[Resolved]

[DakotaBC]

Scammer's profile link: Searchy | Sell & Trade Game Items | OSRS Gold | ELO (sythe.org)
Vouches if they were exchanged: N/a
Original selling thread: N/a

Proof of payment: imgur.com

Proof of contacting seller:

Here i contacted Searchy through player auctions asking for the creation info so i could unlock the account, keep in mind this account was hard locked as mentioned in the screenshot attached. He attempts to claim that locks can happen "randomly"? (completely untrue) hard locks happen as a result of a recovery attempt made with accurate account information, anyone with any knowledge of hard locked accounts knows that they're not "random".

imgur.com

In the next screenshot, i assure him that the account information he is providing me is not creation details from the account he sold me due to the recovery attempt being denied by the automated system (instantly denied), he tries to claim it is due to my location that i am trying to recover from. So i ask him to have the account recovered for me where it was created & from that point on he ignores any messages i have sent him.

imgur.com

The account in question is no longer hard locked at this point (convenient as he claims the account was made by his own workers)

Furthermore as you can see in the first screenshot he doesn't even attempt to supply me with the full creation details of the account (gives me country & zip code, there's no way he's that dumb right?) he sold me? but continues to try to tell me that he already gave me the creation details later on in the conversation?

A few weeks went by after this happened so i decided to check the account again, low and behold the account is no longer hard locked & has a different registered email address now. Now, call me a skeptic, but it all just seems a little shady to me.

Discord ID + Unique Discord ID: 314866321361862656

Login username of the account:

[email protected]


Terms of Service that was agreed to:

Player Auctions TOS, but as a large seller here on Sythe as well i believe he deserves to answer for this.

 

[President]

Hi @Searchy

You will need to respond.

@DakotaBC if you would be so kind, could you post the ToS of playerauctions here?

Thank you friends, have a good day

 

[Searchy]

Good afternoon,

On this account we offered 30 days of insurance. You bought the account early September, which means the warranty expired over 5 months ago. You had the option to pay extra for one year insurance, but chose not to. You already tried to dispute this trade on playerauctions, but you were denied because the warranty expired. Since this trade happened on Playerauctions, their terms apply so this has nothing to do with Sythe. Playerauctions already ruled in our favour, and I couldn't refund you on there even if I wanted to.

In response to "he claims the account was made by his own workers" never did i promise this, please send proof of your claim.

Nonetheless I agree this is an unfortunate situation for you, so I would like to offer you a 50% refund that i can send you directly (wouldn't be through playerauctions because that simply is not possible)

 

[DakotaBC]

I'm surprised you even responded, but yes although the purchase was made through playerauctions this is about the integrity of your business which is also conducted through sythe. It's very nice of you to offer a partial refund, at least that shows some sort of responsibility on your end. The proof of my claim is in the title of the account you sold to me? the part where it says "hand trained" or are you admitting you buy accounts from random people & claim that they are hand trained? if you dont mind clarifying id appreciate that.

 

[Searchy]

I'm surprised you even responded, but yes although the purchase was made through playerauctions this is about the integrity of your business which is also conducted through sythe. It's very nice of you to offer a partial refund, at least that shows some sort of responsibility on your end. The proof of my claim is in the title of the account you sold to me? the part where it says "hand trained" or are you admitting you buy accounts from random people & claim that they are hand trained? if you dont mind clarifying id appreciate that.

Hand trained means trained by hand (and not botted). Mods can close this report now, unless there's something else I can help you with?

Leave me your Discord and Unique ID here

 

[DakotaBC]

I’m just trying to understand, if it was trained by hand then who is the OO? And why can’t get you get me the creation details of the account you purchased off someone? Clearly someone recovered their account, but if you know who then why not mention who you bought it from?

 

[President]

@Searchy

I need to know what you meant when you said: "It is a fact that no email accounts are alot harder to recover than normal accounts, that's the reason why almost everyone buys only no email accounts. I just gave you the recovery details, but i guess it won't work since you live on the other side of the world"

Please clarify what you exactly meant when making this statement. Also clarify how you deduced that @DakotaBC lives on the other side of the world and what you meant to say here.

