Official GW Scams Thread (no posting names)

I almost scammed somebody this morning, don't know what I was thinking. I mixed Gold and Purple dye by mistake, so I was trying to sell it. It looked red, so I, for some reason just yelled in trade chat "Selling Red Dye, 250" and someone bought it without checking, then they realised that it was mixed, we exchanged back and after I used it on my guantlets I found out that it was pink.

Can't immagine a warrior walking around with pink pants.

Hmm, I remember a few people tried to sell me Althea's Ashes when I was "LFGing" for the quest. I told one of them that I could sell them a bridge for a cheap price if they gave me the money first, all they said was "waht is bridge?"

OMG, i just salvage them almost daily! Scammed myself, lol.

I know that, for the Ashes quest at least, if you buy the urn/ashes it doesn't do you any good. You can't get the experience or the gold or anything. I bought some and tried to use them and it didn't work. Fortunately, the person I traded with was very honest and refunded my gold. I haven't really hit many scams and everyone I have dealt with has generally been honest. I know there are some people that are trying to sell stuff WAY overpriced but then, you just have to pay attention and weigh the value of the product to the value of your gold and decide if it is really worth it. I would say for quest items, just trade with people you know so that if it falls out, you can get a refund.

another scam wich yours truely thought of (but has nvr evr used) any way i think i am inclined to tell u all at the very start you can get somthing called a familie sigil wich is the same shape as a normal sigil, i hav noticed people selling forgoten seals to buy a forgoten isle for a guild hall, well using the famalie sigil in this scam would be much more eficient and just to warn people if it ever does become used by any 1 famalie sigil does not buy a island

Looks like the scam was fixed in the June 16 patch. I guess it was more than a few jackasses being taken advantage of.

Well as much as I loath taking things to the boards I figure this is for a good cause so...

There was a gentlemen selling the elustrious "Gold Dye" in Ascalon city. When confronted about it in the common channel he seemed to shrug it off. So being the sport I am I decided to play stupid. Although I didn't get it in the screenshots he claimed it was the rarest of dye even more so than black.....yeah right.

After hearing that I decided to let him know that I knew better, Even when I told him most folks knew better because of this very thread his response was "So some don't". Indicating to me he was more than willing to deceive anyone that may not have known better.

Screenshot below:

And now we know his name

CodeMonkey
PS: STONE HIM!!

A while ago, when I started a new character, I saw someone trying to sell runes in Pre-Searing. There aren't any runes in Pre-Searing, at least not in their pure form. When going north of the wall, I picked up a salvagable item that might have had a rune, but you can't get the rune until you use an Expert Salvage kit, which you can't buy until Post-Searing.

Someone else called out the spammer, and for a while there was were no more "WTS runes", until I came back in a different district to see that same person trying to scam runes.

They could have at least said "WTS possibility of rune, use Expert Salvage kit in post-searing".

There is a guy going around ripping people by buying rare swords. A friend of mine had a GOLD sword and was getting offers of 200k-250k. He had at least 5 offers, so he just went to the highest bidder at 250,000 gold. As it turns out you cant trade gold in amounts higher than 100,000 gold. (we now know that you should make these high transactions with multiple Superior Vigor+100k)

Anyway, my friend wanted him to give him 100k then 50k then he would trade the sword for 100k on the last transaction, but the dude said, "lets to it the other way around. My friend is quite sharp and said "no", but the other dude showed him that he had at least 6 sword that were almost a match to the one they were going to trade. he said that he had no reason to run off or stiff him. So, my friend said okay, and the dude put up 100k and my friend put up the sword, then the dude vanished! What a jerk! At least we know for next time now.

Your friend obviously wasn't sharp enough.

If he was unwilling to pay up the last 100k and then swap the sword, if makes you realise how he had all those swords. He had done exactly the same thing to all those other people.

Rule of thumb. Never hand over the car keys and pink slip until you have the funds in full.

