Prohibit the use of proxies and VPNs

As far as I know there is nothing stopping scammers from coming back to Sythe with a new IP (using proxies/VPNs) at the moment, in my opinion a very bad thing. My suggestion is to prohibit the use of proxies and VPNs as a whole.

Why would anyone use a proxy or VPN while browsing Sythe? It might be useful while botting on Runescape and/or torrenting something, but why use it on Sythe? The reason people hide their IP on Runescape and while torrenting is because they are doing something prohibited, would people who use VPNs/proxies on Sythe also have malicious intent?

The only way people are able to identify ban evaders right now is because they use the same Skype as before or (in rare cases) when they copy -> paste threads from a banned user. It is very easy to make a new Sythe account with no connections to who you are. A scammer could even go so far to use the earnings from a previous scam to fund his new account with donations in an attempt to scam even more, and repeat when banned. Why? Because nothing is stopping someone from re-entering the site.

Before posting this thread I tried making an account on Sythe while using a proxy. Most proxies did not work but the one that did work gave me this message:

Why not expand this and make it so every IP can only create 1 account, so even VPN, schools, etc (not sure, this might already be the case)? Besides that I already searched on google for a bit and found this:

One comment that I already got is: we cant monitor everyone and we cant block all IPs.
We dont need to monitor everyone. We could choose to only monitor people who donate, as they are most likely the ones that will scam a high amount of $/GP. New people, who dont donate, will not be able to sell anything very valuable anyway. Additionally people who make a shop (questing, skilling, etc) could also be monitored as the amount of people that donate everyday isnt that big afaik. Besides that, there are more sites who prohibit the use of proxies/VPNs, so why wouldnt Sythe not be able too?

To end my post I would like to ask you guys the following: arent ban evaders destroying Sythe, litteraly? When a ban evader makes 10 accounts, scams on all 10 accounts and makes a total of 20 victims. What is the likelyhood that some of those victims think "fuck it, i'm out. Never visiting Sythe again"? Already, when you go to like page 40 of any market, you can find that atleast 50% of the users that posted there are banned. Having this in mind you could predict that when the current front-page posts in the market place reach page 40, 50% will be banned again (most of them being ban evaders).

 

flaw #1. If I go to a college and use the schools internet I now am fucked because someone else at some point made an account at that school?
flaw #2. Auto bumpers are often set up on VPS so people do not have to leave their computer on 24/7
flaw #3. It's not hard to get a new home IP so if people really wanted to come back they could do it through that.

 

This discussion started here Is there any reason to use a VPN on Sythe?

My view on this is, as Factory New said above, what about if /when at school?

 

#1: Just tested it, it already is that way : Gyazo - 9f59961d407a2f0a5ffac3e6f583dbd7.jpg You can only create one account from an IP.
#2: Exceptions could be made for things such as auto bumpers, but it's a fair point.
#3: It would still make an obstacle for ban evaders. Besides that, the new home IP will be on the exact same place as the previous IP. Potentially hiring more moderators to specifically check for people that evade bans (donors and people that start a shop prioritized as they can scam the most) might combat this.

Keep in mind that the market is what attracts most of the traffic on Sythe. Ban evaders destroy that very same market.

@Sonia I just tested it myself (as shown in the Gyazo) that you cant create multiple accounts from one IP. It is understandable that you have to go to work/school, at which you might also check Sythe. It shouldnt be too hard to check if someone is going to school/work as the IP will switch back to the home IP at certain times. Besides, knowing the home IP is the most crucial part. It isnt very logical for a ban evader to only hide his/her IP at certain times of the day, as the other period of time the IP would be a match in regards to scamming.

Edit:

This is the IP audit of a ban-evading user:
Gyazo - c6079c626206a749a6cfdc5b72f1894d.png

This is the IP audit of a user that uses his Sythe wherever/whenever:
Gyazo - ca6373f20c9a99be42d0f13aed53d91e.png

Easily detectable imo

 

I don't know, privacy concerns? I've probably used proxies to access Sythe at some times. Want to ban me? I must have been up to no good.

The government should do this too, just in case, you know, since only criminals use proxies.

If you really wanted to, you could pull a Netflix and block entire IP blocks owned by VPN/hosting companies. You can pull them from databases and add them on as you go. You can use external services that detect and block some proxies as well.

 

Still, currently there are no preemtive meassurements to protect customers againts ban evaders (appart from the one account per IP which is a good thing). If proxies/VPNs were to get prohibited in some form it could prevent something like:

Water Services - Paypal Refund
water sythe scammer recovered acc
Water Sythe - Updated

It is only the most important part of Sythe, right? The market.

Besides I am not saying that everyone that touches Sythe with a proxy/VPN needs to get perma banned @Grave Please dont put words in my mouth, thanks.

Maybe make it so that users that only use (a) VPNs/proxies get a TWC/ban? Hows that? @Factory New @Sonia @Sythe Ofcourse open for feedback.