Does Anet actually do anything about scammers?

I've usually been very careful about ingame transactions and never been scammed, so comments to the likes of "your fault" are not welcome here, nor are unhelpful other posts such as "stop crying" or along those lines. Please don't bother responding if you're going to post something like that.

Today I did a run for a group, the agreed price was 1k to be paid at the cutscene (money back if I failed or re-run) and made it very clear to all that we all take screenshots so nobody gets scammed from either way.

So did the run, get to the cutscene, one guy decides to offer 500 there and 500 on arrival. At this point ok, perhaps I should have just abandoned the entire run but it would have been unfair on the rest of the party who paid in full.

You can guess what happens - yep, complete the run and the scammer decides to pull a disappearing act.

Throughout this entire incident, before, during and after I had a complete set of screenshots and of course witness who saw the whole thing (and also took screenshots)

Naturally, after normally advising anyone who gets scammed to file a ticket with GW Support, I follow my own advice and submit the report (time/character names/district etc) and all the screenshots, including the witness who had asked what they could do to help.

Now this is what disturbs me the response I got

Bit highlighted by me for emphasis is what bothers me. I looked at the RoC and Rule 1 is

I've clearly been defrauded and consider it a form of distress to be scammed.

However, the bold bit from the response seems to indicate Anet are unwilling or incapable of doing anything about it? Now I'm not asking Anet to compensate for the loss, but how am I to know something's being done about the scammer, if anything following that? Some clarification on the issue would be appreciated.

This brings to memory a certain monk character in Droknar that was trying to pull the old bait and switch scam (and had actually succeeded). The whole district at the time was spamming warnings about that player and quite a few came forward who had been scammed beforehand, and apparently put in reports about that one. However, maybe a week or so (can't remember exactly) I saw the exact same character still online. So, now that I've remembered that, will this be a repeat too? What's the deal with Anet and scamming, especially if you have a solid case with screenshots and witnesses?

I know, long post

They can't take corrective measures as in refund the money or whatever lost. They can ban or suspend the person in question, but it wont get what you've lost back.

No, but it makes you feel So freaking much better!!

Ah that makes it more clearer - I wasn't expecting any compensation but would like to see something done about it. Just wondering if anyone had any experiences where they got scammed, reported it (with screenies) and that was the last of the scammer? Or did they turn back up again?

Defraud means to have something "taken" from you by a means of fraud, since it was only an offer, and nothing was given, you inherently lost nothing at all.

Accrued acts such as this is something Anet cannot do anything about.

Your best chance is to harden your policies. If you say 1k then stick to your guns, or punish the whole group by giving them a refund, and then naming the one preson who wouldn't pay in full.

If you still have questions, Anet does advise you to go and ask them, so maybe you could question them again and state the first RoC that you believe has been breached. If they look into it, you might get a clearer response.

various times ive been harrased by someone and, when and if i retaliate, they accuse me of whatever. i actually was reported and warned because someone started yelling at me (because i wasnt doing exactly as they specified in RA) saying things like 'YO MOMMAS GOT A TIGHT-ASS PUSSY, RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOTARD NOOB!' etc etc something about being a cracker whatever. i responded with 'whatever weirdo.' the dude actually took a screenshot of what i said and claimed it was racially offensive. the funniest thing tho..

ANET BELIEVED IT.

i was given a warning that if i did something like this again i would have my account banned.

... god that pissed me off.

btw, how is that punishment..?

Yea lol I know exactly what you mean, I've once been scammed for 90k (yes 90k)
With an ordinary switch trick, but hey I didn't know about those tricks.
I took screenshots of everything possible --> ticket to anet...

Then I got the same bullshit mail of some GM who talks like some robot.

And guess what the person is still online, and that incident was atleast 4 months ago.

One thing - scamming over 500gold is so PATHETIC! >

By logical observation, refunds are an indication that a particular event did not meet its expectation. So the run is not completed.

