Talk:Scam

Scams Needed
We need a common scams page ~ Kurd 14:49, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I've added a good bit of info on common scams. I also plan to get in contact with Gaile or another GM who may be able to answer a few questions about reporting highly suspected scammers, but that did not go through (because their plan failed, and you probably noticed the scam before its completion). Natso 20:57, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Do people seriously walk into that "Unyielding Aura" trap? That sounds really, really, really, (oh did I say "really" already?), silly. And I really doubt this can be a 'common scam', but meh, I haven't played this game in months... -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 21:15, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I've had attempts of it happen to me multiple times. That's enough for me to believe it actually works on some people, or else they'd have given up by now. Natso 22:27, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Festival Hats
Isn't selling festival hats for money a scam? 65.93.209.153 16:06, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Only if the seller leads the buyer to believe they could use the hat in any way. - [[Image:User HeWhoIsPale sig.PNG]] HeWhoIsPale 16:15, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Scam reporting needs a little streamlining--the whole process is confusing and daunting--in the meantime, the intentional Scammer continues to play knowing that if any part is messed up, hes home free. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:12.181.231.130 (talk).

Wrongful Accusation Scam
I have a feeling I've just been the target of a type of scam, but the whole experience was a little confusing, so I'm not sure. I was PM'd out of the blue with the words: "liar, u scammed me, I report u". When I assured him I had done no such thing and to check his Recent Trade Parters list as proof I couldn't possibly be at fault, he simply continued calling me a liar and a scammer and insisted I was "taking advantage of an 11 year old". The thing is, I had been trading earlier -- however, I'd been using a calculator and double-checking my prices to make sure I wasn't accidentally ripping anyone off. So I started to wonder if he was trying to trick me into thinking I had ripped him off (even though I had not been trading with anyone using that username), so I would guiltily "return" the money I had "scammed". I got the impression he was whispering other people and accusing them as well, because he mentioned that someone else was not giving him his money and threatening to report him. Has anyone else ever run into this? --Mme. Donelle 07:01, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Reverted, you're not allowed to remove comments from talk pages ~ SCobra [[Image:User-SuperCobra-Sig.png]] 20:36, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, ANYWAY, I decided I was talking shit, so ignore it. --Mme. Donelle 15:37, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

I might be able to help you on some scams there is one where the scammer says there trade is bugged and say drop trade when you drop the item they just tele to you yousing a skill usaly assin skills and take your item.

The Buying Account Scam
Someone was buying accounts for 400k and so I was talking to him, just to see what his technique is and it seems like an easy way to steal accounts. He says he wants to test it and will give you the money after the test. Anyone have any experience in this one? Might need to add it to the page. Retro77
 * Not sure if we need to add it, since this is a violation of the T&C anyways, and the only output possible is "you lose the account to the scammer, or you lose the account by perma-ban".--Fighterdoken 22:23, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
 * And the scammer loses their account as well. Double whammy. Nbajammer [[Image:User_Nbajammer_sig.png]] 22:25, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
 * So I should probably report this guy. I have a screen shot. Retro77
 * Heh, he's still using the old "I wanna test it first" line? That guy's been stealing accounts for ages; I'm not sure why ANet haven't managed to find him and ban him completely yet. --Mme. Donelle 20:41, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It's pointless, anyway. You lose your account and gain nothing. How? He gives you 100k + X ectos, or whatever. Even if (s)he's not a scammer, he's technically making no loss, and is gaining an account. 217.23.230.6 13:10, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

This still happens, even with folks offering to buy buddy keys and then telling you they need to access your account to deposit the gold since trading gold for keys is illegal - clear attempt at stealing your account. --Cceller 18:40, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

