How to not get scammed

[Dante]

Contents:

I. How to spot a potential scammer and avoid being scammed

II. Trading Awareness! [How to minimize the risks of being scammed!]

III. Different scam methods

IV. Non-refundable payment methods

[Dante]

I. How to spot a potential scammer and avoid being scammed.

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Hey, so i decided to write a guide about my own methods i use to 'screen' people to see how trusted they are and if it would be safe to trade with them. You might think some of these procedures are over the top but let me tell you, i have made well over 5000 trades in the past 6months and have never been scammed, not once. I'm not much of a guide writer or a good thread formatter but who cares, this is all good information so use it!
(have a killer headache atm so might change this around a bit later on)

1. First, before i do anything, when someone adds me on skype, i right click their name and view profile to check how much info they show, Some people dont show anything at all, others give a great deal of info. What i mainly look for (in this example im talking about a new member with a join date less than like 2 months old) is the amount of skype contacts they have. If they have for example, 2 or 3 people id see that as suspicious, who has 3 people on their Skype? could they have made a new Skype just for scamming? They might also have other information like phone number, country, etc. All good, useable info to gather.



2. My next step in 'screening' them would be putting their Skype name into the Ownedcore searchbox to find anything related to their Skype name. I also Google their Skype name for any results you may find related to trading etc. Most of the time you'll find something like old trades they have done, etc. This step is mainly to see if they have scammed in the past or any other interesting things.

NOTE: Don't google their skype display name, google their SKYPE NAME. For example, my skype name is aestyoc

Example of googling the skype user wow.exclusive:


3. Now after those 2 quick checks i start talking to the person, ask them things like have they bought xxxx before, have they read your thread, etc. Just chat with them for like 2-5mins see what they are like and make sure they understand your terms and read your faq.
A) Once your ready to trade, get them to post in your thread to verify who they are. Go to their Ownedcore profile, do a quick search on their recent posts if they have done any trades before, see how the trades went etc.
B) Now, if they are a new member 1 post 1 rep join date of that month or they are someone who doesn't even have an Ownedcore account, get them to make an account to post in your thread (most scammers want to trade already by now and your just annoying them)

4. Probably the last step here, if in step 3 you have found the info your looking for, see they are a trusted member whether they have done successful trades before or are a reputable member on the site id say its pretty damn safe to trade them them.

5. If you have found NOTHING at all on their Skype name, Ownedcore account (if they even have one), nothing at all. What i do is get them to link me their Facebook page to verify they are who they are. I match the name on Facebook to the name on their PayPal and on their Skype account(if they are using their name) if the person does link you their Facebook (or any other form of verification you want them to show you) and all information matches id say its a safe trade (Make sure the Facebook account is active, looks real like has friends, picture comments, whatever). If that person refuses to link you their Facebook for whatever reason (like they don't have Facebook or something like that) I would just avoid them, At that point you still have NOTHING on the person beside a Skype name. Even if they ARE a legit person who wont scam you, would you take that risk of losing your money?

6. Just use your common sense here, do YOU think they are trustworthy, do you think you have the info you need to verify them. Do you think you have enough info on them, when if something DOES happen, you can act using the information you gathered on them. this step cant be taught, purely relys on you and your judgement.


Now some of you might think this is a waste of time you just want the trade over and done with, but all it takes is literally 5 minutes to do all this, if you enjoy getting scammed for not spending 5 minutes checking everything is ok then this guide is not for you. So far doing all this i have never been scammed, now it might be my rank on the site but i have been scammed in the past selling unmerged accounts but that was only 2 cases but 1 of them was a long time ownedcore member and the other was just some idiot that didn't read my terms of service. I won both cases anyway. Now im not saying this guide is the only way to prevent you 100% from being scammed, but it will make it harder for the scammers to get you, make it a bigger hassle for them, etc.

I do still get contacted by scammers often, i normally weed them out by just searching their Skype name and finding them, some people are just stupid, yet, sometimes that's all it takes to find a scammer, LOTS of people i have helped who have been scammed, all it took for me was to google their Skype name to get 10+ results of them scamming people.


TL:DR
Don't be stupid with trading, take precautions
Don't trust the internet
Spend an extra 5 minutes to gather info about the buyer
Read the guide, not this part scrub, and take your left hand off your face

Few points I could add to this thread too - I have over 3 years of trading here on OwnedCore - Over them 3 years I've had 3 charge backs. All 3 I have won. So I'll just add a few pointers here that I go by.

1. Moneybookers/Skrill is better than Paypal - I generally only use paypal with trusted members, unless they goo through my websites payment system - Then I have my ToS - However if I was just trading over skype like Aest, I'd aim for moneybookers as much as possible.

