[Guide] Avoid being scammed

[Nimmtaz123]

Just a small guide I came across that I personally found useful so thought I'd post it here. Sorry if it's a repost.

People get scammed every day in the World of Warcraft. It could happen to someone you don’t know…it could happen to a guildy…it could happen to your friends… it could happen to YOU!

Some of these texts are blatant steals from other forums some are my own or rewrites.


Enchanting Materials
You see someone offering an enchant for free if you bring the mats or he offers it for a really low price.
You then whisper him to get the enchant. You meet up with him and give him the materials/gold and you see the person logging off in front of you… Goodbye mats, goodbye gold.

Tips:
* Use the Armory to see the professions the player has
* Don’t deal with lvl 1 alts unless you know the person, especially the guidless ones =)
* Ask in your guild if someone knows the person you’re dealing with



Problem with the Trade Window
Another old classic. You advertise something in /2 to be traded and get a great offer from someone. As you meet to trade, you make sure everything checks out... only to have more and more issues accepting the deal: The window keeps closing. Your buyer explains that sometimes he had a problem with his trades due to an UI and apologizes. You start to get annoyed after mishap-trade number 12 and start to just no longer check the correct amount before accepting the deal... and suddenly, there was a zero behind the gold amount missing.

If you happen to run into someone like that: Don't force the trade. Say you're sorry, but you've lost interest in dealing with them and find someone else.
You could also put it into an auction if the buyer insists he wants this item but just has problems with his trade window. Who knows, it may be true. But you would of course lose 5% to the greedy Auctioneers (15% in the neutral auction houses!).
Or send it C.O.D. to the person.


Buying the wrong item
Another nice one is this. You see an item advertised in /2 and think this is great and at a great price, too. You go to meet for the buy up. The seller is very friendly, lets you check the item before you enter the gold amount ... and suddenly the trade is halted because the sellers side wasn't green anymore. With an apology the field is marked green again and the trade is finished. But as you want to admire your new item - It's NOT what you thought you bought!
Many items in WoW have the same icon. If you do not make absolutely sure, that what the seller confirmed in the trade is what you were looking for, you may end up buying something else entirely. One example I can think of is a lvl 54 shield that looks precisely like a lvl 16 shield. Same look, same icon. But a massive value difference.
Another variation of this is "Let me add something" and you find the trade cancelled because he added something gift-wrapped. The swicheroo is still there, but you get distracted with the help of the gift. Ooh, shiny!

Tip:
* Always hover your mouse pointer over the item you are after when his side of the window is green.


Scammed by the Auction House
When going on a shopping spree in the AH people sometimes click an entire row of items then want to buy. For example you are levelling your tailoring and need a lot of wool.
You go to the auctioneer and search for wool. And you just start buying them out. Not seeing the stack of wool that’s there for 99g instead of 99s. Sometimes more expensive items pop up at the top. So always double check the amount for which you make a buyout.

Tip:
* When buying a row of stuff scroll through all of the results first. See if there’s a scam item in between and make sure to avoid that one!
* Do not forget that if the bidding price is the same as the buyout price, the item will be bought on the spot.
* Make sure you note down names and amounts of your transactions, your Auction House mail will help you there. Keep in mind, that this mail will be deleted the moment you remove money or item of the transaction.


NPC goods resold:
Maybe unnoticed by some, we have some new vendor-sold items such as lvl 55 Bullets and arrows. These items cost you a handful of silvers at these vendors (General Goods Vendors for example).
So, if you suddenly see items on the AH you have not seen before the last patch (especially white items!): Make SURE you can not buy them before you spend a lot of money on them needlessly. These items can be anything: New Recipes for the new crafting skills, bullets, food or even weapons!

Sidenote:
Some of these items aren’t prices a lot higher than the vendor costs, but people bought them and sell them on the AH so you don’t have to travel to the vendor. It might cost you a gold or two extra, but you got it now instead of having to go and get it.

Tip:
* Check the item on thottbot/wowhead or any other site.


In-Game Mail scams
These usually are very very obvious, but they still claim victims. There are different varieties, so each gets their own space here. As with all above scams: GMs cannot help you. Open your eyes and check precisely should you get a pop-up if this is what you really want to agree to.
Since the patch of 14.2.2007, gift-wrapped items can no longer be send as a CoD, so this helps. Make sure you still stay alert to these, as they seem to not die out.