Some bloke
Said in some place he wanted to make a movie to show people how easy it is to get scammed xD. Whaddaya mean, obvious. Dark Morphon  (contribs)  15:44, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Question, am I a scammer?
Today, like, 3 hours ago, I sold 13 superb charr carvings, but after a few hours noticed the guy gave me a bonus zero digit, probably by accident. (Offered near 15k gold instead of 1.5k) I don't know, or honestly give a fuck about his name. Am I a scammer? Could I get banned?Ninjas In The Sky  07:02, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Your safe. Scammers do it repeatedly on purpose. Your in the clear, trust me.--Ryudo 07:46, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * OK, thanks. But how can ANet tell if he screenies, sends it to em and lies about it? Because if I get banned by acciden I'm gonna find the banning dudes and rape them. And I'm 13. Ninjas In The Sky  14:36, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Really, you have no true defense against yourself. Assuming they can track _everything_ you did at the time, they may notice that your activity was not scammer-like.  So to answer you question, and assuming you have told the truth here, no, you are not a scammer, but technically your actions _may_ have been like those of a scammer, and thus you may have "scammed".  Assuming this is your first offense, and things go poorly on your part, expect no more than a 1-day ban or so.  Nothing you can do about it at this point.  If nothing happens for 2+ days, you can assume you're safe.  Oh, and lastly, it would be to your favor not to respond harshly or sarcastically, if they do contact you (unlikely. It's usually a rather dull time, for the accused) Good luck. Natso 14:49, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I doubt he reported me, after all it was his accident. And it's been more than 24 hours now. Ninjas In The Sky  19:25, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

This is not a scam. It is HIS fault that he did the price too high. You didnt lie about something... so i don't thing you have scammed.. Just his mistake. Conget 15:44, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Though i suppose it's against GW's good manners. At the latest when the trade partner notices it and asks you to give the money back, you should give it to him, or otherwise you're not better than those ppl who intensively scam. &mdash;Zerpha[[Image:UserZerpha The Improver sig.png|talk]] The Improver 15:48, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * He didn't ask me for the money, probly thought I went offline exactly then, I just switched to another char to RA :P The dude might not rly care, I mean 14k is a lot for me, but he hasn't done a thing to get it back. Probly has tried to PM me, but I haven't seen anything. Ninjas In The Sky  22:54, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * OK everything Natso just sed was total BS. 1st, Anet can only track your chat, which is barely anything. 2nd there is no way in hell that was a scam in anyway (assuming u told the truth). 3rd u wont get banned. 4th even if u did get banned (no chance of it happening) u wont get contacted in anyway for a few months. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:Username (talk).

Same question, but, i was taking a run with someone and we were paying 500g each stop, 1st stop was fine, but at the 2nd stop i lost connection and when i got back on to pay him he had left, but will i get banned if he reports me? 90.220.192.215 19:18, 29 August 2010 (UTC)
 * You'll be fine, don't worry. "Brown stuff" happens. G R E E N E R  00:13, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Auto Accept Glitch Confirmed!!!
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/4274/gw047alb4.jpg

lmao... lookout of someone with evil intention knows how to abuse this for scam trade Conget 15:44, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * This is very old but some people may stumble across this section of the wiki and question if it is true or not. So, allow me to clarify: There is NO hack/glitch/exploit/ect in Guild Wars that allows you to make the other person accept your trade. The reason why you do not see the " has accepted your offer" is because when you click "accept" before the other person, no such dialog appears. It's as simple as that. --Strong Like Magikarp 14:34, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Quicky Scams
How about the "Pay 1k here" thing, where someone else in the run says that and people are quick to surrender their 1k without checking the name first? I've seen people get caught by that on drok runs before. euphoracle 00:29, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

