forums.rs

Forums

Scams & How to Avoid Them Thread is sticky

Quick find code: 317-318-916-66063177

of 72
Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Hey guys.

As you're obviously all aware, the Old School servers are back. That means all the fun memories and content we've enjoyed as we have progressed through the years, we can enjoy again. However, there are also certain things not so enjoyable, such as scams and lures that existed during that time that we must become aware of. Unlike today, we didn't have certain safety measures back then, such as the amount of money something was worth in the trade screen, or the "other player has declined trade" notification in the chat box. Some scams that exist today existed back then as well, others were unique to that time period. In this thread, I intend to outline popular scams of the time period, and ways to avoid and deal with them.

Feel free to add me in-game if you have any questions regarding scams or similar activity. My private is usually on.

Thanks.
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:50:52 - Last edited on 03-Nov-2013 22:54:41 by Motley Crue

Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
• Doubling Money - The scammer will say they can double your money and offer to 'prove' it, other times, they will simply offer to double it. You give them a small amount of money - they give you double the amount back. They will then try to get you to give them a larger amount, but instead of doubling it they'll just keep it. They may even use a friend to help, who will stand next to them saying something like ''OMG! He doubled my 100k!'' or ''Wow! you really are legit''. It’s probably worth remembering that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. If you fall victim to this, it's best to report the player for scamming.

• "2B Giveaway - Search Scamer123 on Youtube, Trade for 5M after Voting!" - Do not fall for this. The Video will say some rehashed line about a giveaway where you must follow the link in the description that takes you to a RuneScape look alike site to "Sign Up". When you input your details they will hijack your account.

• Trust Trades - A player will tell you to trade them your most expensive item and they will return it to you - then say the person who trades the most expensive item wins a huge prize! This is a SCAM. These scammers will often be surrounded by friends who will tell you that they recently won a massive amount of money. Avoid this at all costs.

• "Meet my friend at [...], he's buying your item for a higher price!" - Don't believe this for a second. Often players will offer to buy an item for a high price, and when you try and trade them, they will say their friend is buying it at a different location for a higher price, and then will put a teletab up in trade, hoping you forget your item is still in trade, and in your eagerness to get a better deal, accept the trade.

• EoC/07 Gold Swapping - Though not always a scam, sometimes players will keep your gold when you give it to a middleman to be transferred. This is a trust trade, as such, engage in gold swapping at your own risk.
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:51:03 - Last edited on 04-Feb-2015 02:44:42 by Motley Crue

Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
• Rounding Money - Scammers will say "Show me your pile of cash and I'll round it up to the nearest million/hundred thousand for you" - this is one of the "too good to be true" scams. When you show the scammer your money (let's say it's 900k) they will put 100k in the trade window - and the initial impression is that you are indeed getting the difference between your cash and one million - but don't forget you have put 850k up - if you proceed with the trade you will hand over 900k and receive 100k in return, the net effect being a transfer of 800k from you to the scammer. ALWAYS be wary of your trade.

• Show me your inventory – Players will ask you to show them your best items in the hope that you'll forget they're there, and press 'Accept'. Be wary of anyone asking you to show your inventory and make sure you’re concentrating on the trade window at all times.

• Armour trimming – No one can 'trim' your armour - it can be either 'trimmed' or 'untrimmed'. It is not possible to trim untrimmed armour. Trimmed armour can be gained by completing clue scrolls.

• Falador Mole - Be wary of anyone asking you to trade in the Giant Mole's lair, or in Falador Park. Be sure to have warning messages toggled on from the doomsayer, and to always bring a light source with you in you go into the Mole's lair.

• Accepting a teleport – Make sure you know where the location is before you accept a teleport from another player. The Ice Plateau is in the Wilderness, and there are often a group of PKers lying in wait there.

• "Rare" Items - many players will ask inflated prices for items claiming they are rare. If in doubt, please check the current price by asking another player.

