The Crystal Snowflake Scam
Gigashadow
The most effective scams capitalize on people's greed and the desire to get something for nothing.
pOmrAkkUn
Someone try to scam me with the same thing too.
I was selling a req11 BDS in Kamadan and someone PM me and offered Emeral Blade(req.10) (or Edge can't remember)
He try to convice me that the item worth over 100e and he gave me a name or person willing to buy it at 110e.
So I asked him, why you don't sell the Emeral Blade to that guy and buy my BDS, you still have some ectos left that way.
He said: I'm already rich I don't want those ectos.
and that moment there was a guy shouting "WTB Emeral Blade(req.10) 180e"
I don't know the price of Emeral Blade but I saw the other seller selling req.9 for 100e so I know the guy who WTB @180e was that scammer's friend xD
I was selling a req11 BDS in Kamadan and someone PM me and offered Emeral Blade(req.10) (or Edge can't remember)
He try to convice me that the item worth over 100e and he gave me a name or person willing to buy it at 110e.
So I asked him, why you don't sell the Emeral Blade to that guy and buy my BDS, you still have some ectos left that way.
He said: I'm already rich I don't want those ectos.
and that moment there was a guy shouting "WTB Emeral Blade(req.10) 180e"
I don't know the price of Emeral Blade but I saw the other seller selling req.9 for 100e so I know the guy who WTB @180e was that scammer's friend xD
belladonna shylock
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Originally Posted by Gigashadow
The most effective scams capitalize on people's greed and the desire to get something for nothing.
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DarkFlame
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Originally Posted by Arduinna
Oone person, the good citizen, confronted the duo in allchat with their attempt to scam some newbie out of their money. I have never seen half of Kamadan turn that fast on one person trying to help:
-let them trade! -if someone falls for that scam, it's their own fault! -if someone wants to buy an Edge for 100k + 20 ecto, let them! Next to the obvious swearing that is to be expected. So honestly, don't expect the community to protect the innocent. |
draugr
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Originally Posted by Verene
The entire point of most scams is that they target people who don't know any better, though. So it IS a scam.
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Jae Onasi
Intentionally misleading someone saying you're going to buy something when you're not is a scam, and it's a complete waste of time for those of us who are using the trade channel for legitimate purposes. I think Anet should get involved since scamming as far as I know is a violation of TOS.
If people stop buying in Kamadan because they can't be sure whether trading there is real or a scam, it will hurt legitimate traders, not to mention the person who was scammed.
If people stop buying in Kamadan because they can't be sure whether trading there is real or a scam, it will hurt legitimate traders, not to mention the person who was scammed.
Parson Brown
Sure it's a scam, but it's a scam that relies on outsmarting someone trying to scam someone else.
I love it
Actually, I didn't know this was going on. But, I can think of many times I've whispered people who "WTB" something to tell them about a similar "WTS" in the Search menu!
I love it
Actually, I didn't know this was going on. But, I can think of many times I've whispered people who "WTB" something to tell them about a similar "WTS" in the Search menu!
byteme!
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Originally Posted by Gigashadow
The most effective scams capitalize on people's greed and the desire to get something for nothing.
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T1Cybernetic
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Originally Posted by Gigashadow
The most effective scams capitalize on people's greed and the desire to get something for nothing.
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BenjZee
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Originally Posted by belladonna shylock
QFT - this type of scam is fair play in my book. You're getting a taste of your own medicine.
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Why would anyone want the snowflake lols
People who have that amount of money should be ashamed
Lyynyyrd
The most effective scams rely on slow swimming sperm, the language barrier, and people with too much money.
This type of scam is just the most palatable.
This type of scam is just the most palatable.
novawhiz
i honestly dont see how it is fair to ban any of these "scammers"
Its shame that people may not know prices of items and overpay but thats life.
If these people are banned then why dont we ban all the many people who powertrade. Powertrades either buy something for too cheap or sell for too much. Is this not "scamming"?
and if you have 50zkeys and you're stupid enough to fall for buying a snowflake you honestly deserve to loose your money.
Its shame that people may not know prices of items and overpay but thats life.
If these people are banned then why dont we ban all the many people who powertrade. Powertrades either buy something for too cheap or sell for too much. Is this not "scamming"?
and if you have 50zkeys and you're stupid enough to fall for buying a snowflake you honestly deserve to loose your money.
exploiter
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Originally Posted by Lyynyyrd
I've been doing this for ages. Yes, there are idiots who fall for it. No, there's nothing wrong with selling an item for an extremely high price.