ArenaNet / NCsoft employee impersonation scams
Are these common? There was a large thread on such a scam at User talk:Gaile Gray/Support Issues. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 06:03, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Bump! :P
 * Even if they aren't very common, I believe it would be worth mentioning something like "ANet employees (or GMs, for that matter) will never contact you in-game requesting items/money or account info (such as username and/or password)". Sure, sounds pretty obvious for most players, but, common sense is not always present on average MMO player... :P
 * Hmm... and, even though customized items will display a big red text, shouldn't it be mentioned they can't be un-customized in any way (festival hat & unique weapons, mainly)? Trading customized weapon/armor could be ok, if you're looking after salvaging its upgrades... although it would make more sense if you traded the upgrade itself. --NIN37 08:10, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Chahbek Village
I've noticed twice after creating Nightfall characters that some users ask 1k to complete the Chahbek Village mission, which is obviously ridiculously easy to complete with Master reward (it might not be a scam, or a rip off if it's in hard more, so I'm not sure 100% about this). Can anyone tell me if this is really some sort of scam or rip off? If it is, I think it's worth informing players about it.--Lynessa 01:48, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
 * It's as easy in HM as it is in NM. Anyone charging that kind of gold to get a character through it is an asshole.  But they're also a dumbass, since there aren't any Xunlai chests in Chahbek Village...  --Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 01:51, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Guild hall. 86.159.99.46

Monastery Credits
I'm somewhat concerned that what I'm doing may actually be a scam, but I really don't think it is. Would it be considered a scam to buy Monastery Credits @ 50g each? The point in doing that is so I can trade them to the quartermasters for scrolls, which are worth 100g each. It's making profit. Nothing wrong with that. But I do need some reassurance.-- Shew 15:19, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Not a scam, just people being dumb if they sell them that low. Misery  15:26, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * haha /agree-- Shew 15:46, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

scroll scam
ok, im nithon lomel on gw proficies and this dude named ice omen comes up to me and offers me 4 scrolls that give u triple xp unless u dont kill a thing in 30 secs and he sells it to me for 4k. i take them, use them all at once and then i realize can get them 4 360g at LA. i tryed to pm him that he was a scammer and to try to get my money back but he was ofline. :( anyway. can i get that money back?


 * No once you have made a trade (fair, or not) its final unless you can dispute it with the person. Dominator Matrix  04:41, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Can they ban me?
We were doing 3man city with a 600 monk (i won't tell his name) we managed to kill jadoth, the chest spwaned, but we didn't manage to kill shaunur, so he was busily tanking him, and me and the smiter opened the chest because we were afraid to lose our rewards. The 600 however, died before he could do the same. When we returned to the outpost he told us that he would report us for scamming etc. i told him that we did nothing against eula, and gave him 2 stones from my own drop, because i felt that it is correct this way. He tried to give one back, but i told him that i dont need it. Can they really ban me for collecting my rightful drop before the 600? lol I never heard such thing happen. I hope u can help me
 * I'm no expert, but frankly this occurence is one of the risks of doing something like 3-man in an elite area, sometimes things go badly and you lose out. Your unfortunate 600 should suck it up and put it all down to experience. The player will have to prove intentional scamming to Anet with screenshots etc. and it doesn't sound like that is the case here.  Personally, I think it's an empty threat that did what it intended - got you to hand over some loot. I think you're in the clear. -- BramStoker (talk, contribs)  12:59, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Phishing / GM impersonation
Could someone expand on this? I've already added a brief note on it. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 09:17, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Is this bannable offence?
If i gave (traded) something to someone in a good hope he will give it back, but he didnt, could he be banned for it? Ocravia Deathblade 23:25, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
 * ArenaNet has records and logs of all chat and trade sessions that go on between players. Give them an approximate time you agreed to the trade/loan, and if they feel the other person has scammed you, then they may take action.  Generally, however, they cannot force the player to give you your stuff back, nor can they feasibly restore it for you themselves.  If you offered someone an item without explicitly saying "you need to give this back to me," though, it's unlikely they'll do anything.  And even if you did, it's entirely possible they won't ban the player, because being a dick, unfortunately, isn't a bannable offense.  Usually.  --Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 01:46, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Perfect Salvage Kits
Why does this say they are not tradable? I've sold them. Is this new info, old info, or just plain wrong info?
 * I think that what is meant, is that they cannot be sold to merchants - they can presumably still be sold (traded) with other players. I don't have one available to confirm this tho. -- BramStoker (talk, contribs)  13:48, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Moa Eggs
Apparently scammers will relate a moa egg to a moss spider egg and claim they can be hatched at the Z Managerie... beware buyer... MrPaladin talk 11:26, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I did that once back before there were Moss Spider eggs I sold moa eggs for 100g each... Now i realize thats scamming though. Yay Killing Charr 19:11, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