• Alt-F4 – some players will claim that dropping your items and pressing Alt-F4 will double your items. All it will do is log you out, so they can pick up your stuff. (F5 may do the same thing by refreshing your browser page).
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:51:08 - Last edited on 14-Jul-2013 05:57:04 by Motley Crue

Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
• Rushing The Trade – Some players may start closing the trade window and claiming there is lag – trying to rush you into trading quickly by repeatedly closing their trade window, so they can alter the trade without you noticing. Only trade when you have had PLENTY of time to check the trade screens and ensure all is well.

• Meet me in the Wilderness/Come into the Wilderness with me – The only reason someone wants to meet you in the Wilderness is so they can kill you and steal your items. Only trade in SAFE places, and don't go into the Wilderness with anything you aren't willing to lose.

* The Flower Game – You will be asked to hand over some cash for the bet, then the player will plant a flower seed and ask you to guess which of the nine colors of flower the seed will produce. If you guess correctly, the player will claim to double your money. They may keep to their side of the bargain, but it’s more likely that they will log out and run off with your cash.

* Team Item Scamming – Many players will club together to try to scam you * one will be selling an item for a high price, the other will claim to be buying the same item for a higher price. This will fool some players into thinking that they can make a quick sale and large profit if they buy and sell the items being offered. Don’t be fooled by this! Always try to be aware of the current prices of items.

* Trade me your item for a minute, I'll give it back/ Lend me an Item - Don't believe them, they'll probably run away with your stuff. Your items are yours, so it's best you hold on to them. Remember the Lending system didn't exist yet, so it's impossible to tell if someone is lying to you or not.

* Gem Cutting - Though not always a scam, don’t hand an inventory full of gems to anyone offering to cut them – it's likely they are saying that to steal your gems.
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:51:15 - Last edited on 04-Feb-2015 02:45:10 by Motley Crue

Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
• Set your pass.word to [...] and log out for free stuff - If you do this, they will hijack your account (because they now know what your pass.word is) and steal anything valuable. Report players doing this for scamming.

• "Hey look, Jagex blocks your pass.word when you say it backwards!" - Don't be fooled by this. Often times Players will say that, and proceed to say a cuss word that is censored by the filter in order for you to try it. Don't listen to players saying this, they will steal your account. Report players for this under scamming.

• Fake drop party - The scammer will claim that he's dropping valuable items and encourage you to drop yours. While a drop party may be legitimate, if a player asks you to drop yours as well, that's when it becomes a scam.

• "Give me your item and I'll duplicate it" - It isn't possible to duplicate items. They simply won't give it back.

• "Whoever drops the most valuable item will win a prize!" - The scammer will just pick up your item and keep it. Don't fall for things such as this. Remember to use common sense.

• Selling identical items - Watch the second screen carefully when players offer to trade high priced items for your high priced items. Some players will switch items into their trade window that look like the real thing, but are not. Watch the trade window carefully, and be sure to read the items carefully that the other player is trading to you.

• "Put your items on my table and they'll dupe!" POH - Players sometimes will invite you to their Player owned house, where they'll ask you to put your items on a table or other object within their home and tell you it will duplicate, or something along those lines. The player will simply kick you from their house, then take your items when they appear. Never believe people who say they can duplicate items, as this is not possible.
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:51:25 - Last edited on 14-Jul-2013 05:56:02 by Motley Crue

Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
• "Rewarding Kindness" - This line is stated to trick you into thinking that if you give those saying it items or money they will reward you for your "kindness". This is simply untrue, they will take whatever gesture of kindness you traded them and leave or continue spamming the phrase. If you really want to be kind to these type of players, remind them that scamming is against the rules, and perhaps even offer them a few money making methods they can try out, instead of ones with less than honest intentions.

• "Trade me 100k for a surprise/You won't regret it!" - Similar to rewarding kindness, this will trick you into giving these players money for an implied surprise or reward. Contrary to the phrase itself, you WILL regret it, and the only surprise you'll get out of it is how surprisingly fast you just lost a ton of hard earned wealth. Don't fall for this, regardless of how tempting it seems.