Caveat emptor kids, ANet does nothing. |
I might try it too
not really scam imo, or at least not reportable scam
Jade
So if I have, say, an alpine seed and I want to sell it for 100e and someone buys it, I scammed them? Is it really that hard to use wiki? Really? I saw the same type of scam just yesterday, probably the same 2 guys, but it was with some crystal thing from one of the dungeons. I thought o myself, "Hmm never heard of that before, I'm going to wiki it." That was my first thought, even before I saw the guy selling his for 50e. So honestly, I feel that if you're that gung-ho about making a quick buck, then you deserve it if you don't do your research first.
Reminds me of a news article I saw in the paper something like 10-15 years ago, it went something like this.
The ad was:
Solar powered clothes dryer. Brand new! You can get yours for the low low price of just $100! You heard right, $100!!
Turns out when you sent the guy your $100 he sent you your solar powered clothes dryer. It was a $2 bag of clothes pins and a 20 foot length of twine. Funniest part was, as angry as the "victims" were, there was nothing they could do about it. They were shouting "False advertising!" to the judge. Problem was he sold them exactly what he claimed in the ad. He just called it a solar powered clothes dryer instead of a clothesline.....
Reminds me of a news article I saw in the paper something like 10-15 years ago, it went something like this.
The ad was:
Solar powered clothes dryer. Brand new! You can get yours for the low low price of just $100! You heard right, $100!!
Turns out when you sent the guy your $100 he sent you your solar powered clothes dryer. It was a $2 bag of clothes pins and a 20 foot length of twine. Funniest part was, as angry as the "victims" were, there was nothing they could do about it. They were shouting "False advertising!" to the judge. Problem was he sold them exactly what he claimed in the ad. He just called it a solar powered clothes dryer instead of a clothesline.....
Phineas
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Originally Posted by Parson Brown
Sure it's a scam, but it's a scam that relies on outsmarting someone trying to scam someone else.
I love it |
Kerwyn Nasilan
Do not ban them, there is nothing in the EULA against scamming and if they can find someone dumb enough to fall for it more power to them.
Coraline Jones
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Originally Posted by Gigashadow
The most effective scams capitalize on people's greed and the desire to get something for nothing.
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Whoever fell for the "snowflake scam" or whatever... I bet these people in real life would hand their entire life savings to Nigerian princes because they got an e-mail telling them to do it.
Cale Roughstar
What I do whenever I see these types of scams, is have fun with the scammers. The other day, a group of kids were trying it with an Emerald *Edge*. One would spam wts req10 emerald edge at some obscene prices while the other two spammed wtb at obscene price x3. So I always message all three of them to "alert" them to the others presence etc... Imagine my delight when I found out all three were in the same guild! How stupid can you get? Epic screenshots.
illidan009
Most of the time I'm too broke to even afford the "low" sum, so this wouldn't affect me. Still tyvm for posting this I had never heard about it before O_o
Amnel Ithtirsol
Taking advantage of other people's greed + stupidity cannot be judged as scamming.
FoxBat
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Originally Posted by Kerwyn Nasilan
Do not ban them, there is nothing in the EULA against scamming and if they can find someone dumb enough to fall for it more power to them.
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Rexion
I'm with the crowd that says "don't ban them."
Honestly, if you're stupid enough to pay 50e for some worthless item, due to your greedy wants, you deserve everything that's coming for you.
Be smart with your money.
Honestly, if you're stupid enough to pay 50e for some worthless item, due to your greedy wants, you deserve everything that's coming for you.
Be smart with your money.
pumpkin pie
i think scamming should go under (D Vi) of the user's agreements number (d) Member Conduct. You agree not to use the Service to:
(vi) upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;
yeap, its against the EULA
(vi) upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;
yeap, its against the EULA
Lishy
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Originally Posted by Lyynyyrd
I've been doing this for ages. Yes, there are idiots who fall for it. No, there's nothing wrong with selling an item for an extremely high price.
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From what I can see, it abides to the rules. It's not offgame. And it's the other player willingly taking action.
It is wrong morally, but I don't see how it was "illegal" that someone like myself can rip off a nub who bought a blue fellblade for 30k.
Ripping off someone and scamming are 2 different things.
One just makes you a jackass.
The other makes you a bigger jackass with bad intentions.