(Reset indent) Late reply but I bought a Moa Egg for 100g ages ago having been told it could hatch into a Black Moa Chick and I never thought of it as a scam (it is technically true after all). Sure I was mildly irritated when I found out how much hassle it was to hatch it but honestly 100g is nothing in GW and seemed fair for saving the effort of going to get my own egg. 109.155.38.101 20:23, 28 February 2011 (UTC)


 * At best, it's dishonest if people sold it to you on the basis that it hatches. If they said, "hey, I sell supplies you need for the BMC scavenger hunt," then no problem. However, not everyone is eligible for the hunt (requires owning 3 campaigns) and, technically, it's the hardened moa that gets placed in the incubator. What makes something a scam is if the seller is counting on the misunderstanding by offering misleading information. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 20:57, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Outdated Links?
Are the links to support current or do they need to be updated? Sardaukar  03:05, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Buying Faction
Did not see it anywhere here, so: User said "need ppl to dump faction to my guild will pay 2k per 5k donated". Clear scam, as there will be no proof of "donation". Right? 74.78.0.55 01:12, 31 January 2010 (UTC)
 * That's not a clear scam, there are people who pay for that stuff. →[ » Halogod User Halogod35 Sig.png  (talk)« ]← 01:14, 31 January 2010 (UTC)
 * As long as there is only one person donating at a time, you'd be able to see the guild faction going up in the alliance panel. You have to be an actual member of the guild, though, you can't guest and donate faction. -- FreedomBound [[Image:User_Freedom_Bound_Sig.png|19px]] 01:15, 31 January 2010 (UTC)
 * which, still is not proof. Their alliance faction goes up, they can say "that wasn't your faction, that was someone else". Having to join the guild is irrelevant, as after they receive the dump, they could just kick the dumper.  Still seems 100% scam.  I can understand that people would *want* to buy/sell faction, but neither respondent mentioned an game mechanism to make it work.  I'll admit that there are honest people out there; however, the Scam page is about the dishonest people. 74.78.0.55 19:50, 31 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, it's a possible scam. Yes, people pay for faction donations. No, you can't say that someone advertising to purchase faction is a definite scam. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. If you do it and get scammed, report them. -- FreedomBound [[Image:User_Freedom_Bound_Sig.png|19px]] 21:31, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