• "Spending max cash" - This scam has emerged since the release of platinum tokens. Players will state they are spending max cash, and when they open trade with you, will offer 2147 platinum tokens, instead of 2147m cash. 2147 platinum tokens only equates to 2147k (a little over 2m GP). Someone unfamiliar with trading with platinum tokens is very likely to fall for something like this. Know the prices of things when you engage in trades and keep your wits about you.
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:51:31 - Last edited on 01-Jan-2020 21:41:53 by Motley Crue

Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
• Tips and Tricks •

- Always concentrate carefully when trading with another player.

- Always keep a close eye on the other player's trade window.

- Don't let people pressure you when trading.

- Remember you cannot duplicate items on RuneScape.

- Always use common sense.

- Stay informed on current prices and other features of the game.

- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

- Never take anything to areas of high risk that you're not willing to lose.

- Remember, the lending system didn't exist yet. Don't listen to anyone saying otherwise.
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:51:37 - Last edited on 08-Feb-2016 01:40:15 by Motley Crue

Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
• Areas to be aware of •

Note: If anyone asks you to come into any of the following places, be wary, and don't ever go into the following places with anything you're not willing to lose.

* The Wilderness - Don't take anything in there you're not willing to lose. Likewise, don't listen to people who urge you to follow them in there.

• Falador Park Giant Mole Cave - If you descend into the cave without a light source, you will be attacked by a swarm of bugs. Don't ever venture into the cave without a light source and/or a tinderbox.

• Lumbridge Cellar Caves - Bring the best lantern you can light, a tinderbox, and/or a spiny helmet to ward off wall beasts, gasses and bugs that will attack you when your light goes out. Don't ever venture into the caves without a light source.

• Lumbridge Swamp Caves - Don't descend into the caves without a light source, or else you will be attacked by bugs. Also, don't take an open light source, such as a candle or torch, as they can explode if you come into contact with swamp gas. Also remember to bring a tinderbox, and/or a spiny helm to ward off wall beasts and antipoisons.

• Brimhaven Player Owned House Portal - Be wary of players asking you to follow them to their Player Owned Houses, especially if their house is located in Brimhaven. There are tribesman nearby that can poison you. If you do plan on following a player to their portal in Brimhaven, come prepared with antipoisons and/or an emergency teleport.

• Rogue's Den - Players will often put trades up in the Trading Post or elsewhere and when you contact them about it they will tell you to meet them in the Rogue's Den on a PvP World. Despite there being a bank there it is not classed as a safe area, and this will often deceive players who meet the traders there only to find some high level players waiting to kill them.
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:51:44 - Last edited on 08-Feb-2016 01:39:32 by Motley Crue

Motley Crue
Aug Member 2022

Motley Crue

Posts: 17,629 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
• Tips for Reporting Scammers •

You may be feeling anxious that your reports aren't being looked at. Reports do get looked at eventually, it just takes time. The reports system works on a first come, first serve basis. That means that your report will get looked at whenever they've sifted through the huge load of ones before you. Sometimes the report system can be backed up quite aways, that's why it can take weeks, sometimes months before you notice any action being taken against the account. Some things you can do to make sure a report will be actioned faster:

- Don't encourage others around you to report someone for scamming
- Don't send in multiple reports of the same player

In doing this it actually slows down the process because now the team needs to work through all the extra reports along with the original.

Scammers also have to have either talked or traded with you to report them. Reason being is Jagex needs the trade history and the chat history to deduce if the player was indeed scamming. It is especially annoying trying to report people in crowded worlds, as with all the autotypers around, chat maybe stays on the chat window for 20 seconds, much too early to file a report in time. Your best bet is to report someone as soon as they attempt to scam you, that way at least some trade history will be recorded. You have a one minute window of time from when the scam takes place to file a report, so you have to have keen judgement in situations such as this.

If you see someone else being scammed by a scammer, go ahead and report them for encouraging rule breaking. That alone will at the least send a report and jagex can put 2 and 2 together from there.
Mötley Crüe

23-Feb-2013 17:51:51 - Last edited on 08-Feb-2016 01:40:29 by Motley Crue

Quick find code: 317-318-916-66063177 Back to Top