What can be done about scams?

I've noticed a lot of input about scams. I think everyone should understand that we are the best defense against scammers. Since it is fairly obvious that Anet has only limited ability to catch and deal with scammers, maybe we should
create a type of unknown (brotherhood,sisterhood) of players that educate
new players to scams and other in game issues. Over time the more people that do this kind of thing to educate people the less it will happen. Unfortunately
i think scamming will always be there but maybe we as an ever growing group can make a difference. Just a thought

Well a "trusted traders" group/guild could be made if people really wanted to, which is probably a better alternative to an "awareness group" - the latter could be abused, if someone develops a grudge or whatever. Self policing/vigilante style stuff is imho never really that good an idea; best to leave it to the admins/mods/anet in this case.

Guildies should be more trusted, other than that don't be stupid

I gotta be honest, I don't see how people are getting scammed so often. Three simple rules can seriously mitigate the risk:

1. Never trade anything that can't go in a trade window. And, frankly, the 100K+ items are outrageous, and if you're going to pay that much, and you get scammed, boo hoo for you.

2. Everytime a trade window comes up, re-review everything in it before Accepting.

3. Never trade anything when you're unsure of the value. Ask around, and if the trade seems too good to be true, or you're at all skeptical, just walk away. There are millions of other players out there to trade with.

As an aside, some simple community involvement can go a long way. I was in Piken yesterday when somebody started yelling out "I'll join your guild for a Gold or Green!"

I made it a point, in the "All" chat, to question why anybody in their right mind would give him a valuable item to join a guild he could immediately leave. Before long, a number of people were mocking him with a number of similarly silly gestures. I've seen other people, especially in LA where you get people hanging around not doing much, initiate similar campaigns against ridiculous things like that.

Only real "Scams" are:

1) Runnee's that dont pay after getting run.
2) Runner's that dont run after getting paid.
3) People that use the trade hack to automatically get the item you put up.

Anything else you can personally stop from happening.

well, for runners, put in a tool that you put in how much you give the runner when you get in an outpost or city, that number is shown to the runners. then when they arrive it's automaticly given to him.

Be more alert.

Report scammers to A.Net.

That is the best course of action.

Never heard of a so called trade hack

I have to say I agree with everything said thus far. The ultimate responsibility falls on you for keeping yourself safe from being scammed. As for a group that educates and warns...well I think we have that here. The game is no different from real life though. Just like in real life you have to be aware and you have to make smart decisions when purchasing from someone. You wouldn't buy say a game, without the guarantee that it would work would you? If I came up to you with a CD and said."This is the greatest game ever. I'll sell it to you for 50 bucks." You'd want some proof . You'd want me to validate and authenticate my claim that hte contents of the disk are indeed a game. Likewise if you were selling an item for say 50 bucks and I handed you a wad of cash would you just take it and let me go about my business without counting it? I know I wouldn't. Also you can't expect Anet to do anything without proof. Protect yourself. Screenshots are like receipts in this game. Take one of every trade, the conversation leading up to the trade and the agreement on the terms. Again like in real life if you just tell the cops that someone scammed you and can't offer them any proof they can't do anything about it.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=9859

We do have a running scams thread that people can browse. Other than that, and being cautious, I can't think of much else. I simply avoid trading with other players.