2. The facebook trick is neat. Before trading I'd ask for the Mailing/Billing address on the paypal account, Full name, DOB, PP Email before they send payment etc. All this info can be used in the event of a charge back. In trades that are over 100$ or so, DO NOT HESITATE to ask for ID verification. This can be a HUGE factor in ruling out the scammers from the legit traders.

3. Once you get their email prior to payment, GOOGLE IT. Google is the biggest tool any trader has, google is love, google is life. You wont believe how retarded people are out there and the lengths they go to scam. I'd say around 80% of them use the same emails over and over again. Putting their email into google will bring up anything that their email is linked to - For example, Other trading sites, WoW Forums, Other game forums, EVERYTHING. Information and research is KEY. And it takes 2 minutes.

That's all i can think of right off the top of my head, maybe I'll make a guide some day or add to this list, who knows. Depends on my free time. Anyways, hope i could help.

-ShameLess.

[Dante]

II. Trading Awareness! [How to minimize the risks of being scammed!]

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Hi all! just thought i would like to share tis. hopefully its useful to some. Seasoned users should had already know most/all of these.xD


1)Always check thru the person's previous posts or threads as it can tell ya something abt him/find possible warnings. [Might take ya a few mins more but better be safe than to be sry! =)]


2)Check the Forum/Skype name/other details on forum or search engines.


3)Take Caution when the last post of the person is quite awhile ago.(the AC Might be hacked) [Might only nt in all cases!]


4)Take Caution of New User posting Threads wif doubtful website! use ur spidey sense! [no offense to legit new users!]


5) Misconception- the person is paying me first and leaving a note saying he wont chargeback, i should be safe?
No, Unfortunately not, Chargebacks/Unauthorized Claims can still occurs with the more commonly used payment methods like Paypal/Money Bookers.


6)DO NOT accept a Trade if the contact details are different from what is being listed in Buyer/Seller's Thread even tho ya received a pm/code from the Buyer/Seller's AC. The pm/Code just acts as an additional deterrence to the scammer,it is nt 100% safe. If the scammer is willing to go thru the extra mile, ya will be facing a
(Diamondstarfall is a scammer, evidence inside) Double-Sided Scam


Scenario as below~

XXX
Fake XXX
Fake DSF
DSF

Fake DSF talks to XXX, asks XXX to post 'talking to you'
Fake XXX talks to DSF, asks him to reply to his 'talking to you'
Fake DSF then shows XXX the reply, XXX ofcourse thinks its legit.

7)Also, i would like to suggest to only consider a pm wif the quote of a part of the skype conversation in the pm as a valid pm, which would unlikely to have the same entire skype conversation if he wasnt the person ya r speaking wif. It would be way harder for the impersonator to pull off a scam!


8.)Lastly to ensure safe trade, the most impt thing is to Pls check tat ya had added the correct skype of the Buyer/Seller or if a Buyer/Seller adds ya check the real skype name [Real Skype Name]

Just an Example



Like shown in the SS, put the cursor over and make sure it shows "diamondstarfall" or right click profile to see the Real Skype Name after adding as shown below.




The high-lighted Area will show the Real Skype Name![its important to check that they dun come with extra "." + "," and any other symbol!

Trade Safely & Enjoy!

[Dante]

III. Different scam methods.

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Knowing the different scam methods that are out there can protect you against against getting scammed without knowing what hit you. Here are some methods that are being used.

as this is unknown to a lot of traders, i want to inform you about the paypal invoice scam.
this is what it looks like:



the text note saying its a non refundable paypal gift is actually written by the scammer, while "marked as paid" doesnt mean the invoice was actually paid. also, there will be no money on your account.

stay safe!

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Hello everyone,

As pointed out recently by Caccastrana, and OC community thanks you for this, a scammer offered Skype video call as proof he is, in fact, HI5, a moderator here. Now, fortunately, Caccastrana did not accept this as proof, and while I can't be sure what the scammer wanted to show, I have a pretty good idea.

Below you will two images that will prove, beyond any doubt, that I'm HI5 (hint: I'm not):




Of course, it's possible to do this with a working chat (Shoutbawx), bit more work, but possible. Anything you might think of, looks legit right? I don't have "Add to friends" or "Ignore" buttons, like you don't have when viewing your own profile, it says "Welcome HI5", the link is legit (paste it in your browser, it will take you to the real profile). It even shows the activity.

The reason I'm going into details is to emphasize I made this in under 1 minute, I didn't put any effort into it, so for instance the small circle next to the name is gray, indicating that user is offline, and I could just as easily make it green, indicating an online user.

However, what you are looking at right now is a fairly simple front-end "hack", which means I spoofed the information off of the real page and represented it elsewhere. The file used for images above is a file on my desktop, so the scammer doesn't need to buy a machine to host it. I'm not going to go into great detail here, so people don't get cute ideas, but trust me, it's simple.