Someone Scammed 2 Of My Gold Swords

He Put Up 60k

Then Changed It 6k Right Before I Could See It

I Would Post His Name But I Feel U Will Attack Me If I Do But I Got Scammed And I Hate That Scammer.

hi im currently aware of the scam people are doing with altheas ashes. After you finish the qust you keep the urn but the ashes go away. People are scamming others by selling the urn and saying the aashes are inside but they are unaware that the person selling has already gave the duke the ashes. So if the GuildWars Staff can fix this problem it will be a help to the world. Or people can look at this thread and find out for themselves whats going on

He actually isn't that upset about it. He still got 100k out of the deal. He is just disappointed in the way people act in the game, and that kind of ruins the fun.

Yup never trust anyone online

I helped stop a guy from getting scammed that very same way. I had just done that quest myself and saw I had 2 sets of ashes left. Found that kind of odd so I have one to a friend to see if it would complete his quest for him. It didn't so he gave it back. I then dropped the ashes as they are useless. However while we're in Piken Square after trying this, two people start talking about one selling ashes to the other "Easy 2000exp, come on I'll sell you for 500g."

Now I usually don't join those chats in the cities but I quickly typed in to warn the fellow not to buy as it was a scam and the ashes did not work. He thanked me and the other guy took off.

Moral of the story: quest items that are used up should be REMOVED from the gaming environment because they serve no other purpose. I wonder why a few of them stick around after a quest is complete. Maybe as a reminder of how cool we were for completing it?

CodeMonkey

Hello
I just got the Althea's Ashes for free from another player and finished the quest without actually doing it.

Speaking of the Althea's Ashes scam. Someone was actually trying to pull it off just last night.

I think it's been explained before. This is a bug that has lived through at least the 2 Beta events I played. I didn't work then, and as far as I know, it doesn't work now.

For those who have lived in a hole and don't know what we're talking about when you successfully complete the mission you get 3 piles of "Althea's Ashes" that look like glittering dust. You cannot finish the mission with those but people still try to sell them off to either scam people, or you might find the few who don't know better and are actually trying to help folks. But if they were trying to help, you'd think they'd be giving them away for free and saying "Not sure if it'll work but you can give it a try".

Screenshot Below:

How much did you pay? There is no doubt a person can give them away for free I guess, but most people wouldn't (since they need the quest).

I've given quest items away for free in certain conditions: I completed a quest but my wife didn't so I help her finish and sometimes get quest items. Since they are virgin items you can indeed give them away. That's not the argument. The argument is that your case is 1 in a billion compared to those that feel they can scam someone into picking up the empty urn.

CodeMonkey

I myself gave away 3 piles of ashes to 3 lucky players free last night. I had 4 in my inventory. I am VERY SURE it works. Those 3 guys LEVELLED immeditely. To those that think otherwise - go try it yourself.

ONE MORE THING TO NOTE FOR THE QUEST TO WORK: You must only give the ashes through TRADING in that particular town. It still works but perhaps arena net is fixing it already. Althea's ashes is very simple though.

Yeah, Althea's ashes is a cake walk ;-)
(thick and heavy sarcasm)

Arena Net loves to make those easy quests a few thousand xp.

CodeMonkey

The new thing is to offer to "run" people from Beacon's Perch to the forge (after all is one of the best places to get good armor). The usual fee is 5P
(the scammer wants either all or half up front) DON'T DO IT!!!
Some of these people will at least try a couple of times before they disapear, the really bad ones are the ones that just logout when they have a full party ready to go.
(I caught up with one of these ***** right after he discon and came back as another character, all he did was set me to ignor when I asked him what the issue was).
I don't think of myself as gullible but this happened twice in the same night. To the tune of 5P.
First I could really care less about 5P, I can get that back with a little work and time, but violating my trust and lieing to me is another matter.
I would really like to see these people stripped of their characters and have to start over again, but that is me.

The warning I would give is if you want someone to run you to the forge do not give any gold up front offer to give them half at the half way point and the rest at the forge (if they demand it you can be sure it is a scam).
Hope you have better luck then I did (I did finaly find somebody that wasn't scamming, but one out of three is not very good odds.

My general rule is "don't give anyone you don't know a single gold piece for any promises."