Nothing much else needs to be said.
pumpkin pie
you guys have gone all side track, this is not a case of Lyynyyrd selling cheap green for an enormous amount of ingame gold and ectos.
its 2 persons or one person with 2 accounts, collaborating to make players think theres such a market for an obviously useless ingame item. there's a motive as oppose to say me wts mini necrod horseman for 50e, because thats how much i want to selll it for, and if someone wants to buy it, they are happy, i am happy.
but its a different case if i goes on both my accounts announce that i want to buy necrid horseman for 80e, then switch to my other accounts and then says i want to sell necrid horseman cheap, for 50e... etc.
its 2 different scenarios.
its 2 persons or one person with 2 accounts, collaborating to make players think theres such a market for an obviously useless ingame item. there's a motive as oppose to say me wts mini necrod horseman for 50e, because thats how much i want to selll it for, and if someone wants to buy it, they are happy, i am happy.
but its a different case if i goes on both my accounts announce that i want to buy necrid horseman for 80e, then switch to my other accounts and then says i want to sell necrid horseman cheap, for 50e... etc.
its 2 different scenarios.
Lyynyyrd
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Originally Posted by pumpkin pie
you guys have gone all side track, this is not a case of Lyynyyrd selling cheap green for an enormous amount of ingame gold and ectos.
its 2 persons or one person with 2 accounts, collaborating to make players think theres such a market for an obviously useless ingame item. there's a motive as oppose to say me wts mini necrod horseman for 50e, because thats how much i want to selll it for, and if someone wants to buy it, they are happy, i am happy. but its a different case if i goes on both my accounts announce that i want to buy necrid horseman for 80e, then switch to my other accounts and then says i want to sell necrid horseman cheap, for 50e... etc. its 2 different scenarios. |
inscribed
if you were dumb enough to fall for a scam, quit making excuses as to why you fell for it. learn from your mistakes and move on. Anet doesn't need to waste their time getting involved everytime you make a dumb mistake.
HawkofStorms
Look it IS by definition a scam (hell, pretty sure variations of this have been on the "common scams" article on the gw wiki for years, and people have done this in other games too) and scams are wrong (morally) and scams ARE a bannable offense (its part of the EULA about no griefing)... however this particular scam is unlikely to actually receive a ban, in part because there is difficulty proving that the 2nd buyer never intended to buy the item.
Plus, the guy who got scammed is behaving opportunistically as well. Its kinda like those people who got scammed out of their items because somebody promised to show them a duping trick. A.net doesn't care because you were taking the risk and trying to get some get rich quick scheme.
If a deal is too good to be true, it isn't.
Plus, the guy who got scammed is behaving opportunistically as well. Its kinda like those people who got scammed out of their items because somebody promised to show them a duping trick. A.net doesn't care because you were taking the risk and trying to get some get rich quick scheme.
If a deal is too good to be true, it isn't.
OrionVolaju
Oh come on now. Is this really how the majority here feels? Wow. I feel sorry for the new players if that's what the majority of the game community is. All I see is, "If your stupid enough to fall for it you deserve it!". So, you basically support scammers because they prey on the inexperienced? I am sorry but wishing something like that on anybody is just horrible. You do understand that those who you let get scammed, call them dumb for being scammed and say they deserved it end up turning into said scammer's right? Or they just quit the game altogether which doesn't help Anet. Hate breeds hate ya know...
Anyways. I don't see how anyone could say it isn't a scam. Selling something for more than it's worth is a different case. This is setting up a fake situation that lures people into spending money they normally would not. Are you greedy to fall for it? Sure. Is it a pretty crappy scam? Sure. Do I walk around telling people who fall for it they are stupid and do not deserve any money they have? No.
I am not surprised though, this is what the internet has become. At the most you could go. "lol yeah thats a common scam." Would be a bit less insulting than "Omg. Retard you deserved it. Go die, we don't want you in our perfect community." (Yes I know nobody has said quite that but it's the general theme.)
Anyways. I don't see how anyone could say it isn't a scam. Selling something for more than it's worth is a different case. This is setting up a fake situation that lures people into spending money they normally would not. Are you greedy to fall for it? Sure. Is it a pretty crappy scam? Sure. Do I walk around telling people who fall for it they are stupid and do not deserve any money they have? No.
I am not surprised though, this is what the internet has become. At the most you could go. "lol yeah thats a common scam." Would be a bit less insulting than "Omg. Retard you deserved it. Go die, we don't want you in our perfect community." (Yes I know nobody has said quite that but it's the general theme.)
Fril Estelin
In this type of discussion, people always forget to point at the deep justification of why these scammers are guilty: deception. Two guys pretend not to know each other and that one wants to buy what the other one is selling, even to the point of lying to you if you put them in touch. This is a plain lie, without any kind of possible excuse. The 3rd party may be greedy, stupid, or whatever, but the two colluding guys are guilty as charged. They're working to deceive people, and of course it works once a in blue moon because some people get carried away (like trolling on Guru).
