[Astrocat]

Scammed ingame by Draoag, nvm. :)

Gratz! :D jk

[Binbinbash]

Great guide bruv!

[Astrocat]

Someone tried to scam me today. Also tried to scam few friends, with the same tactic. He said he was ''Octavos''. Tried to say he made a new character with a new E-Mail, so if I could ''transfer'' money for him by giving him some, and then he 'would give me back' after. Right. Fail.

[wowdah]

Mmm! Thanks for this absolutely amazing guide! I wish I read it before I got scammed by various methods by the same person who was my 'friend.' Oh well, it was a challenge getting back around 300k ish worth of stuff but in some sense, I know what to do if I somehow get scammed again. Thanks again for this guide!

[Lalarie]

Another scam, you find a crate, dude says "Hey I'll open that for you and give you items back!" You give him chest and he dc'd right after.

[Johnaditya]

I got scammed once in a very different manner, some people say "i need 10k to buy a vanity can anyone give me plz". I gave a guy 10k and then he/she gone off to a different map. Plz do not give any gold like this to anybody unless u have full trust over him.
Thank you.

[Zaonabiuibil]

Added a note under Chickenrunnn's addition.

Please stay weary.


-------------------
Sent using spray paint on the city walls.

[dontorro]

I'm almost got scammed today. the scammer id is we made a deal with Colton egg for 115.000 gold & 3 locked crate. but when on trade, he only listed 11.500 gold. when I asked him, he insisted that the gold number was right. lucky that I count the zeros. if you sold expensive items, make sure I count the zero first. :)

[Lipky]

It took 15 mins to read lol epic guide lol

[Bluepinixy]

34196

Also, watch out-
People can have accomplices to make the scam seem believable.
For example, one of my friends has been scammed once because of a scammer's accomplice.
It could work out like this:
Guy 1 says that he can 'double gold',
guy 2 pops up and gets guy 1 to 'double his gold'.
After a while, Guy 2 acts to be amazed and thanks Guy 1 for "doubling his gold"
Nearby people would probably think he actually doubles gold, because it 'worked' for Guy 2.

[Exoticdragon]

I've been scammed in a way similar to no.4.. It's just that he asked me to buy item X which cost 60k to trade with lepre.. I made sure that he has the lepre and bought the item.. Was just about to trade when he suddenly disappeared x_x careful out there, guys

[Maunyabastian]

Not to be rude, but seriously, scammed people are stupid players.

[AL_Newbie]

Scam or an old scam
I got offered free items cause the player was going to stop playing. So I msg him back saying are you sure u dont want the items and he said yes. He pulls up trade window shows me what he has and all his gold. Then he says "I'm only going to give to ppl who trust me. If you trust me I need you to do something for me." Then he says let me put your items on first and I give it back to you. Then I will know you trust me and I will give you my items." Do you trust me? Of course I dont fall for it and I report him. Look out for user "Venomprince"

[justaducky]

I bought a lvl 21character from another player. How do I change the character password so he cannot re-claim the Warrior he sold me*