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Welcome to Tyler's safe middleman guide. This guide is for anybody looking to step into the world of middle manning, or anybody who wishes to become an official middleman.
In this guide we will cover these topics
- How middle manning works and why people use it
- "Safe" and "Unsafe" currency
- Common types of trades
- Common types of scams and recognizing sketchy behaviour
- How to keep yourself safe as a middleman
- How to keep the users you are middle manning in the trade safe
- How the "Official middleman" process works
- Example of a completed proper middleman
Middlemen are users who agree to hold the goods involved in both the buyer and seller's agreement, and redistribute it after the agreement has been confirmed.
Middlemen are used in the occurrence that both users want to ensure safe trading happens, and both users who agree to trust the middleman may not trust the other party, but they trust the middleman
Middlemen are used in the occurrence that both users want to ensure safe trading happens, and both users who agree to trust the middleman may not trust the other party, but they trust the middleman
Safe currency
Safe currency is defined as any currency that can not be disputed after the trade has been completed, examples of these types of currency include:
Unsafe currency
Unsafe currency is defined as any currency that can be disputed after a trade has been completed, examples of these types of currency include:
*Note: As a middleman you should never receive unsafe currency that could put you at a loss yourself (ex. You accept a paypal payment from person A and send it yourself to person B)
Safe currency is defined as any currency that can not be disputed after the trade has been completed, examples of these types of currency include:
- Runescape Gold
- Bitcoin transactions
- CSGO knives and items
Unsafe currency
Unsafe currency is defined as any currency that can be disputed after a trade has been completed, examples of these types of currency include:
- Paypal transactions
- Runescape accounts
- Other types of account trades
*Note: As a middleman you should never receive unsafe currency that could put you at a loss yourself (ex. You accept a paypal payment from person A and send it yourself to person B)
When you choose to middleman a trade, there may be methods of currency that users are trading that you are either not comfortable with taking, or do not currently have experience in.
The most simple middleman experience works like shown below.
User 1 gives currency A to the middleman
User 2 gives currency B to the middleman
The middleman then gives currency A to user 2
The middleman then gives currency B to user 1
Not all middle manned trades work this way, One of the currencies may be "Unsafe" or you as the middleman may not accept a certain currency. Fear not! As a middleman you can still successfully complete a trade. For this next example we will have one user buying Runescape gold (Safe currency) for paypal (Unsafe currency)
User 1 gives the runescape gold to the middleman.
As the middleman does not want to handle unsafe currency the paypal is sent directly from user 2 to user 1.
Once both users have confirmed the paypal has been sent then the middleman gives the runescape gold to user 2
*Note: In the second example you as the middleman would make sure user 1 knows the dangers of accepting the unsafe currency (Paypal) before the trade starts
The most simple middleman experience works like shown below.
User 1 gives currency A to the middleman
User 2 gives currency B to the middleman
The middleman then gives currency A to user 2
The middleman then gives currency B to user 1
Not all middle manned trades work this way, One of the currencies may be "Unsafe" or you as the middleman may not accept a certain currency. Fear not! As a middleman you can still successfully complete a trade. For this next example we will have one user buying Runescape gold (Safe currency) for paypal (Unsafe currency)
User 1 gives the runescape gold to the middleman.
As the middleman does not want to handle unsafe currency the paypal is sent directly from user 2 to user 1.
Once both users have confirmed the paypal has been sent then the middleman gives the runescape gold to user 2
Common Types of scams
Recognizing sketchy behaviour
Imposter scams are the most common on the website. Very plainly put, it is where one user pretends to be another trusted user, so that the second person will trust them with their currency. There are a couple ways of doing so, But they can never completely imposter the other persons sythe account. The most common method of communication via sythe users is through skype. In the below examples you can see my skype, and somebody attempting to imposter my skype.
As you can see he attempts to make his profile as close to mine as possible, but the skype name cannot be the same. As a middleman you will be responsible to make sure you are not only talking to the correct user, but that both users are also talking to the correct you. We will go more in depth on this later.
*Note: Please check out Dunworry's guide on how to avoid imposters here
*Note: Here is a list of imposters for well known members: Impostor List of WELL KNOWN and/or CREDIBLE members
As you can see he attempts to make his profile as close to mine as possible, but the skype name cannot be the same. As a middleman you will be responsible to make sure you are not only talking to the correct user, but that both users are also talking to the correct you. We will go more in depth on this later.
*Note: Please check out Dunworry's guide on how to avoid imposters here
*Note: Here is a list of imposters for well known members: Impostor List of WELL KNOWN and/or CREDIBLE members
These are a little more complicated scams, but also involve the use of impostering. I will explain this more in the post below:
Okay so lets so we have a user that wants to scam you, lets call this user Time To Buy.
Time To Buy is going to contact you pretending to be Bleuskittle, and go through the process of talking to you.
Time To Buy is then going to contact Bleuskittle pretending to be you, trying to get somewhat of the same conversation that you and him had.
Time To Buy is then (pretending to be you) ask Bleuskittle to send him a pm on sythe forums (from which he will link your account)
The real Bleuskittle then sends you a pm, not actually having talked to you.
Then Time To Buy (pretending to be Bleuskittle) is going to scam you, while you are under the assumption that you are talking to the actual Bleuskittle.
Okay so lets so we have a user that wants to scam you, lets call this user Time To Buy.
Time To Buy is going to contact you pretending to be Bleuskittle, and go through the process of talking to you.
Time To Buy is then going to contact Bleuskittle pretending to be you, trying to get somewhat of the same conversation that you and him had.
Time To Buy is then (pretending to be you) ask Bleuskittle to send him a pm on sythe forums (from which he will link your account)
The real Bleuskittle then sends you a pm, not actually having talked to you.