I had a friend who scammed someone for over 700k and he got reported and banned for a week, but kept all the money. So it seems that they do react to big scams but only with a short ban and I don't think they respond to simple scams that aren't worth alot of cash, such as, not paying someone for a run.

Just to clarify the offer was in fact a new agreement/transaction as it was accepted (and again, screenshots were provided to that effect) so for that particular person a new transaction and agreement was in process... hence I did lose out and they didn't keep their end of the agreement. Note, yes 500g is a piddly amount and not like it's going to break me lol I'm more interested in what the policy seems to be and how it works out for people.

Yes, it would have punished the whole group otherwise as they'd all end up with a failed transaction (and refund) as a result of one potential scammer.

In any case, since it's Anet policy not to discuss what (if any) action they take, I'm therefore interested in observations and experiences from other players who reported scammers and what they observed happened (if anything) to the scammer... specifically does anyone have examples where they were scammed and nobody has ever seen the scammer since? i.e. that one's been banned? How's the system work?

Edit: hmm that's an interesting thought, value of transaction affects policy? The scammer kept the money and got only a week ban... wow...

i'm almost certain they wont take any disciplinary measures toward someone who doesn't pay for your run

running is not a regulated and natural part of the game like trading is, with implemented means of carrying out transactions and preventing "scamming" or automatically forcing you to pay for the service if you receive it

honestly, i don't believe he has to pay you. because there isn't the equivalent of a trade window for running, the situation is a very messy one and you can't really enforce any sort of rules around it

What about those damn leechers in Aspenwood / Jade Quarry? It's so frustrating to see the same damn names show up on your team and sit there without moving for the entire match. Does Anet do anything about these asses? Is it worth reporting?

I doubt anything can be done, but it is terribly annoying.

As far as in game problems go, Anet are far from good at fixing them, no in-game presence etc.

But I just keep my wits about me, I've never been scammed for a large amount of money - if I'm running or being run, I know that it's a gamble as there are always scammers etc.

You could always demand that players wanting to get run give you their chest peice of armor, which they will get back once they have provided payment.

I have used this method when people ask for 50g to supposedly unlock their storage.

This is correct. We will take action, once the report is proved (which is usually not that difficult for us to do). We cannot refund lost items or money, nor can we tell you the outcome of the investigation, due to our Privacy Policy. We do, however, take action against scammers on a daily, even hourly, basis. They may be blocked for a significant period of time, and they may well have their account permanently terminated.

Sorry, I need to ask who warned you, because, well, we do not give warnings. If someone has done something outside the User Agreement or the Rules of Conduct, we take action on that account. If you were warned, I would say it was not by ArenaNet nor NCsoft. Perhaps you can send me the warning you received, so I can investigate exactly what happened?

If you want to PM me your Support ticket number, I will look it up. The person may have had his lengthy time out and have come back a changed, nay, redeemed person. If that is the case, you might feel he was not dealt with, when in fact he was. Again, we do act, and we don't tell, so it could be hard for the reporting player to know exactly what did happen.

We respond to all reports. And I would wager that if your friend slips across that line and scams again, he'll be well and truly gone.

The bottom line is that, surprising as it may be, we do investigate all reports and act upon those that require it. The area of "gentlemen's agreements" are something out of which we keep, and as pointed out in this thread, there is a difference between running for cash and making an in-game trade.

Don't runs and other services count as ingame trades though? After all, it's a service exchanged for something else, still using the trade window? Or if I read this right then basically trading for items is one thing, offering a service is another? Hmm, well in that case seems service providers (and users of services) kinda "at your own risk"

that is correct.

ingame items for trade are provided by Anet.

running was not a planned (supported) game feature

the running service is something thought up by players and is neither blocked nor supported by Anet

Except of course when they put rather large gates in the way...

I've reported someone for trying to scam me (It was when there were Superior Vigors that looked like Minor runes.)

I got a letter back that said they had taken action..but were going to keep what sort of action that was actually done confidential.

