How to not get scammed ingame (NOOB)

[Haitamo]

Enchanting Materials
Now this old classic is sadly still so common it's heart-wrenching. You run about IF, wondering what to do with your day and then you see it in /2! You've ALWAYS wanted that enchant and THIS GUY offers it for only material OR for a price so low you are happy to see that he has no clue on how much a Nexus Crystal is REALLY worth! A quick /w later and you guys meet up. You trade away your gold or your material.... and then find yourself the receiver of a /point /lol /wave. Your stuff is gone and no GM will want to listen to your heartache. Which sucks, but the GMs can't help because Blizz wrote in their policies that if you hand another player something, it's final. No promise given; no "contract" signed via in game mail - nothing will help you get your stuff back.
The only way you can protect yourself here, is by using your smarts for a moment.
First up, if you want an expensive enchant or recipe, ask around first. Start in your guild. If no one there can make you what you wish to have, ask them if they know someone who can. Maybe from a friend in a raiding group. Maybe someone who is renown to be an honest trader. Always make sure the offer isn't "too good to be true", because often - it's not.
And never EVER deal with a lvl 1 enchanter. They aren't enchanters, I guarantee it.
Silver's Note: As of TBC some enchanters ARE offering free enchants to skill up - ask for references, preferably one inside their guild and one outside. If in doubt, don't do it.

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.
Same procedure, a GM can not help you here.
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!).

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! And as above: GMs cannot help you.
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 canceled because he added something gift-wrapped. The swicheroo is still there, but you get distracted with the help of the gift. Ooh, shiny!
Scammed by the Auction House
I put the same posting on my guilds forum and Eavangelina was kind enough to point out I forget this little bugger, that can get you due to sleepiness or a rushed AH.
Eavangelina: It's really simple: somebody lists a lowish stack of materials/item/whatever for a low bid price, but with a 99g BO price. Due to the way the AH orders auctions, it'll appear on top of the list, even below those 1g-something silver items. Without actually checking the actual amount, you think "yay, cheap!" and press that comforting big red Buy Out button. Congratulations, you are now the owner of a stack of metal bars of 99g. Do not forget that if the bidding price is the same as the buyout price, the item will be bought on the spot.
Please also be aware, that this CAN be an accident from the buyer.
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 to 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...
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 CoD 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 CoD.

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)

Slight Misspells
Now this one usually points fingers at renown, high-level players or guild mates of yours... As such, I'm using one of my own chars as example! *pose*
You get a CoD scam from a char named Sylverwynd. But as you come to me, I don't honestly know what you're talking about. Because whoever scammed you made a new char: Isharamír or Isharamìr or maybe Isharamîr. Looks the same sadly in the WoW-font in game even more so. But the dot on the second i are accents and can be created by someone else without me even knowing about it.
Don't fall for it. Should someone from your guild send you a CoD, ask them what it's for or why they CoDed you. If it's someone from another guild, contact them in game. But look out for the precise way the dots or accents are placed.
Also, if you get whispered by "the alt of your guild mate" who quickly asks you for some money to buy XYZ on the AH... don't. Ask your guild mate when he's online or tell the whisperer that you will give money only to chars you know yourself.

[Mythers]

Really nice list. Was this guys, that sold Spectral mount. And i asked how much, he answerd 200 g. And i was like: Ofc..... ^^

Edit: Oh yea, rep

[Haitamo]

Thank you btw I use all of the scams above to scam people but I just wanted to help the community out by telling you how to not get scameed

[Mythers]

Thank you btw I use all of the scams above to scam people but I just wanted to help the community out by telling you how to not get scameed

Ty for sharing it

[Killa Queen!!1!]

Thank you btw I use all of the scams above to scam people but I just wanted to help the community out by telling you how to not get scameed

hypocrit.....should i use my last rep....yeah sure +Rep

[Kasiosis]

Lol this is a good guide but it is pretty much only basic stuff

[[M]agz]

NIce +rep

[Ak01]

great guide

[kris94]

cool, man!