[Scam Guide] The Many Faces of a Gold Scammer

[Jankem]

Since the posting of some of my more recent and provocatively successful gold scam guides, I have received PMs with help questions on the general maneuvers of scamming gold. While it's always a case by case based on the different people you're trying to scam, some things remain a constant, and this will address those constants and the unavoidable variables.

To every situation, people adapt to deal, essentially changing faces for the times required. These are the faces I use, and recommend:


The Jack (Nicholson) for Conscience-

In recent dealings using the black mail (Offer they can't refuse) scam, I have tried to find something inside me without remose. Scamming can sometimes f*ck with the conscience if you have one (I do!) and you have to become that person who doesn't care. My inspiriation is Jack Nicholson as both the Joker and Jack Torrance from The Shining!

Remember people, you're not this person RL friend, it's not your parents, and it's not your siblings. True, you can get the twinge of, "what if that was me and someone took my gold?" Answer youself by saying, "I'd be a moron who was too dumb to NOT get scammed." Tell yourself that it's okay to laugh at someone's misfortune in game because in the end, he still has his real life and only took a small blow to his online ego. Laugh it up, like a crazy man. You're a scammer...not a saint. Remember, "If you gotta, go!!! Go with a smile!"


The Bond for Strategy, Preparation, and Professionalism (Uber Important!) -

James Bond has never once walked into a situation he couldn't get out of. He's been strapped to tables with "lasers" slowly making their way to his nuts, been in a fight on a zepplin on to land safely on the Golden Gate bridge, and most recently won 100 million dollars in a poker game. How? STRATEGY!

As a gold scammer, even I am sometimes taken with the greed bug and want to scam everyone I see, for as much as possible. After my first 1000g take last summer, I wanted 1000 more, then it became, why not two thousand...then it barrel rolled into "How do I get my account back?" I didn't have a plan, nor an exit strategy is shit went south.

When it comes to scamming gold, there are hundreds of variations that you can go with, from a hundred different scams. Pick one, and stick with it! Don't start with the TCG scam and then suddenly migrate to the enchantment mats scam. Make a committment to your scam, like a good friend, and stay with them for as long as you can. Granted, some situations require certain alterations to the plan, but once you're 100% familiar with the different facets and variations of your scam, they're easily maeuverable.

I love to use the TCG scam as an example. Do you know what card company puts out those cards? Do you know the newest name of the card set (Fires of Outland etc)? Do you know the web address to redeem the code...and on that note, did you even know that you had to redeem the code at the website before going to Booty Bay? See what I mean...?

The biggest name in the game is Preparation. Prepare to fail a thousand times, because you will. Prepare for the conversations that the scam involves, because a man with a shit ton of gold to lose, is also a man with a shit ton of gold to protect. Nothing is free and you better be prepared to work for the winnings in those cases. So find your niche, stick to it, and once you master it...start all over again with another scam. Eventually you'll find yourself coming up with your own bright ideas.

Professionalism is the final curve of this face. The stubble on the cheeks if you will. Don't get into chat acting like an ass. If someone flames and spams "SCAMMER" in /2, let them. Don't reply and if you must, sound like a f*ck'n Wall Street banker in your reply. Scamming takes some brain power, so you have to have a some form of smart banter you can shoot back if needed. Don't flame back, or say shit about his mother or guild, or class and race. Just let is slide, or use a quick quip to shut him down. The more professional you are in open chat, the more inclined people will be to think you're legit and not some tool with a pc and an idea on how to scam free gold. NO 1337 speak and never use the word noob. While it's always important to assimilate into the environment for trust, never become the bottom rung on the ladder. I know on my server, the only people who use the word noob anymore are the level 40 mains, and the Alliance kids. Seriously. It shows a lack of common sense.



The Danny Ocean for Quick Recovery and Exit -

Anyone who has ever seen Ocean's 11 ( not the suck-my-ballz sequels) walked away saying, "That was gnarly!" If not, you have no soul. The complexity of the execution to hide the scam is probably one of the most easily attainable, but strenuously executable traits in scamming.

If a man you're scamming says, "How do I know I'm not ebing scammed?" you need to know whether this person will accept, "Bro, I'm not a scammer, trust me," or if they're one of the people who need a little more coaxing. This is a short segment to this guide, because all I can say is that when it comes to a question like that...it's make or break.

