How Not To Get Scammed! The Easy Way!

These are some big scams a lot of people are trying to pull off. Impatience Manipulation though is probably the biggest one I've seen so far, especially in the pin section of the forums. Watch out for these scams, and read this guide fully as it may just save you that extra money.

Impatience-Manipulation.
This is what a lot of pin sellers are seemingly doing nowadays. It has come to my attention that a lot of people are getting scammed out of pins and it's becoming quite rediculous.

First of all, I recommend ALWAYS using an mm unless the member is HIGHLY trusted with PROOF. I consider myself somewhat trusted by a lot of people. I am writing this so hopefully a lot of people in the pin buying/selling area of the forum do not get scammed.

Now, Jack is buying a pin. Joe is selling a pin. Jack and Joe meet on MSN and talk about the details. Joe wants to sell the pin for 800k, a reasonably cheap price. Jack cannot believe the low price, and firmly believes it's a scam. Joe says "I don't scam, we can even use official middleman!" Joe is seemingly a really nice guy, fun to talk to, etc. Jack thinks to himself, 'well, if he's willing to use an official he might not be a scammer after all! I'll just have to wait."
Since a lot of Officials tend to be on only for a little while if at all, Jack starts to get impatient. Jack is still talking to Joe, making nice and lengthy conversations with him. 1 or 2 hours has passed, and Jack still wants the pin and is still waiting for an official to contact him. Finally, after 2 and a half hours, jack has made up his mind that Joe seems like a nice enough person, and that he would be the last person on earth to scam. WRONG! Jack goes first with the 800k, joe doesn't say a word and logs off.
Jack just lost 800k.

So, the lesson in this story:

1) Always use a middleman, don't let impatience for getting members get the best of you.
2) Always make sure the MM pm's you on sythe if at all possible, to avoid imposters.
3) If a leecher says he will use an official, chances are he knows for a fact it takes a while for officials to get on and he knows your going to get impatient. He's waiting for that.
4) Never, EVER, think someone cannot be a scammer. In my opinion, 1 out of every 30 pin sellers on sythe are actually legit.
5) Only use middlemans with at least 4 trades done so far.

The Leecher Scam;
Leechers will tend to say that they've been scammed on a different site before, or their first trade here was a scam, etc. "You go first or no deal" is what they always say. Do NOT listen to them! They are just trying another form of manipulation on you! Usually, if a leecher ever says they will use an mm, chances are if you let them find the mm they are going to invite a fake one.

Jack is buying an account, Joe has an account PERFECTLY suited to what jack wants. In Jacks topic he will say that he's been scammed out of 30m, prefers not to use an mm, and will not go first. So, jack adds joe on msn trying to negotiate using an mm, etc. You get to talking to him for a couple of hours, he seems like a pretty well rounded fellow. He explains that he got scammed by a person that has 1000+ posts and was a trusted middleman going for official. He rats off some fake name and says you should never trust that person. So, you believe this, and try to negotiate a 50/50 deal. Joe agrees to this knowing that x money will get him to 82 mage on his pure. So, he does the deal, and after half the money has been given to him he runs off. Jack who has been here for 5 months got scammed by Joe, a leecher who has been here less than 1 because Jack faithfully believed what Joe said.

1) Don't ever believe a leecher, or anyone for that matter, even if they have proof.
2) They might be a 'trusted' mm in their own eyes but chances are only have a few trades done or none at all.
3) Leechers ALWAYS use fake vouches, if you click on the arrow button in the quote window and nothing comes up, its A FAKE.
3) Sometimes, leechers will just add the vouches into their sig as plain text, without the quote box. FAKE.
4) Leechers will even occasionally say that an MM has scammed them in the past, don't believe them and don't care, it's the only way to save your own ass.

The MM Scam;
People that are selling high amounts of items; gp, accounts worth high value, etc. will occasionally say they don't trust MM's. They've gotten scammed by one before, and only trust themselves in a trade. This is complete bullshit, if they got scammed it's their own fault and chances are the person was an impostor anyways.

Jack is buying GP, Joe 'has 100m' to sell. Joe makes a topic stating he has 100m to sell for 2 dollars each. Thats one hell of a low price, and jack is veryyyy interested. He posts on joes thread only to find out that Joe doesn't like MM's, he says that he has been scammed by an official MM before. JAck adds him on msn, talks to him a while, and comes to find that Joe seems like a pretty nice guy. After jack talks to Joe a bit, he can understand a bit maybe Jack isn't lieing about being scammed by an MM. So, Jack asks, "What do we do then, if we cant use MM and I dont wanna go first?" Joe says, "Well, I can't sell to you then, sorry." Occasionally Jack might even make new fake usernames and post on his own thread saying "Just bought 25m, went first, everything was ok" to lure you into a false sense of security. This happens a lot more than you think. So, Jack sees this persons post on his thread and thinks, well maybe he's legit. So, Jack offers to do 50/50 with joe, and Joe declines. Joe says "Besides the one guy that went first for the 25m, I've already been scammed out of 10m going half and half" when chances are Joe doesn't have any gp to sell at all and is making up TWO lies now. So, Jack starts getting impatient and knows how fair the price is and offers to go first. NEVER EVER EVER GO FIRST. Always, ALWAYS use an MM. Jack got scammed out of 100 dollars for 50m.

1) Do not ever believe leechers that post on someones thread that supposedly 'had a good trade' with the thread creator. Chances are it's a fake and the thread creator is the one giving himself 'fake vouches'
2) Always use an MM from the MiddleMan Application forum. Make sure that the MM has well over 15 trades done, if you are really that much in fear of being scammed. MM's that are filling out their applications are mainly MMing because they want to help. All mm's that are filling out their applications do not do it because they have to, they don't MM because they have to, they do it because they want to keep YOU safe during your trades.
3) Never believe anything a leecher has to say, they always make up lies so they can freely get into your pockets. Especially being scammed by a middleman, if they got scammed by a middleman, it was one with say 2/25 trades done.
4) Never fall into that false sense of security, you are just asking to be scammed. Never faithfully believe someone might be telling the truth, the only way to keep yourself safe is to automatically assume everyone is a liar until they prove themselves not to be. Scammers can lure you into a false sense of security in many ways.
5) VOUCHES! These are IMPORTANT! Some leechers might even have 'vouches' from admin, staff, MM's, etc. Vouches do not mean shit, they don't even mean shit on my MiddleMan application. They are just there for looks. Don't believe them. Chances are you might even add a seller to MSN, and they'll say something like "I have like 2 admin vouches and about 10 middleman vouches, but I don't see you with any vouches"
Big fucking deal. If you don't have any vouches, oh well, you can take your business elsewhere.
6) DESPERATION! This is a BIG ONE! IF you reallllly don't want to get scammed, don't be desperate. Desperation causes illogical thinking. It will usually cause you to get scammed. Don't feel like you absolutely must have that x GP today or tomorrow. WAIT FOR IT. If you can be patient and wait to see how the seller reacts, his methods, etc. you can usually see whether they scam or not. Usually, if you are patient and interested in negotiation with the seller, you can talk to them over msn for a few days and possibly talk them into using an mm or going first if you have a good enough reason.


Well, that took a shitload of time for me to type, hope this helps people out.

This is also posted in the character sections of the black market and is an extension to the guide I wrote about Impatience Manipulation.

 

This is really helpful for a new buyers. Gj.