Then Time To Buy (pretending to be Bleuskittle) is going to scam you, while you are under the assumption that you are talking to the actual Bleuskittle.
Recognizing sketchy behaviour
This is something you should be doing as a middleman. Common sketchy behaviour includes:
- A user claiming they cannot log in to sythe/Do not have a sythe account
- A user who is hesitant to provide information to you on your middleman template
- A user who tries to rush the trade along fast hoping you make a mistake
- A user who goes long amounts of time without replying, or makes excuses for slow responses
- A user who leaves the group chats you have made after confirming everyone's identities
- if its too good to be true it often is (mainly regarding buyers paying ridiculously high prices for gold through unsafe payment methods).
As a middleman it is important to make sure you protect yourself from liability in any situation. There will be more information later on in the guide on how to do this, But I will provide you will a couple pointers.
- Confirm who you are talking to at all times, once a group chat has been made between all users, only use that chat to conduct trades (other than personal information via Sythe PM)
- You are the middleman so you control the pace of the trade and how the users conduct trades throughout. If you feel unsafe at any point during the trade feel free to stop the trade.
- In some cases, when doing trades with Runescape gold as one currency if the middleman is banned during the trade by runescape they may be held liable for the loss. be safe and make sure you video record higher value trades! reference here
- Make sure you get all proofs of the trade! if somebody claims they have not gotten their money after send their currency and you do not have proof you will be held liable! all proofs required for official middleman applications can be found here
As a middleman it is your responsibility to make sure both users are trading safely, and without incident. This is why people come to you to middleman their trades. Below is a few pointers on how you can help the trader's stay safe.
*Note: Here are some good threads for you to to help educate users on unsafe payments, or for you to help find out if people are previous scammers/ban evaders:
Pros & Cons of Buying a RS Account
ASAPgang's guide to purchasing/selling a Runescape account!
List of Accounts NOT to purchase; click to report recovered accounts!
Impostor List of WELL KNOWN and/or CREDIBLE members
- SEND PROPER PM'S This is one of the most important parts of the trade, and almost all scams can be avoided if you sent proper trades as a pm. If you ever want to become an official middleman you have to follow this guide here. An example of a correctly send PM is here
- Control the trade: Its very important to control all portions of the trade for your middlemen, that involves who trades what when, and the speed of the trade. This will be explained more in detail later in the guide.
- Do a quick google check of the peoples skypes you are trading. There have been many occurrences of trades where one or multiple users have been ban evaders, or scammers on other websites.
- Once you have confirmed everyone's identity, do not start using another form of communication. Or another group chat. If the trade is delayed for a long amount of time, make sure PM's are resent so the traders are kept safe
- Make sure if somebody is accepting an unsafe payment method, that they understand the dangers of doing so. Just because you are middlemanning the trade now does not mean User A wont recover the account down the road
- Have your form require that any party wanting you to middleman needs to post both their skype and the other parties skype. This way should an account get recovered or a paypal chargeback occur down the road, public records are there confirming both parties skype. If they're uncomfortable doing so, have them PM you their skype instead.
- It's highly recommended you have both parties fill out the form prior to sending any PMs. Impostors will often not have a Sythe account and will try to get a PM before any forms are filled out. Having both parties fill out the form ensures they both have a Sythe account and reports can be written up should the middleman encounter an impostor.
- Be sure you're actively reading the chat when middlemanning. You can multitask while middlemanning; however, if you're not able to read the chat quickly, don't accept a middleman.
- If you see anything sketchy, be sure you notify the other user in a private chat. Point out what you see is sketchy, and inform them of the risks involved for that type of trade. Also be sure that you pay close attention to anything and everything, so that you're able to prevent anything that might possibly happen. Listen to your gut feeling.
*Note: Here are some good threads for you to to help educate users on unsafe payments, or for you to help find out if people are previous scammers/ban evaders:
Pros & Cons of Buying a RS Account
ASAPgang's guide to purchasing/selling a Runescape account!
List of Accounts NOT to purchase; click to report recovered accounts!
Impostor List of WELL KNOWN and/or CREDIBLE members
All information for the Official middleman process can be found in the threads below. Its is a long arduous process where only the most trusted users on the website become official middlemen. Official middlemen on sythe all have the rank of
The official middleman application guide
FAQ and middleman assistance thread
How to send a pm as a middleman
The official middleman application guide
FAQ and middleman assistance thread
How to send a pm as a middleman
In this next example, The users are trading a currency of 300M runescape gold, for a method the middleman is not comfortable with.
The user looking to trade, contacted the middleman on skype. Notice how to middleman controls the flow of the trade, and tells the user what to do next.
After both users have posted on the middleman's thread, The middleman then confirm's both of their identities from skype as shown in the picture below, then provides both of the users a proper pm and tells them to only use the current chat they are in to avoid men in the middle/imposter scams
While the middleman checks that the skype matches the users sythe account, he also checks to make sure the user has a clean history of trading and nothing sketchy on google.
While the middleman checks that the skype matches the users sythe account, he also checks to make sure the user has a clean history of trading and nothing sketchy on google.
These proofs are later edited to ensure the safety of all the users accounts
Before the MM gives the Runescape gold to the buyer, he ensures that the paypal has been sent, that both users confirm it, and that he is provided proof of the money in the paypal account (for his Official middleman application proofs)
After that has been confirmed he gives the runescape gold to the buyer, while taking proper proofs, thus completing the trade.
Before the MM gives the Runescape gold to the buyer, he ensures that the paypal has been sent, that both users confirm it, and that he is provided proof of the money in the paypal account (for his Official middleman application proofs)
After that has been confirmed he gives the runescape gold to the buyer, while taking proper proofs, thus completing the trade.
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