How Not To Get Scammed !!!

Some parts in this quest inc operates How to Catch a Mills/GP Scammer | Your Survival Guide

First & foremost thing is, there is a chance every person being 99% scammer. (Staff & MMs excluded and are counted in rest 1%) Given the right chance and opportunity, people can turn in to scammers. The point is, how much money will make someone a scammer. Leechers for example, might scam for 1M because they don't have a long history in Sythe, a MOD position in here or high post count to loose. They will scam, get banned and simply come back again.

About MMs: In my Sythe history for exmple (thats 19 months) I've seen only 1 official Middleman Scam. So someone who talk about how MM might scam are pushing the limits. The chances of that person will scam you is 99% (as I mentioned above) To become an official MM, we have to go through a rigorous process including finishing five trades worth over 12M. You can see it by clicking here.


=| The 50/50 Scammer: Self explanatory. They ask you to give you 50% of the money first. Then simply run away with it. Never trust a 50/50 trader [You may if he/she got 'feedback' from buyers] Remember, vouches means nothing. Make sure you got direct positive feedback from previous buyers (of the seller) if you are going to give cash first.

=| I don't trust MM/No MM: The person would deny using a Middleman. The reasons they would provide would range from "MM might scam" to "I don't trust MMs". In all trades MM is highly recommended unless they are willing to go first.

=| Low cost Pins: Never ever trust someone who sells pins for 500 - 700k. I mean c'mon, pins are in demand; always. Why would someone sell it for such a low cost? There would be of course, hidden requirements, such as the buyer must go first (so the seller can run away with the cash) etc. Never go for low cost pins! They are just traps!

=| Credit Card/Paypal Pins: Sometimes, once you post as "buying pin", people would contact you via MSN and would tell you about selling a pin through Credit Card/Paypal. There is 2 high risks in these methods. First being, any membership paid through those two methods can be reversed, that means your account will run on negative balance and you will be banned in-game till you pay up! Second being, that when getting these types of membership, the seller would require to login in your account. For more info about this, read the next one below.

=| Give me your password: These kinds of scammers will say they will put the pin/buy membership on your account by themselves. Never ever give your account password to random people. If you do, they will just change the password, hack your account and run away. Its really stupid.

=| Go First: The person would mention in his/her thread that "you go first" and give him/her the GP first. Depending on how desperate they are, they might ask you to give them 100k to whatever the total cost of the pin. Again, if these people are really scammers, they would refuse MM.

=| I am new to Sythe/Scammed: This trick is self explanatory too. The user claims he is new to Sythe & talks about building trust and ask you to go first so he can show his 'trustfulness' Another trick they can pull is saying that they got scammed (not your problem is it?) and asks you to go first to prevent that. Actually, if someone got scammed then they would seriously consider using MM rather than trying to scam someone else.

=| The Logic Scammers: These are little grown up ones. They would talk how life is balanced and how one human should trust another one (or American should trust another American, etc, etc) If you talk about bringing in a Middleman, he would then talk about how a Middleman is a simple person with normal desires and hence might scam. Again, those who act like mature and professional & deny MM should be closely watched.

=| Fake MM/Impersonator: This is one of the most common one. These ones will bring in someone who is not official MM (their partner in scam) or an impersonator of a Middleman. An impersonator means they would have almost same MSN nick name as an official MM but their MSN would be slightly different. People fall for these kinds of scammers because they are reluctant to check the MSN or fail to notice the slight difference in MSN address. If you are doubtful, ask the MM to PM you in Sythe. Also, never accept MMs from another forums. There is two reasons for this. First being there is no way to confirm and second being if you are scammed, there is no way to report.

=| The "I gtg" Scammers: These people would agree to everything; including official MMs. Once they come close to the trade, they will doge the trade by saying something emergency came up such as their mom is being a bitch (again) or reasons along that line. This is to shred off the official MM so they can come another time and try to scam you when the official MM is offline. People fall for this because the scammer originally accepted MM (hence thinking he is trying to be legit) & due to the reason there is no MMs online.

=| Name/Hacked Scammers: This kind of scammer would have their Sythe name as "I Sell Pins" "RS Pin Sellerr" or in that line to show themselves as expert/regular pin sellers and would ask you to give them cash first because they should be trusted etc. There are also people who come in the name of "I hate scammers" or names such as "GamerMills.com" (some random site that sells/buys pins) and ask you to go first. In any case, be very wary!

=| Post Count/Duration Scammer: These scammers would ask you to go first citing their high number of post count or duration in Sythe. One should be very careful about this. Post count or duration in Sythe means nothing. It just means they are bigger no-lifer than you (xD) So never budge under these kind of scammers.


Preventing Scams - Tips


-| Read this guide: Well you just did, Congrats!
-| Check the impersonator List: The imposter/impersonator emails there are not necessarily the ones to watch out, there might be new ones, still unreported to the list. So make sure your MM's email matches 100% with the one who is talking to you in MSN/AIM. If in doubt, always ask him to PM you in Sythe. Click here for the current list!
-| Read Stickies: Well again, you just read one sticky (this thread) Stickies are pinned, important posts that appear atop of other posts in every sections and contains important information. One such sticky is the Complete Black Market Guide!
- | Do a search: Always make sure the person you are trading your GP/mills with, replied to your thread (so he is not some random guest visiting forums, trying to scam you) After that, do a search on the forums with his name to see if any complaints exist on that person (there might be complaints but that person might still not be banned due lack of evidence against him) Click here to do a search!
-| Take Screenshots: Like I said above, do not forget to take screenshots of the trade regardless of an MM present there or not. Always make sure that the person's MSN/AIM you are talking is visible in your screenshot. Otherwise, it would be rejected. Text logs are not accepted as an evidence against someone! If someone scams you, report him here with your screenshots!
-| Use an official Middleman: You can get the current list of Official Middlemen by clicking here! To learn about what a middleman is and what he/she does, click here!
-| Check the Seller: In case you decide to trust a seller, you can do a little test to check if he really got a valid pin. This won't tell whether the pin is valid or not but can be useful in other ways. Ask the seller for his country, then the phone number. Once you enter the phone number, it should take you to the pin-entering window. In any other cases (if it gives errors) then that means that phone number got trouble and so is the seller. In that case, do not go on with the trade.

If you know a scam that was pulled on you, please post about it. Thank you!

 

Interesting Guide, although most of it is common sense.

 

Agreed, but is helpful for New comers, also Mountain Drew already posted a guide like this.

 

Nice guide, looks like you put in alot of effort. Keep the guides comin

 

wtf is this.Your just making everyone paranoid noob. Omg. I seen people do 50/50 trades for accounts? 50/50 for pins? that doesnt mean everyone do different kind of trade is suspected scammer.And i always ask people to go first cause its more safe for me.Overall just be cautious and think logical and you will not get scammed

 

After reading this guide that was just a waist of sythe server space all i have to say is derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

tyvm that was really helpful keep it up!!!