[How To]: Sound Legit, while scamming.

**Biospecies** · 02-12-2008

BEFORE YOU REPLY: Please dont say "its all common sense, nub"
No flamers, just gamers :wave:

First off, lets start out with some things true in both WoW and transactions in real life.

-If people believe that you have good character/goodwill they will be more inclined to believe what you say. [i.e. - If someone believes that you are helping them out, they will be more easily taken advantage of than if you are being a jerk to them.

-If you want to be believed by your victim, you must actually seem to have the authority or expertise to know what your talking about. [i.e. - You state many Blizzard rules / policies, when there is no proof that they are true. Most people will not believe that you are telling them the truth if you are talking like you are someone you aren't.]

-If you are trying to sound legitimate, do not use word/phrases/expressions that you are unsure of, this will surely make you lose the trust of your victim. [i.e - You are doing a Spectral Tiger Mount scam, and when asked if you got it from TCG, you do not know what TCG is. This will immediately give you away.]

-Before attempting a scam, ask yourself these questions:
-What kind of image am I trying to portray on my victim?
-What can I do to make this image legitimate?
-What words/ideas can I avoid to not harm my image?
-What effect do mispelled words/grammatical errors have on my image?

-Being logical... Don't rely on people just "trusting you." ... People will rely on hard evidence/facts much more readily than a trust based system.

A little note on persuasion: Persuasion, to a large extent, involves convincing other people to accept your assumptions as true. Similarly, exposing questionable assumptions to someone else's argument, will persuade the audience to agree with your argument instead of the person arguing against you.

Using emotions to persuade your victim:

- Appealing to someone's emotions is often key while scamming them, if you seem more human... they won't readily assume your a scammer.

-You can use peoples emotions to help yourself out... Example: Say you are trying to scam someone and you are talking to them, in game, on phone, or on AIM. If they make a comment unrelated to WoW, such as "Ugh, my feet hurt, my work has me standing on my feet all day." reply with some sympathetic thoughts like "I'm in the same boat, I work in construction =/ I always try to soak them as much as I can to relieve some of the stress" I've found if you agree with what they say, and put in your own twocents then you slowly grow a trust between you and your victim. It shows that you actually show care for them and understand how they feel [even though you probably dont

6):"

-If someone starts to get angry: Let them simmer down or just cancel your plan all together. If you are scamming someone and they get suspicous / angry, they will most likely be very critical of your every move. The easiest thing to do is stay calm, and try not to sound so defensive. One little trick that works for me, if I am trading an item [i.e. Spectral Tiger Mount]
They say: "Your a scammer huh?"
You can say something witty like:
-Uh, ok dont believe me.
-Your loss?
-Well i'll find another buyer then.

around 80% the time, they will pst you back wanting to proceed with the trade.

Legitimate Writing

Last but not least, you need to sound Intelligent.
Which is easily done if you type correctly.
If I am trading my account in Trade chat...

wtt my accont 4 any other lvl 70 whisp me plz

compared to...

Looking to trade my account. Seeking another Level 70. Please send me a tell if you are interested.

The second one will get you a lot more potential buyers and give yourself a sense of "class" that will often times help you persuade the victim.

Keep all these things in mind while scamming, and also while posting on Mmowned!

L8rz!
Bio.