Scamming guide lines

[mini]

Ok in the event of what happend i would like to make a general guideline and tips once again about scamming.
First rule is if it sounds to good to be true it usually is......
The sad truth is that scamming will happend all we can do its try to avoid that it happens to us.
Scams can be done up to years so some you might not see comming.
But i hope this will help people to think before acting and escape most scams.

Money:

Now for myself there are only few i would trust with a huge amount of money and those people i spend alot of time with.
People asking for high value items or peds usually arnt up to any good. AND if you dont know them just say NO!!!
Its common to start of with smallar items that will be returned, that way they show they can be "trusted".

Also if people need help to deposit dont help them tru paypal ect.
If anyone says they have trouble getting a deposit in tell them there are different ways to do a deposit.
If this is someone you dont absolutly trust then dont do it!!!!
Ok if you know them in RL or its family ect.
But a common rule you should set for yourself is just say no.
Like i said before there are many ways of depositting, even tru ur bank.

Items/ trading:

When you trade always make sure to check both windows all the time.
I got scammed in this section once.
The one i was trading kept closing the trade window saying it failed, therefor i lost my focus.
I check the first times that the money was there but then got to hung up on the problem.
Finally the trade went tru but there was no peds in my inventory and the avatar logged out.
I got it comfirmed with MA that the was a trade at the time with the items i lost where there was no peds involved.
But they couldnt do anything cus they couldnt prove it was a scam and not planned or agreed on.
So if something turns funny under a trade be very aware or just avoid it!

Now i covored the lending part so ill move over to the famous "upgrade" part.
Well now there is a upgrade with tier and stuff and enhancer for items.
But always make sure you get what you pay for (wich goes for everything).
Be sure then dont trade the items in last second for something similar but worth alot less.
AND NO armor, guns and faps ect can be colored still!!!!
Only some clothes and furniture wich is marked with (C) in the info and on the clothes and stuff it self.

Im sorry if im painting a dark picture here but there will always be the few ones that ruins the fun.
MOST people will not try to scam and are very nice all im trying to say is be carefull and watch out for eachother.
If ur under doubt ask the ones in soc what they think about it and get some guidence there.
And again TWO MAIN RULES:

If its to good to be true it usually is !

And dont lend anything away you cant afford to loose !

Think i covored most of the common ones here.
Please do not hassitate to ask pr add info i left out.
And dont be afraid to tell us if this happend to you.
We will try and help you as much as we can or make sure that noone els gets scammed by the same person.

Getting scammed sucks so please keep the common sence with you and enjoy the game at the same time

[Thaddeuss]

A very Nice helpful post Mini

[Teke Styles]

An Excellent Post Mini, ++ rep to for you

I hope all current and new Knights take the time to read it.

[Seth Alexander]

Sorry to say, but scamming is a creative profession and thus it's always changing. Scams change, scammers change and some people will be scammed. The only thing we can do is be mindful and careful when dealing with people we aren't sure about.

Few months back we had a case, where a scammer was impersonating another society member and asking for a loan. That never made it here because he tried to scam 3 council members(at the same time lol). Needless to say that he was removed from the society in a few moments and reported to MA within an hour. Second accounts aren't allowed by MA and therefore someone claiming they are on a new account and asking for a loan is most likely a scammer.

Just adding a few things:

• Login Info Scam: i.e. hacking or requiring logins for whatever reason; needless to say that login data must not be revealed to third parties; don’t use your ingame nick as a login as well and change your password once in a while; alternate the login names and passwords you use in different contexts; to get hold of your login data the scammer might also contact you by email (easy to find on EU related websites), pretending to be from MA – MA won’t by no reason ask for your login info, so ignore
  
• TT Scam: this Trade Scam type is usually used on newbies as they are most likely not familiar with the trade terminal value of items; the scammer tries to sell items you can buy at TT or low amout anywhere else, but purchases highly inflated prices
  
• Drop Item Scam: a scam that is committed in crowed areas like PA or Twins most of the time; the scammer pretends that his trade window is broke or bugged and lures you to a less crowed area to drop the goods/Peds instead of using the trade window; naturally he won’t drop the payment, but pick up your item (or even has a friend to do it) right away
  
• Middleman/Trader Scam: a middleman or hired trader offers you to sell your items; this trade activity is not neccessarily a scam right away as there exist many reputable trade middlemen; the scammer appearing as a middleman may give only a part of the profit he made to the trader who hired him or won’t pay at all; so before hiring a middleman make sure he is reputable or ask for a pledge of a similar value
  
• Crafting Scam: a person offers you to craft something (most likely armour, but also clothes, weapons, faps etc.) for you; all you need to do is to supply him with ressources, sometimes additionally pay little; by the end of the crafting process you might get what you wanted, but a) you never know if the amout of ressource you gave really has been used and b) in most cases you even have to pay or pay more than originally been agreed upon
  
• (L)Item Scam: be aware of the fact that (L)items can only be used a limited number of times and cannot be repaired; before buying a (L)item take a close look at its state – advanced decay means that it has likewise representative functions so don’t pay inflated prices
  
• Event Scam: There have been reports about Event Scams as well i.e. people selling tickets for events that don’t exist and won’t exist; avoid unless the event has been officially confirmed (Event Listing ingame)

[Soul]

congratzs to Mini and Seth these sorts of input help the lower levels of out great soc and a learning tool and also a reminder to the rest of us..Regards to all

[Thaddeuss]

nice add on to this Seth some valid points their

[Earth Wind Sky]

great thread