I use this same theory when dealing with real life:

Don't run down dark alleyway in New Orleans asking if anyone could tell you where the nearest bank is so that you can deposit your thousand dollars

CodeMonkey

In response to the Altheas ashes stuff:

A few nights ago someone was offering altheas ashes for free in pikens. I figured what the heck, why not, and went ahead and accepted some (through the trade window). I hadn't done duke's daughter yet, but after doing that, I got the ashes quest, and immediately talked to barradin again. I was given the reward and the quest went away. Looks like its not a scam anymore, or perhaps I got lucky. Either way, I never had to actually go get the ashes themselves.

Oddly enough, he didn't have the excalamation above his head when I gave him back the ashes, and although he took the ashes, he gave me back an urn. Not sure if this is normal or not, but I have nothing to do with the urn.

Ok, there seems to be some confusion here

The Non-Scam: Being given althea's ashes
The Scam: Being given the urn after the quest is done.

Make sense?

CodeMonkey

I happened to me as well on ashes. Completed the quest went back to the duke but he didn't take the ashes. Still got the reward though. I tried to give it away just to see if it would work but no one was interested so I just trashed it. That's interesting though :?

Makes sense.

Right on!

CodeMonkey

Yes, I don't really grasp the idea of customized items being useless to all other players. I think they should just cost more to re-customize to your character.

But I know where you're coming from. If your new to the game you wouldn't really know (I don't even think customization is covered in the manual).

In fact, not sure why they even let you trade customized items anyway. Since they serve no purpose but, perhaps, salvage.

CodeMonkey

I am just lucky I guess. My maiden attempt was successful. I got run by a warrior - Miranna Millanis (I might have gotten her name wrong) from Beacon's to Forge for 2 K only. (1k at snake dance, the other at rankor) I must say she is very responsible. Took around 2 hours though. She died many times but didn't giver up. Commendable effort. So if you people see her at Beacon's, you can trust her. Everyone in my group was happy and oh yes - I spent 25k getting the forge armor for my monk. Why the hell do monks need 200 over parchment for armor - lol.....and they look terrible imho!

Note: Sir Protector is a scammer - He offers to run you but will log out. Beware. There are some genuine people but you just have to sus them out.

Another one for the ignore lists.

User Nova Latin was spamming to sell a Sup Absorb for 50k in the trades.

Screenshot of spam:


We went through a trade, he/she showed the Superior Absorb and closed the window. I went back to trade again, and this is what happened:



The classic rune switch. I always look though, so he didn't get me.

Just be careful, folks.

_jew

Its amazing what people will do to screw you over eh? Yeah, I always look for a few key terms: The name of the item and any subtext (customized by ....) that may exist.

To be honest, nobody has every tried to pull a fast one on me besides the typical "oops, wrong amount of money" for an item. Usually if its off by 10 bucks or we've been talking for awhile (so I know they're fairly cool) its no big deal, but if they want to buy something for 350 and I see 150 in the window I cancel and move on. I don't care if they would pay it to me, I would rather give it to a more honest person.

CodeMonkey

CodeMonkey

50k is big money or trades that include valuable stuff. that's serious.

with my recent experience, its just ridiculous. i was trying to get bleached shells for that collector shield and i went from town to town asking. I get to amnoon. and most ppl do honestly get mixed up with "shells" and "carapaces".

but this one guy. I even asked him repeatedly, "thats shell right not caraps", and
they answered "yes" repeatedly. so i view their trade.
he shows me a "Bleached Caraps" and quickly retracts it. he does this 3 times and keeps asking me "submit the money/ accept"

???

thing here is their trying to screw me for "400gold". wowzer
he could have gotten 1k doing monsters kills for money and not wasting both our time trying to scam me at that moment.

hilarious.

again. with all trades take the time to read and look over. there is no real hurry to accept anything til both parties are good and ready. when somone is rushing, you know something shady is happening.
(with this experience it did really bring me back to the old diablo scammers, long long long time ago.hehe)

-cheerz.

you're the biggest nubbie nubbie ever. i have 2 15k armors if anyone is interested.

hmm me thinks Thanks Camera is a scammer. Why, cause 1st he flames, then he says he as something to sell.