Inflated Price WTB Scams/Ripoffs
This falls under the, "If it's too good to be true, then it's probably a scam," rule, but I see it fairly regularly. I don't see this particular con listed here already. There's been a scam tactic in game for a while now where one player will advertise to buy an item for an absurdly high price. Another player will start advertising to sell the item for a lower, yet still absurdly high price. The idea is to trick people into overpaying for the item, thinking they can go resell it to the first player. Of course, the first player will not actually buy the item he's asking for. The fake buyer will stand around Kamadan spamming to buy a gold or green item for something like 200 ectos, when the item in question is normally traded for ~5k. If you show them the exact item they're asking for in trade, they don't pay. Either they don't respond at all, or they make up some reason why the one you're offering isn't exactly what they're looking for. Another player starts offering to sell the item in question for only 50 ectos. Sometimes the buyer will be out of the district at the moment, and other times they'll be spamming next to each other. To be clear, I'm not talking about people that offer 10x "normal price" to just buy a mod and get out of Kamadan ASAP. These are cases where the buy ads are offering 100x or more the "normal price." I see teams doing this at least once every couple months. I sent a support ticket about one pair over a year ago, but I've seen multiple teams trying the same con from time to time. Support wrote me back with their findings (which is a weird thing to do) saying they couldn't prove the two accounts were working together. Punishable or not, this is still a fast way for folks to lose a lot of money trying to go for that resale. '''If you see someone offering an insane amount of money for a fairly cheap item, DO NOT spend any of your money or trade any of your items to buy one to resell. The insane offer is probably fake, and you're not likely to get your money back for the one you buy to resell.''' LicensedLuny 11:29, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
 * oldnews.jpg. - Auron 11:39, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
 * There is a weird correlation between those who have lots and lots of money and those who can't hold on to it very well. | 72 User_Seventy_two_Truly_Random.jpg (UTC) 15:16, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
 * My apologies if I implied this was new or if it required a particularly cunning nature to avoid. I did not mean to imply either.  I thought this page was to help folks avoid scams; I see this one pretty often in game and didn't see it mentioned here. That's all.  If the powers that be don't think it's worth mentioning, I won't pitch a fit if this section is deleted/archived or whatever the standard around here is.  LicensedLuny 22:38, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
 * I intend to totally rewrite/cleanup this page (see some of my contributions for examples... uh... there aren't many and they're not too recent) when I find the time, possibly tonight or tomorrow. I generally root through the talk for each page I rewrite (but it's hard for this one since half the talk and the history are people who have just been scammed saying something like "Warnings do not be watchedout if guys should offer lots of monnies"). If there is a place for this among the general or specific examples I will include it. | <font color="Red">72  User_Seventy_two_Truly_Random.jpg (UTC) 23:54, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Though the current article about scam is quite completed, I think it would be a good idea to make a special article in Wiki about players market, I mean the typical trade manipulations, market price manipulations and some kinds of psychological pressure. Strictly speaking, they can't be counted as scam and they are not reflected here, but they are intentional and very common nowadays (I have been caught several times too).
 * For example, one type of manipulation/pressure when you buy/sell an item, rare on market, is: "Minute, I ask my guildies about price", after that an offer can be changed significantly; you can't verify whether those conversations really had a place or not. Another type of pressure is: "I just saw on GW auction, the last price is..."; checking the validity of this statement is not easy because you need to open Web browser and find the auction page with results of such trades (note that there are several online GW auctions). Also I saw several times the things looked like attempts to manipulate the market prices using the multiple WTB or WTS bids with similar, but very far from the mean, prices; apparently the bids were made by one player from multiple accounts. In current market system, when a bid appears and disappears, it's almost impossible to check whether it was a price of real transaction or a fiction... --Slavic 06:30, 3 September 2010 (UTC)


 * That's a standard real-life negotiation technique. "I have to check with my wife/husband about that price. Oh, s/he sez..."


 * I think what you are suggesting is a guide to trading (rather than about scams) and the first two rules are: (1) do your own research before you trade and (2) decide beforehand how much you are willing to pay/part with. You don't want to depend on the other trader for information &mdash; they have a vested interest in concealing, exaggerating, or even lying. People sometimes have an inflated sense of their own items, which also affects what they tell you.


 * However, I must say that 99% of the people with whom I've traded have been reasonable, honest, and even helpful. &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 09:18, 3 September 2010 (UTC)

May 2010 rewrite/cleanup
Finished rewriting/cleaning up the article. As with all such projects, you are invited to make changes and suggest improvements, though I ask that they be discussed or at least mentioned here so we can arrive at a final page everyone agrees to. | <font color="Red">72  (UTC) 04:18, 20 May 2010 (UTC)