Caccastrana was right to request a post or a pm on forums, and you should too, especially if someone is impersonating a staff member. Staff members that do business here, as well as most of the other buyers, will usually not approach you first, that's why they have threads. So next time someone is offering you a call or a screenshot proof they are who they say they are, simply request a pm or a post on the forum itself. Not a link to the post, not a screenshot or video of a post, but a real post. Use your own pc to check it out and verify it's legit. If they aren't, make sure to report them in this section so that proper steps can be taken and they won't be using the identical approach on the next victim.

That's all for now folks, be smart and stay safe!
Peace!

The hidden middleman

If you're trading in-game or somewhere else outside ownedcore, and someone ask you to PM them something to confirm that this is you and not a impostor,
make sure to have them PM you as well.

The way this scam method goes is that the scammer talks with both the seller and the customer, being a middleman of sorts without them knowing. When the buyer asks the impostor to send him a pm, the impostor asks the seller to send the buyer a pm, and it seems as if the impostor is the real deal. And that's why it is very important for BOTH parties to send a private messages to verify each others legitimacy.

[Dante]

IV. Non-refundable payment methods.

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One of the biggest issues you will encounter when selling virtual goods is scammers. Most of the time it's the seller that gets scammed due to the buyer making a dispute on paypal and refunding the money. However, there are ways to get around these scams, using paysafecards or bitcoins.

Hey guys,

So recently I've had a few customers that have wanted to pay with paysafe card, generally people from Germany and some Scandinavian countries. Now, I never used to take paysafe card as a payment as here in the UK its pretty useless as nobody accepts them or has even heard of them for that matter - And I know Razor32 who sells a lot of gold here has the same issue of having very few things to use them for.

So I did some digging and some research and it turns out Skrill/Moneybookers allows you to exchange paysafe card to skrill wallet cash - Thus allowing me to move money from skrill to my bank or have a wider choice of places to spend the money online.

Here's the link for those of you who it may be of use to, bare in mind this is the UK link... https://www.paysafecard.com/en-gb/lp...account-topup/

Hope this can help out some other traders ^^

-ShameLess

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Bitcoins

Bitcoins are not refundable, and can easily be sold immediately after receiving them. There is a lot of talk about bitcoins not being safe as they aren't a stable currency, but that does not matter when you sell them immediately.
Here are some examples of sites you can sell bitcoins on. http://topbitcoinsites.com/

[Dante]

reserved
filler

[Bokutox]

Amazing Post..

Thanks, i learned a bit actually.

[chainheal]

hello. I have question about safe trading methods and how it actually works in practice. One of buyers from OC told me to go to ratchet and there we will trade face to face. It would be 500k+ transaction and I fear about getting banned for face trading so high amount. Also how payment would look like? Is it common that he ask me to trade first and then he send me money or we trade 100k/sum of money ?

[Dante]

hello. I have question about safe trading methods and how it actually works in practice. One of buyers from OC told me to go to ratchet and there we will trade face to face. It would be 500k+ transaction and I fear about getting banned for face trading so high amount. Also how payment would look like? Is it common that he ask me to trade first and then he send me money or we trade 100k/sum of money ?

The absolute safest way to trade gold is through the auction house, but then you'll lose 5% or w/e it is due to fee's. Other than that, face to face or guild bank is the way to go. Doesn't really matter which of these methods you use.

[Eryx]

Very nice thread. If people take 5 minutes to read this, and follow those instructions the chance of actually being scammed is very slim.

Good job putting this together, Dante

[Eder Claudio]

Im new selling online, this helped me alot I willl avoid paypal i guess lol

[axemurderer]

can someone explain to me why using skype (instead of PMs) is perceived as a good/safer thing? especially for initial (pre-trade) communication?

the fact that one's IP can easily be obtained by skype makes it easier to be caught (assuming that RMT is bannable in whatever game), which seems to be a tremendous downside. further, how does skype help ensure one isn't a scammer? one can type the same things, regardless of whether it's skype or PM or any other messaging program/email/etc.

[PapiChulos]

Wait, so you won't get scammed if you avoid PayPal? Not sure about the validity of that. Most scammers exclusively use BTC

[tribedarkend]

What happens if I sell something and the guy sends me 50 bucks to paypal and then I transfer it to another account and then he tries to chargeback? (money already went to another acc) what will happen"?

[D3Boost]

What happens if I sell something and the guy sends me 50 bucks to paypal and then I transfer it to another account and then he tries to chargeback? (money already went to another acc) what will happen"?

If he files a chargeback and wins it then your PayPal account will have a negative balance of $50.00.