Sir Skullcrasher
This is like selling frozen ectos and telling someone to use a microwave to defrost it!! lol In general, I look at all the items before I make any trades.
Wonder what else them scammers will be selling next? A pair of Michael Jordan shoes for 100k+ 1000 ectos???
Wonder what else them scammers will be selling next? A pair of Michael Jordan shoes for 100k+ 1000 ectos???
Coraline Jones
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Originally Posted by OrionVolaju
Oh come on now. Is this really how the majority here feels? Wow. I feel sorry for the new players if that's what the majority of the game community is. All I see is, "If your stupid enough to fall for it you deserve it!". So, you basically support scammers because they prey on the inexperienced? I am sorry but wishing something like that on anybody is just horrible. You do understand that those who you let get scammed, call them dumb for being scammed and say they deserved it end up turning into said scammer's right? Or they just quit the game altogether which doesn't help Anet. Hate breeds hate ya know...
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The scam involves ripping people out of some obscene amount of money and I find it hard to believe that some "n00b" just found a chest in Pre-Searing with 50+ ectos lying in it.
The scam is targeting power traders and heavy farmers that are already rich, but they want to make even more money by becoming a middleman in a triangle trade. The victim is just being greedy and is risking thousands of gold for items that don't have any value, hoping to rip off the WTS person for being an idiot. In effect, they are hoping to scam somebody themselves, and so I don't have any pity for them.
Big_Daddy
The first I'd ask myself is: What the heck do I need a Crystal Snowflake for? :s
Divinity Sword
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Originally Posted by Big_Daddy
The first I'd ask myself is: What the heck do I need a Crystal Snowflake for? :s
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I think scamming should be banned and I think power traders have very few morals and probably few friends. Farming is boring a repetitive but I feel much better about myself when I go to sleep at night
. I only farm when I need to anyway, which is not really ever now that I have stuff lol.
BenjZee
Its not the point of needing the crystal snowflake but the point of thinking your gunna make some money buy buying the cheap one and sellin it to the other player
OrionVolaju
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Originally Posted by Coraline Jones
The scam involves ripping people out of some obscene amount of money and I find it hard to believe that some "n00b" just found a chest in Pre-Searing with 50+ ectos lying in it.
The scam is targeting power traders and heavy farmers that are already rich, but they want to make even more money by becoming a middleman in a triangle trade. The victim is just being greedy and is risking thousands of gold for items that don't have any value, hoping to rip off the WTS person for being an idiot. In effect, they are hoping to scam somebody themselves, and so I don't have any pity for them. |
Fact is I cannot support scammers of any type. Even power traders took at least 5 minutes in Kam. to try to learn prices. (Well, at least the profitable ones.) Just because you do not like the victim (power traders) does not mean the scam is suddenly ok.
Lyynyyrd
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Originally Posted by Divinity Sword
I had to look it up! haha
I think scamming should be banned and I think power traders have very few morals and probably few friends. Farming is boring a repetitive but I feel much better about myself when I go to sleep at night . I only farm when I need to anyway, which is not really ever now that I have stuff lol. |
I find the sobs of the children who I scam to be very comforting and helpful when attempting to sleep.
Chushingura
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Originally Posted by Arduinna
Doesn't help. Today in Kamadan Am 1, one person was selling an Q9 Emerald Edge (not the expensive Emerald Blade!) for 100k + 20 ecto or so. Another person wanted to buy an Edge for 100k + 40 ecto. So same setup.
Oone person, the good citizen, confronted the duo in allchat with their attempt to scam some newbie out of their money. I have never seen half of Kamadan turn that fast on one person trying to help: -let them trade! -if someone falls for that scam, it's their own fault! -if someone wants to buy an Edge for 100k + 20 ecto, let them! Next to the obvious swearing that is to be expected. So honestly, don't expect the community to protect the innocent. |
"WTS LAME scam attempt! paying 100E! PM [name of the two "scammers" here!]"
In response, the two scammers quickly jetted out of the district, and a got 4 random PMs from other people thanking me of alerting the population to such a scam. I simply replied, "I was bored. I expected flames but apparently those guys were wusses
3 minutes later I found them in Kama...excuse me, Spamadan AD1. This time I simply put myself to DnD and typed in Trade:
"[names of scammers here] is giving away 500 ectos in groups of 10! PM them for a fast and easy trade!"
Fril Estelin
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Originally Posted by Coraline Jones
In effect, they are hoping to scam somebody themselves, and so I don't have any pity for them.
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Divinity Sword
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Originally Posted by Lyynyyrd
I find the sobs of the children who I scam to be very comforting and helpful when attempting to sleep.
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