A Sythe catastrophe

So in the past 48 hours Ive been scammed 100 dollars. 60 dollars on an account which the seller managed to recover, 25 dollars on gold I was gonna buy (we agreed on 25 dollars beforehand), and another 15 dollars for the same reason^^. So far, I am very disappointed with Sythe. At first, the concept of Sythe was extremely appealing. A craigslist of virtual goods? Sounded awesome. But I soon realized that the Sythe community is filled with 12 year olds who managed to get ahold of mommys paypal (spare some trustworthy people like King Tijn 2 , of whom I will always continue to do business with). Another thing I realized was the lack of moderation, and the poor security measures set in place by Sythe to make sure hard working people dont get scammed real money by pre pubescent teenagers. This system is one that allows any random person to waltz on in and promise virtual goods for a paypal gift, only to end the msn chat once the money has been sent. Very disappointing. I dont want to give up on Sythe. It seems like a fun community, so here are a few suggestions.
-Maybe make an official "approved by moderator ____" stamp or seal which will help the newcomers to Sythe recognize the veteran gold/account sellers? The seal will be an object of respect, which all gold/account sellers will strive for, and will only achieve if they have completed a specific amount of orders?
-How about a more advanced, Sythe-operated, middle manning system? Take PlayerAuction as an example. Theyve created a fool-proof system of virtual business by serving as the middle man in all trades, and asking the buyer for confirmation upon the completion of the order.
Well anyways. I hope some Sythe admin out there will take this post into consideration, and make some changes for the better.
Thanks for your time.

 

I see your point, and I support, but there are some people like me who don't scam, but aren't trusted yet.

About the middle manning system, yes, it needs a HUGE overhaul. Huge support there.

Sorry about your money, hope you get some of it back, or at least catch the people who are scamming you.

Good luck, and much support.

 

Cutem thats exactly the problem, people like us with 15 posts are the ones who came to deal real business, but the kids whove been scamming for months and have a post count of 200 are far more trusted? its a flawed system that can be fixed. Thanks for your support.

 

I'm sorry you were scammed, but the onus is upon you to ensure you're trading with someone legitimate.

If you're worried, USE A MIDDLEMAN. There are paid official middlemans, as well as dozens of free ones (several of which are moderators).

Otherwise, google the other person's MSN address to see if they've been banned before.

You'll find that if you don't rush into trades which seem too good to be true, or don't adequate precautions, you won't be scammed.

 

Cough up a little extra money and use an OMM next time for a safe trade.

 

They're not more trusted, they've just been here longer.

 

First off, Im not too savvy with the whole OMM system, someone care to explain? And I understand the concept of the buyer protecting ones self, but when a newcomer to Sythe is unsure of these precautions, they jump at the site of dollar mills and their first experience with Sythe isnt a good one when theyre scammed. And as far as "googling an MSN"? This is news to me. Maybe if I had known this beforehand I wouldve avoided doing business with shady people.

 

Understood, but what it comes down to once again is the filtration of valid individuals who've come to take advantage of Sythes
virtual business oppurtunities, and the children who are unaware that scamming people virtually can be a serious offence.

 

It is a very flawed system, the flaw being the people. It's unfortunate, but with it being a 'black market' for a game primarily played by kids, the forum is primarily made up of kids. Some are exceptionally intelligent but most have no real understanding that scamming is wrong, and in an online environment it's easy to get away with. Luckily, most of them are also fairly easy to spot by their writing habits and trade history. Take the advice posted above me, and best of luck.

On the 'stamp' idea, there is already the 'Highly trusted' rank but only a handful of people have this... perhaps it should be handed out more frequently to those who have been here for a long time and have done a LOT of trades.

 

^^Noted.
And another thing hahanerd, your signature claims you will never deny a reply to a private message sent to you. Well hours ago before I was scammed for another 15 dollars I sent you a message asking for your help. I simply asked if you knew of any trustworthy gold sellers on Sythe. I got no reply. Not pointing any fingers, as I know you're busy and have more pressing matters to attend to, but this was another attempt to "protect myself", and IT failed.

 

If you can't spot a scam, that's your problem. It seems like you're essentially oblivious to obvious ones at best. We aren't going to hold your hand through the buying process.

 

Thanks for the input, and yeah the seal idea would be great, seems like an easy fix to a large portion of the problem.

 

That refers to sending private messages on Sythe when trading over MSN, to ensure somebody is not being impersonated.

The most trusted gold seller here is R2Pleasent. I'm not sure of others.

 

Just read all of the stickies before making a trade.
Check all of the persons vouches and read through them all before trading. Make sure you get full contact details and make sure they are legit; make sure you are actually trading with the real person and not a fake.

 

You win some and lose some. For instance, today I lost about $180(to Sythe members). It happens and sometimes you cannot prevent it. There's always a trading risk and everyone needs to accept that fact.

Now with the proper protections, you can reduce the risk. Less than 5% of my trades go bad.

Edit: Didn't mean to close this. Reopened.