SIC - Scammer Investigation Committee

I haven't been here long but in the time that I have been here, I've been constantly catching scammers and ban evaders.

I was at a similar community to Sythe a loooong time ago, originally called Reinet. It has since changed to Wartnet and moved on from being a Runescape focused community. While it was actively Runescape involved, there was of course a black market.

There was a usergroup at Reinet called the "SIC" also known as the Scammer Investigation Committee. They had no real power, other than they could gather up evidence and post in the report a scammer section to help prove someone's guilt/innocence.

It honestly was a great help to the mods.. they didn't have to run around hearing 20 different sides to the story. They had the evidence (if there was any) laid down in front of them, and could decide whether it was enough to warrant a ban or not.

Maybe not a visible usergroup or rank so that it doesn't build false trust to members that see them as more than "just a regular member" but just give them privileges to post in the Report a Scammer forum, to help provide evidence.

Any ideas welcome..

 

This and having every staff member process 5 reports per week or two would be great.

 

lol yes i aggree, then maybe Nick would see that guy i reported to be a scammer is actually a scammer.

 

So basically they are people who gather information about the ban and set it out in an Easy to Read Format? I don\'t really understand what you mean. Why wouldn\'t both parties post all the proof they have anyway?

Please explain in more detail.

 

@Magic Arrow

If you read the report a scammer section, at least half of the people who post a report don't post any proof.. they just say to watch out for so and so.

The SIC's job would generally be to talk to those users and compile as much evidence as they can (both from the person who is scammed/the accused scammer AND see if they can pull up any evidence themselves)

Also catching ban evaders, fake vouchers, etc could come along with the job too.

 

I now understand.

Anyway, it is along the right lines, a couple of alterations could go well...

You have my support.

 

This sounds like a great idea, it would be a great help to all the mods.

Edit: How would we choose the committee, would people just volunteer, or would people have to apply?

 

This has already been suggested several times.

1. There is a lot of information that normal members cannot see that would be relevant to answering scam report - ie, the member's registration email, their IP's, deleted posts, etc. Thus, an "SIC" could not help with a number of cases.

2. Many reports are ambiguous, and we don't allow bans be decided by normal users. A scam either happened or it didn't; there is little proof that the forums can provide if it's not in the screenshots. An "SIC" could therefore really only assist with evaders.

3. The time it takes to check whether a user is a ban evader is usually minimal - less than a minute, and can often be done in the course of checking whether the email does in fact belong to the reported account. When it's not that easy to detect an evader, it generally involves chasing webs of emails. From experience, explaining that web can take even longer than finding it in the first place.

4. It's hard enough finding mods who will stay active in that section. It's tedious, and not much fun - finding members who'd stay active for no formal recognition, at least for any sustained period, would itself be difficult. Those who did agree would only be doing it to seem more trusted (and you cannot claim that exclusive rights to post in a closed forum as a special "Scam finder" is not going to be used by some to try to boost their reputation).

Nonetheless, if you want to help, you are welcome to do so; any member is. Just post a thread with the proof you've gathered. Your report should be able to stand on its own - as long as it can, it's valid, and will be answered. You don't need a special title to do so.