Dunno what they did to him..

which makes for interesting thoughts for Nightfall does it not?

Aye, here's hoping hindsight is 20/20 in this case.

Well actually no, this interview (by Gaile it seems) kind of says the complete opposite, that running was actually designed into the game.

Logically the service provider should be covered too if they get scammed then.

So, looks to me like another reversal and change of tune then. Mind you nothing much seems to have been done on the second part of that quote either (about high level armour in low level PvP areas) Oh well, service providers beware

Oh why do people scam runners with 500g...thats so pathetic.

Thing is where do you draw the line at what is a ban worthy scam???

Let me use the example of a well known scammer. He stole 10 million gold from his friend and a Gold 14>40 Crystalline Sword worth at the time 2 million or so. Was he banned for this??? Nope.

He used this gold to purchase himself a nice new Gold Crystalline Sword Req 8 15>50 for 20 million gold. With this sword he took himself to Lions Arch and offered to sell it for xxxxxx k. However, he did not want ectos, it was a gold only trade. The sword would be given in the last trade. He never gave the sword over, he did this over and over.

The individual then decided to use his second account and create a character with a name similar to a moderator on here. He used it for fake guru moderator trades.

He must have scammed tens of millions of gold over many many months. This was happening all the time as people were posting on guru about it in the bucket loads.

You fail to ban an individual who has in one scam stole 10 million gold and a sword worth another 2 million. He used the gold to buy another sword which he used to scam people for many many months and was never banned. Just like you fail to ban people for scamming 500 gold you also fail to ban people who scam tens of millions worth of gold.

Anet has made some updates to make commons scams harder, switching comes to mind. Not to mention that most people who try to scam, gold instead of plat or whatever are usually easily seen and therefore prevented.

However there are a few occasions where you have to trust another player as part of a transaction, running and such. Why not just make an update to help adjust this? Maybe some sort of trade where the gold is placed in a temporary storage till the said task is completed. Once the run is over, the money has already been taken so no need to worry about being scammed.

I'm just a drunk, so this plan isn't very exact. But Anet has plenty of smart people to fill in the holes.

People shouldn't charge for running anyway.

I was about to post the exact same.


The person in question was very open about what he had done and how he had aquired some 60+ million in wealth. His words were, "I feel like robin hood'....He has gotten away with this for months, and it isn't just one and two accounts, it's several.

I find it hard to believe that someone was able to get away with this for so long with all the supposed 'data' that AN collects about reported scammers, and you know, he has been reported dozens upon dozens of times....How do these people continue to slip through the cracks?

Give me ticket numbers, I will follow up on this. If you mean that someone was "reported" in this forum set "dozens upon dozens of times," then sorry, he wasn't reported at all. The only reporting of these situations is via Support, through the Ask a Question system. I think I recall seeing one ticket about it, but it seems to be related to the name rather than the reporting individual having himself been scammed.

One problem with scammers is that they steal accounts and then do their evil deeds on the stolen account. That makes it difficult to track. We do act and we close accounts as quickly as we can, but for a pernicious problem like the person you're describing, it can mean that we're closing and putting him out of business while he moves on with another account.

Again, if you have ticket numbers, PM me and I'll see if I can trace what happened. When I got the one ticket, the person's account had been actioned.

LOL!!! Do you really think someone who spent months upon months scamming possibly hundreds of people was never reported??? The crystalline sword gold scam was not a small amount of gold being scammed. i am talking about hundreds and hundreds of thousands of gold a time. Anyone losing that amount of gold I am sure would want the person banned. As for Akhellius losing 10 million gold and a very nice sword I am sure too he would have reported him.

I am going to go and find lots of links regarding the scammer.

Edit: Search is weird now so I will have to spend longer looking for the links.

People get killed irl over things like this.

Urban Myth time: Some guy in EQ logged onto his friends account and sold an item in a very lucrative trade. he thought his friend would be happy.. nope he shot him X.x

Games are serious business!