 * May not of been you, but someone spelt the word "scam" wrong, and instead put "scem" Lottia Saurus 17:09, 23 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Whoever's mistake it was, we should "a scem" what it means ;) | 7  2   User_Seventy_two_Truly_Random.jpg | 18:21, 23 June 2010 (UTC)
 * ^ old but epic. --76.22.247.48 23:48, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Group reward collect
well, just did a droks run and something interesting. someone in the group pmed the other ppl that he would collect the payment for the run and trade it to me as one big chunk. now since it was pm, i didnt know this was going on and no one in the group bothered saying in team chat. anyways, at the end of the droks run, everyone just left. when asked about it, they said they paid the other guy and he was going to pay as a group. when pming that guy, he blocked me.

so.... this might be some sort of running scam.


 * Sorry you lost run money like that.


 * I hope you reported the other player. ANet will be able to find out exactly what went on and take appropriate action. I can't imagine that I would agree to pay another player for a service without checking with the actual runner...and certainly without discussing it in team-chat &mdash; as a scam, it seems to have limited opportunity to succeed. Let us know if you find out anything more. &mdash; Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 19:51, 15 October 2010 (UTC)


 * a scam like this is interesting though. u literally make money out of nothing. lets say u enter a droks run not needing the run, get the money half way through, u then leave. runner gets screwed since he gets no money. everyone else feels akward since they've paid already but are then technically stealing. and u yourself get a ton of fast free money without doing anything. this is actually a really really evil scam. EEEVVVEEEELLL anyways.... wiki should probably update to add this scam. Nibelhim 23:13, 15 October 2010 (UTC)


 * It's close enough to the run scam (this guy got money out of a run even though he didn't do the run) not to add a whole new one, but I'll see if I can add a sentence about it to the run scam section | 7  2   User_72_Truly_Random.jpg | 23:59, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

pink dye
noticed a few scams going around with this pink dye. some ppl are claiming that things dyed pink that are customized can now be recustomized and are selling a few items like oppressor weapons dyed pink and stuff.i havnt really bothered checking, but then again, this seemed like a really obvious scam till a guildy actually bought a customized oppressor focus for 100k.132.205.102.79 14:35, 18 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Once an item is customised, It is impossible to trade. When you dedicate an Oppressor's Weapon or Destroyer Weapon, it is permanently customised TO THE CHARACTER rather the account. An example of this, My Ritualist has an Oppressor's Staff dedicated at the hall of monuments, no other Ritualist other than Razah or Xandra on that character can use that. On the other hand I have a Oppressor Bow which hasn't been dedicated and I can swap that between characters and lend it to my wife for her Ranger. I am not quite sure how your guildie managed to buy a customised focus item. The Pink dye doesn't make any difference other than making the color of the weapon/focus pink.
 * You can trade customised items. However, and this is the point of the scam, the buyer cannot use them. Cynique 04:24, 16 November 2010 (UTC)

Some things that seem like scams are actually..
Well, a lot of times i've noticed that what people are considering scams, especially for dungeons and things aren't really scams so much as the rest of the team just being asses. An example is the deep. After killing Kanaxai, the chest is still in a degen zone, monks grab their loot and leave, then as someone with dp or lower health try to get their drops, they die due to the degen. This isn't a scam so much as the healer just being ass. Another example would be the squad finishing a quest or something, then someoen zones before everyone can get reward. It's not as big of a deal, but it can get annoying. No scam there, just lack of curtasy.
 * And indeed these are not on the list | 7  2   User_72_Truly_Random.jpg | 23:03, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

Zaishen service
A lot of people are offering stuff like 'for every zaishen key you use i will use 1 of mine and you get all the drops', or some of 'for 2 z keys you use you get 1 ecto from me'...I haven't tried any of these for the obvious reasons,can anyone confirm these are scams,someone who tried...there are a lot of these ppl in GToB if anyone is interested95.180.76.188 13:04, 20 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Actually, there are some people who are really doing this. Apparently there are some that are even doing 3 for 1.
 * There are several threads on Guru of such trades going on. I would recommend going for one of them, so you can see a list of references, rather than just take a chance on someone in GToB.--[[Image:User Pyron Sy sig.png|19px| ]] Pyron Sy 02:33, 2 December 2010 (UTC)


