The Black Market and the Scammers - how to stay safe ?
Gucio
I don’t write many articles, which is to say I haven’t written a single one in the last 200 days. Some will say “shit has happened;” indeed it has.
Everyone is looking for a bargain, and nowadays it seems that many people are trying to find some cheap weapons or food, due to what they say is “the great economy.” It’s even possible, if you look in the right places, to find some Q7 tanks for as low 5cc. There is an old saying though “if it’s too good to be true, it isn’t” so doesn’t that price strike you as a bit too low?
Lately, there seems to be quite a lot of “scamming” on going. People are losing money. Some lose 5,000 CC, others 20,000. For one individual (or a government) those amounts may be nothing at all, but for others it may be all they have. Is it worth trusting some random stranger who sends you an unsolicited offer with a proposal with a nice and low price?
If your answer is yes, then sure go for it.
Seriously though, it’s never worth it unless you want to lose the hard won CC which took you months to earn.
A few “spam kings” have been using both IRC and in-game messaging to advertise their very “promising” offers. As an “old fag” you should know not to believe in those, but will a new player know too? Do you think they’ll be as sceptical as you are?
or
Those offers look very promising don't they? It’s quick, you don’t have to worry about waiting for your items to sell, you probably probably get at least as much as you would selling them on the market and it only takes 2 clicks. Though unfortunately, good luck, as there is a minor catch- you won’t get anything in return. It doesn’t really matter how exciting their “about me” is, how many times they’ve been a country president, a congress member, if they have 1,000 BHs, or even an Ambassador Award / Elite Citizen badge, none of those prevent them from scamming you.
Power Packs and Stashes are another common scam. Whenever the time comes for the the Pack-of-the-Month, dozens of people advertise that they are willing to buy it for or from someone. Power Packs (for example) cost roughly 20,000 to 30,000 CC or even 35,000 if the supply is low. Quite a bit more than a standard weapons or foods transaction, right? For even a seasoned elite this could be several months worth of income, and for a new player with only a job and no companies of their own it’s almost a year’s worth of work!
Only few days ago, yet another player lost 20,000 CC to a scammer. Unfortunately, our “favourite” “Prince” has changed their name from basat to VanBaster.
So you’d ask me - Gucio, how can I protect myself?
It’s pretty easy actually, it might only take a few minutes, but you you might save a lot of money.
1.) Don’t believe everyone just because they gave you a really promising offer and will buy massive amounts of your products.
2.) Check the person’s name against a list of known scammers. There are few sites which are updated regularly, so it might be worth it to bookmark one of those:
#iTrade Scammers list
Scammers Database
The first one seems more up to date, or at least has more entries. How to check? Use their ID NUMBER NOT their name!
3.) For CC/goods transactions, ask to use a trusted go between in #middleman.
What is Plato’s stand when it comes to scams?
The Blackmarket has always risks, whether in-game or real life, thus the official response is :
“The purpose of the "Donate" button is self-explaining. The players to which you have donated cannot be considered scammers because donation implies that you will not receive anything in return.”
So, yes indeed if you do get scammed, you won’t get your money back. It’s worth it to spend the few minutes it takes to be careful. Please don’t think Plato is the one to blame here.
There's only one way to sum this up:
“Better safe than sorry.” - it’s better to spend that extra minute to check, rather to be sorry you lost a few thousand CC later on.
A big thanks to Oblige for some editing and formatting.
Help your friends and young players! Give this a shout!
The Black Market and the Scammers - how to stay safe ?
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/2474262/1/20
Comments
Give it a shout!
The Black Market and the Scammers - how to stay safe ?
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/2474262/1/20
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supported
v
o7
v
supported
how about a man in the middle?
in my eyes its a really good possibility, but only if both of them know this player as a trusted person.
for example ask a mod.
a usual scammer wont agree to this way, and you wont become scammed 😁
Plato can add a new function as trade contract like in another game.
v
Nice article 🙂
Meow @}-}---
http://prntscr.com/5d8330
Just a quick clarification, if somebody "scams" you out of a power pack, gold or any other online property that you purchased it is not a scam, it is a misdemeanor crime of petty theft which is both legally enforceable and usually punishable by a fine and/or prison time, if you so choose to carry out such a claim.
Many countries have special governmental departments where you can report cybercrime.
LOL
The easiest way is to stay way from any market other than erep markets 🙂
Stay safe trade fair with fairgr
'How to stay safe?'
By introducing trade contracts.
Voted.
That guy Godfather corleone is a very known scammer for sometime...
Just one thing reading the text I had the impression that you were scammed and now you are taking all the players for the same coin,that is not right for example I sold alot of Power packs and combat stash in this last few months and always kept my word.
And never sold a single package without receiving the cc first, 25k in this case.
To resume not all the players are scammers or crooks.
Regards
Corleone is indeed a very known and old scammer, but it's surprising how many people still manage to get tricked. I personally never got scammed, but everyday I see shouts and posts how people get scammed and it's usually the same ones over and over again that are scamming.
I will agree that not all players are crooks, but sometimes it's useful to have some distance to who you trust and who you shouldn't trust 🙂
supported of course!!!
Voted, supported and endorsed!
Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ°ºø•❤•.¸✿⊱╮ Yetlanesi ✿⊱╮¸.•❤•øº°Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ
Was here !!
😮]
Ooooops... Former Yetlanesi
😮P
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/beware-of-the-greatest-cheater-of-erep-active-again--2471754/1/20
Thanks for this great information. This is good to know for a new player like me.
Maybe if game offered some contract thingy ...
You would get your part only after you filfull what was requested from you in that given contract.
Offer would stay active for lets say 3 days (like donations) and if other side doesn't do its part you would get your stuff back.
Bad thing is that it won't work with war, assault and other packs....
thank you! o/
i'm a looser
20.000 cc ...gone🙁(
Data viitoare da un pm ca sa nu mai pierzi!
Should be common knowledge, don't trust a stranger!
Even on the internet 🙂
This is why you don't click on third party web sites, no matter how many claim it is "safe."
tl;dr
How to stay safe?
Buy from market
For me the PP offer is for complete retards .Srsly.... 😃
But i was scammed too with 20k for power pack.Now Im buying only from trusted players ,that already buy me the packs 2-3 times .The middleman is a good option for market trade .So my advice .Search for trusted players ,and you won't have a problem
supported!
I am really wondering what is the pleasure to become more 'rich' in a game with virtual money by scam... I mean... really?!
lol, believing Corleone.... don't make that mistake, ever again, anyone !
also, supported.
v
nice article
thank you very much
76/783
this is a scammer but hi is not in list's SCAMMERS DATABASE
http://www.erepublik.com/es/citizen/profile/5119756
hi is number 160 in ITRADE list
Don't have access to the scammers database actually, I can only edit the #iTrade list 🙁
V! http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/2474217/1/20
I have 134045 Q7
you are master of scamers
XD
thank you
v
o7