And is it just me, but I didn't think this thread was about selling...maybe I misread the title......'SCAMS::: watch out '

Hi. My name is Slash Dot. I am a Droknar's Forge rusher. I am tired of people complaining about rushers being all scammers. I am going to post this because I'm sick of people whining about being scammed.

FYI, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, a Droknar's Forge rush is defined as someone taking a party of 5 people down to Droknar's Forge from Beacon's Perch. Each player pays to be rushed. It lets you get the best armor in the game and level up quickly, which is very useful for people on their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th character.

Being a scammer is easy because people aren't too bright online, and as the saying goes, a fool and his money soon do part. But anyway, to spot a scammer, follow the following guidelines. They'll simply advertise something like this (this is an ad that I've seen just a few minutes ago):

Running to Camp Rankor to Droknar's Forge for 3k now -> 2k later - 30 minutes or money back [Whisper Me]

To spot a scammer ask the following questions:

1) Are they charging up front? First requirement of being a scam.
2) How long do they take for the run? If they don't know how long it takes or it takes more than 30 minutes, find another rusher.
3) Do they know what the zones are between Beacon's Perch and Droknar's Forge? Hint: Answer is Lornar's Pass, Dreadnought's Drift, Snake Dance, Camp Rankor [Outpost], and Talus Chute. If they don't know anything about it, they're scamming.
4) Do people start scream out "PLAYER IS SCAMMING!!" whenever that person advertises?
5) Ask them what level their tactics are on. If they don't have anything in tactics, ask them how they prevent knockdown. No answer? Move on, this one's a scammer.

This is for when you're already on the run and they charge at Snake Dance or some other place between Beacon's Perch and Rankor. Most of the people who charge at Snake Dance are legitimate, but some rush you to Snake Dance then take your money and run.
1) Are they having difficulty with the run? If they are, they may just be new to rushing, or they may just be bad because they're only there to scam you.
2) Do they know what the zones are called? If not, they probably are scamming you.
3) Do they act like they know about what parts are difficult and what parts are easy? If they don't know what makes Snake Dance difficult, for instance (knockdown), they are probably scamming you.

If someone is advertising payment at Rankor, that person is almost certainly legitimate, because the rush from Rankor to the Forge is extremely easy. They would be stupid to take half your money at Rankor and ditch you because they would earn the other half easily going to the Forge. If someone has ditched you at Rankor, PM me and I'll rush you for free. If you ditched me at Rankor, I know who you are and don't talk to me. :-)

I hope this post makes you all a little bit smarter to the scams that are out there. Read it and know it.

By the way, I rush most of the time when I am on my character Slash Dot. I charge 6k per player due at Snake Dance. If you want to see my reputation, ask someone in Beacon's Perch District 1 (most people who are regulars and even some that aren't). They will tell you that I am reputable and legit. Anyway, that's that. Good luck to everyone!

You have to remember a few things: people that are scammed are upset, and forums are a great place to complain.

Although you may be legit, there are 10 more like you that find it easier to lie cheat and steal. So generalizing and stereotyping rushers is pretty easy

How do you avoid being scammed yourself? If you ask for the money when you arrive, can't the others just simply NOT pay you?

However, just as many of us generalize and say "rushers are all scammers" I just saw you generalize and state if I don't have the right tactics I must be a scammer. Not 100% true.

Other then that, thanks for the info on how to make someone more trustable... I'd still not risk it in either case. Someone could be a better scammer, be able to answer those questions you may ask, and still try. The only key that I see is don't part with your money without seeing the reward for the cost. I'd not pay until I see the destination 10 feet in front of me

CodeMonkey

I just encountered a scam. some guy, (i don't know if im allowed to post scammers here, if i can i will post it) tried to sell me a Family Sigil, instead of the Celestial Sigil to buy Guild Halls. watch out

As far as rushing goes, you could also undercut the competition. Charge the same amount as everyone else, take 1/2 at the halfway point and then go the rest of the way but don't take the other half. The players love you for the great deal and you got paid.