 * This is a variation of the "drop it on the ground to trade" scam, prettied up by using zkeys and ectos. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 03:43, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Many of the Zaishen services are legit, I've used a few myself and never had a problem with them, many people doing them offer partial payment for they keys in advance which you then give back after they have used the keys and you get your items, just one of the few ways of making it safer.
 * Offering a transaction of any kind is not a scam. Even offering to sell an account isn't a scam, despite its being against the EULA.  Scams are misleading the other party by lying to some degree about a possible transaction.  --76.22.247.48 23:54, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

I don't see how 'you use one key, I use one, you get both drops' can possibly be a scam. It's an Explorable Area, so your chest drop is assigned to you, his to him. You pick yours up, he picks his up. So far, so good. Now he just maps out. You have used a key that you were presumably going to use anyway, and you have your chest drop. The only 'loss' is that he kept the drop he said he'd give you, right? So he's a lying so-and-so who got something he really wanted and didn't follow through with his original offer.

It can only be a scam if he asked for something from you in exchange ahead of time to make up for him giving you the drop, and then didn't give it to you. (And then it's you being dimmer than a very dim person for agreeing to do it not as a single trade after getting the drops.) Cynique 16:43, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I've got a friend who uses her keys this way, I watched it once and she got a Voltaic Spear as her first drop. True story. Some of them might be scams, but a lot of them are legitimate and you can spot the difference from the comments on guru.-- User Oneshot O.JPG ne shot.   16:59, 3 January 2011.
 * I have not used any of these myself, but I'll cast another vote that this is a case of "not necessarily a scam." The people offering these services usually seem to be folks who are trying to level up their Zaishen rank title and don't care as much or at all about the drops from the chest.  They offer such services to customers who don't care at all or as much about their own zrank but do want drops from the chest.  From what I've read on the Guru service threads, most do require that they're the ones who open the chest for every key used.  (Otherwise, they don't get points on the zrank title.)  Yes, that does leave the chest drop assigned to them, and there is a potential to scam with such services.  However, I think it's unreasonably pessimistic and misleading to make any claim like all of these services are scams.  The Guru service threads have been around for years, and I've never seen anyone leaving feedback in edits to their posts requesting the service who claim to have been scammed.  I'll second the above recommendation that anyone using such services arrange it through some kind of fansite where the player offering the service puts their public reputation on the line as a guarantee against any dirty dealings.  I'd also recommend that anyone trying such a service for the first time starts with a smaller batch of keys, so if there is a scam at least not too much money is lost.  With anything like this that requires trusting the other party to make good on his/her end of the deal, it's prudent to type out the details of the arrangement and both parties' agreement in team chat and take screenshots.  If you wind up scammed, at least then you have a record to send support showing beyond any doubt that the player intentionally scammed you.  LicensedLuny 23:09, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Vanguard Foes: New Presearing Scam

 * Source: Vanguard armor bonus > Merciless Evilphyre There are scammers selling weapons/armor/mods/ect. at higher then average prices in an attempt to convince ignorant buyers that they need them and/or are useful; but they have NO EFFECT! ^_^ --Falconeye 02:02, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Examples?
Should we consider adding examples? I ask because I added a sentence to an existing bullet to elaborate, and now the entire bullet got removed. I thought it was very helpful to explain some examples as I've seen first hand someone trying to scam me with the example I provided. Fortunately I was paying attention, but 10,000 looks a lot like 100,000 when someone pulls the "oops cancelled" bit. -- Kniblet Beast 02:16, 10 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Or at least update "modification" to include the "cancel trick" as that is no longer represented now. -- Kniblet Beast 02:18, 10 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Not much point in quoting real examples ("Happened to a friend of mine!"), since there are thousands of stories and you can't represent them better than the generalizations... maybe an illustration for each one though. | 7  2   User_72_Truly_Random.jpg | 02:31, 10 May 2011 (UTC)


 * (Edit conflict) The problem that this page has had in the past is that it becomes chock full of examples and too long to be of help in preventing others from seeing the type of scams out there. This article needs to be as tight as possible so that it's easy to learn about the most frequent types of scams.