 

[Searchy]

The account was created in the philippines, so obviously it will be hard to recover if you submit a recovery in the United States (I assumed that's where Dakota was from, because the majority of PA's customers are from the States).

It is known amongst all account sellers that no email accounts are a lot harder to recover, ask around if you wish but not sure how any of this is relevant. This is one of the main reasons that most of the account buyers only buy accounts if they have no email set, since they are less likely to be recovered.

Anything else?

 

[President]

Hi good friends, thanks for waiting.

Facts (in chronological order)
1. Searchy bought an account from RuneMetrix and listed it on PA
2. DakotaBC bought the account from Searchy via PlayerAuctions on September 4th, 2022.
3. This deal included a one month-warranty. DakotaBC did not buy any additional warranty
4. Searchy never disclosed to Dakota that he was not the Original Owner of the account.
5. RuneMetrix started his scamming spree in January 2023. Searchy was knowledgable about this scamming spree and was aware that his accounts were at risk.
6. In medio Februari 2023, DakotaBC contacted Searchy about locks on the account. Searchy's responses can be found here

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Questions

1. Considering that the trade happened on PA, the first question in this report is if Sythe is the competent court in this matter.
2. Which platform rules are applicable to this dispute? Sythe's or PlayerAuction's?
3. Sythe's rules concerning account policy can be found here. The question here is whether Searchy violated his duty to provide (unambiguous) account information (in the aftermath of the sale).
4. The final question is if DakotaBC is entitled to some form of refund.

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Ruling

1. In principle, Sythe pursues a one-lane policy. This means that when a situation is handled on (a limited number of different respectable) platforms (including real courts), Sythe will declare itself not competent to handle the dispute at matter.

The trade at matter happened on PA. A dispute on PA would have (in principle) lead to Sythe declaring itself not competent. However, in this particular situation, there was no dispute on PA. Furthermore, the report was brought up on Sythe and both parties are Sythe users. Thus, there is enough reason for Sythe to be the competent court.

2. One of Sythe's rules regarding account sales is that a seller must disclose whether he is the original owner of the account that he is selling. PlayerAuctions does not have this rule. Given that the trade happened on PlayerAuctions and given that the sale happened a long period before Runemetrix started recovering accounts, PA-rules apply to this trade. Having said that, for the context of future rulings, Sythe has a margin of appreciation to deviate from this path and apply its own rules to disputes. Especially when users choose different platforms to bypass the mandatory consumer-protection that Sythe gives and unfair situations arise, Sythe may rule that its own procedural rules are applicable.

3. Searchy did not disclose information regarding original ownership, which is in conflict with what Sythe requires. However, from "2." it follows that PA's rules are applicable to this situation. PA does not require its sellers to mention this info and therefore, Searchy will not be held liable for not disclosing original ownership information.

Furthermore, in the aftermath of the sale, Searchy is not found to have provided ambiguous information about original ownership. Him advertising the account as 'hand-trained' does not imply that he is the original owner of it.

4. PA has a mandatory 1-month warranty. The warranty period expired when a recovery was demanded by DakotaBC. Furthermore, PA gives buyers the option to buy an additional warranty period, which DakotaBC did not use. Of course the point can be made that DakotaBC trusted that no problems would arise, given the big reputation that Searchy has within the account-selling community. Nevertheless, PA does not offer any additional consumer-protection aside from what was mentioned. Therefore, I cannot hold Searchy liable for any damages. Any refund offered by him is at his discretion.

(5.) I would like to request Searchy and all other resellers of RuneMetrix products to remove their RuneMetrix products from any listing. These products are extremely risky and when found that a seller is currently reselling these products, he will be held liable. I would also like to ask Searchy to reach out to customers that bought any other RuneMetrix accounts from him and inform them of the likelihood of RuneMetrix recovering these accounts.

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I am sorry for your loss @DakotaBC

Thanks for reading everyone and have a nice day