Now - for the exit with the fools gold. Danny Ocean had eleven men with different roles...you'll have eight who all do the same thing. LAUNDER! Eight is for the most extremely paranoid, but these are the toons (including the one you're using to scam) that you're going to funnel your money through, delete, and recreate at least once. I'm not going to go into the crazy world of laundering as it's already been said a thousand times. But like Danny Ocean, you better know that strategy just as importantly has your Bond face knows the scam. Otherwise, you're going to "Hansel and Gretel's bread crumbs" Blizzard all the way back to your main.


The Jedi for Patience

In closing, I would like to say that while it is easy to scam, the resistance to spend it all is not so easy. Like right now, I'm scamming gold to buy my epic flyer on one of my mains. Everytime I get some gold, I immediately want to transfer it and add to my main's savings account. But I don't. Why? Because I don't want my main account banned. A transfer on the same day of the scam is dumb, let alone immediately following. Think about it like this:

11:30 - You scam the fool, but he's decided to report you and opens a ticket.
11:31 - You begin the transfer and laundering of gold.
12:00 - If he's lucky, the GM pops up and they converse.
12:05 - The GM submits it to the high ups for investigation. The investigation begins.

Days pass and they see not only the trade, the scam, and the chat logs. They see that your scam toon sent the scammed gold off to another toon, who sent it to another toon, who bought a piece from the AH for 500g. See hwere I'm going with this?

The first step in patience is knowing all long you have to wait. For this, log into your scam account and check how much play time that's left on the account, because that's the maximum amount of time you'll have before you HAVE to transfer the gold to another account. Optimal time is at least a week for the investigation to conclude. If they WERE able to bypass your laundering attempt...the gold is still ONLY on the scam account, thus not resulting in any punsihment for your main account.

While having the gold right away seems ideal, it's more of a liability if your transferring in game. So maintain your patience, Young Padawan. Worst case scenario, scam gold on one server, then sell it online for real cash and use the real cash to buy gold for your main.

I hope this helps everyone who has PM'd with your questions. I addressed them all (I think) but if something is unlear, let me know. Just remember the most important thing is having fun...if you're getting stressed from not having any luck, it'll show in your scams. So just go back, take a break and raid or something. But remember to have fun...you're getting ree gold!!!!

[IlluzionE]

No +rep. since i cant, but nice kinda.

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[neconide]

hey this is really nice.
Although I already know the tricks of the trade (both literally and figuratively), I couldn't of put it in such good words.

I wish I could +rep you.

[superizm]

The Jack (Nicholson) for Conscience-

In recent dealings using the black mail (Offer they can't refuse) scam, I have tried to find something inside me without remose. Scamming can sometimes f*ck with the conscience if you have one (I do!) and you have to become that person who doesn't care. My inspiriation is Jack Nicholson as both the Joker and Jack Torrance from The Shining!

Remember people, you're not this person RL friend, it's not your parents, and it's not your siblings. True, you can get the twinge of, "what if that was me and someone took my gold?" Answer youself by saying, "I'd be a moron who was too dumb to NOT get scammed." Tell yourself that it's okay to laugh at someone's misfortune in game because in the end, he still has his real life and only took a small blow to his online ego. Laugh it up, like a crazy man. You're a scammer...not a saint. Remember, "If you gotta, go!!! Go with a smile!"

LOL. the first time i scammed someone i was like .. damn. but it was addicting and it benefited me (:

[Biospecies]

You forgot, "Stupid Unsuspecting Noob." If you are trying to get a person to believe you aren't scamming them, sometimes its easier to make them think you aren't even smart enough to scam if you wanted to.
[Stupidnoob]: Hai wuzt ur playzer rating
[Victim]: Uh IDK.
[Stupidnoob]: Ohz, press /dnd account name passsword er sumthin to get it.

[Jankem]

LOL!

Indeed.

Tonight I acted like a chick who was using her boyfriends account so her account wouldn't get banned if she got caught selling. Once the guy dropped 500g for the turtle, I told him the truth about being a scammer, and then blackmailed him in accordance with my Offer scam.

So sometime, being a member of the opposite sex is a plus.