 * In particular, the accidental change scam is really a variation of modification scams, for which the important lesson is: carefully check the trade before clicking accept. The more text we add, the less prominent that lesson is.


 * I would, however, support creating of a subpage with a modest amount of examples, especially the one that Kniblet Beast wants to add and especially if there were accompanying examples showing what the scammer's offer looks like. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 02:35, 10 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I will see about drafting something together in my sandbox then and will solicit feedback once I have something simple put together with some screen shots. -- Kniblet Beast 03:55, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Official scam or legal?
Hi,im looking for more info about a strange thing that happens often in trade place like Kamadan or Lion Arch: Some ppl sell items for a price X, and other ppl buy the same item, with the same req-stats-skin, for X price x2/3/4. in other words they pay 3/4/5 times the price that other guy offer.When the seller sell the items,the buyer disappear, and when you try to sell that item to the buyer WHILE the seller still selling, they ignore your trade,ignore your pms and sometimes (it happened to me) they put you in ignore list. Is it legal?Light Athena 10:43, 15 May 2011 (UTC)
 * See "partner pricing" under Scam. Be suspicious of someone wanting to buy an item at a vastly higher price than someone else is offering it for. --Irgendwer 11:11, 15 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Whenever possible, get independent price checks through your guild or via trading sites. The Estimator has recent prices from Kamadan AED1 while GW Auctions (the only official auction fansite) allows you to track historical records of actual sales (no registration required to browse current offers). — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 16:24, 15 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Its not that the problem,i usually dont buy things overpriced to risk a "powertrade",i usually go to guildwars guru and ask a PC on all.I just was wondering if 2 or more people are bannable for this,because its nor a "real" scamm. I mean everyone can sell and buy for a price they want because there isnt a official price list in game that "set" the prices.And everyone can ask for how much they want,Seller are not forced to sell and buyer are not forced to buy,i mean if i spam: WTB "item name"="price i want pay" im not forced to buy it,i can just shut off the trade and go away without problem.Light Athena 11:13, 21 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Trying to sell an overpriced item is one thing, but using a fake WTB to make the buyer think they're getting a good deal is where it becomes a scam. Putting up a trade advertisement in bad faith sounds pretty ban-worthy to me. --Irgendwer 14:28, 21 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Yeah you right but, who know if he/she is in good faith or not?I mean, good faith or no it doesnt matter untill you do the trade!A scam is usually when someone try to pay less than you ask,not pay or steal something from you, and we know all methods.Here it is different,now you put a WTB with a price,but maybe you never trade..how you know that he/she doing that trick?he/she can just be afk,or dunno...thats the problem.Light Athena 18:15, 23 May 2011 (UTC)


 * You can leave it up to ANet to investigate. They can find out if the behavior is unusual or typical for the accounts. If these 2+ accounts are in the habit of posting inflated WTB/WTS together to manipulate the market, then ANet can take action. If the second account is unrelated to the first, but is in the habit of posting WTBs that they have no intention of paying for, ANet can choose to warn that person. And if it turns out that this is coincidence or good faith offers from legitimate traders, then no problem.


 * The bad thing about ANet being judge/jury/executioner is that we don't know exactly what they do/don't act upon. The good thing is that this allows us to /report anything and everything suspicious and leave the burden of investigation to them; we are free from the obligation of proving guilt. — Tennessee Ernie Ford ( TEF ) 18:24, 23 May 2011 (UTC)