The Fake Quest
Very popular. You'll get a mail from someone who looks like he has an NPC name. Sometimes they try to imitate the name of Allfather Winter or something. Either way, they send you a nicely written (or not, sometimes with spelling errors that are deadly obvious) letter with an attached parcel. This parcel is C.O.D. Sometimes the scammer even points that out in the letter, claiming this is to receive a quest item. Sometimes they just don't mention it.
Morale of the story: Do not accept a C.O.D. from an NPC. They either sell you their stuff, or they give you a gift. I don't know a single NPC who sends you a C.O.D.


The Dirty Trade
So you see in /2 this great ad, the item is terribly cheap and you already look forward to your new Brightwood-Staff.
Whispering the guy, he says he will have to mail it, as he is currently on a griffin already.
What you are about to receive is a gift-wrapped item. The letter itself might read "Brightwood Staff", but can you know that from the parcel? No. You cannot, and the seller can have changed the topic from "Gift wrapped Parcel" anyhow. So, if you accept now, you might soon be the proud owner of a 200g Flint and Tinder.
In this case: Decline the letter or send it back straight away (make SURE you do not click on "Accept to pay"!). Contact the sender and tell him, that you'll be happy to buy, but only if he unwraps the staff and sends it back to you again. Chances are you won't hear from him again now.
And, no, unwrapping a BoE does NOT bind it ! They might claim so to make you buy it wrapped after all. If they do you're better off not bothering anymore.


The wrong receiver.
Oh, lookie here! I got a parcel with a letter attached.
"Dear Eäna, here is the item you asked for. As we agreed, you'll get it for only XXg, it's the pure cost of the material. If you need something from the Vault again, talk to Randomnameofrandomguild yourself, I'm sure we can help you!
See you! Benny"
Rub your hands, babe! They put in the wrong person and now I get this really cool epic for only 10g!
... or maybe not. As many of the bigger renown guilds will let you know, there are people out there disguised as "Bankoflc", posing as the raid bank or guild bank and trying to make you believe they send you a guild-internal by accident.
These guys abuse the standing and hard work of someone else's guild and it's a really nasty matter.
As before: Don't accept it. Send it back.
If it was a mistake you did well and get a push of karma.
if it wasn't: Up your's, Mr Scammer!
(This also works with just a random name, not all of them pose as guild/raid banks)

The lookalike:
You see someone offering a righteous orb in /2 for a low price and you whisper him you want it. He says he just left the town, but he will C.O.D. it to you. And yes within about 2 hours you receive a C.O.D. item. You open the item and you are now the proud owner of a very expensive Small Lustrous Pearl.

Tip:
* Always hover over the item that was send before clicking on it!



The high price buyer
This is the new scam I saw yesterday. You see a level XX shouting in trade.
“WTB Assassins Blade 300g”
Looks normal right… It does… but the next few steps don’t
“WTB Assassins Blade 400G!”
Wow… high bidder…
“OK, WTB Assassins Blade 500G!”
Damn this guy wants the item.
You wonder how much assassins blade goes for nowadays and open the AH. Assassins Blade is on the AH for 400G… OMG 100g profit in 1 minute! You buy it out and whisper the guy you got it. He then says he doesn’t need it anymore or simply logs off.
He then logs onto his alt that sold you the Assassins Blade for 400g and collects your money.

Tip:
* If someone shouts in /2 that he wants an item and offers a price, and the item is on the AH for a lower price. Chances are big that the item on the AH is his! A sneaky way of selling scamming.



Important anti scamming tips:
* Always hover your mouse over an item you’re buying.
* Never buy gift wrapped items (you don’t pay for a present!)
* Never deal with lvl 1 alts
* Double check prices on items
* Check the persons professions on the Armory
* Use WoW database websites to verify prices/vendors.

[Vitaliciedade]

Nise.. guide, I'd rep if i could

[RyeRye1]

Yep nice guide..

[cl3ver]

Nice guide. I have another way to avoid being scammed out of game.



Go to MMOwned.com
Check the scams section
Join the scamming and learn to defend yourself from new, fresh, tasty scams made by smexy scam gods .