<<<<<scam alert>>>>> please read!
Hello,
my name is Silent from Horde Icecrown.
I have been hearing and actually witnessing this http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50182 trade scam (or more like, exploiting from others' mistakes) and after having seen enough of my friends getting literally f***ed over by this and SO many people trying to exploit off other people for their own profit, I have decided to make a post on the forum.
Before we even go over what's actually happening, this is how to prevent basic trade scams (on the buyer's PoV, which is mostly the case.)
- PUT YOUR CURSOR OVER THE ITEM AND CHECK IF IT IS A CORRECT ITEM.
There are items with SAME icon. This mistake can be REALLY easily made when you are trading an item with extreme rarity/vanity because YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE TRADE, BUT THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH PROFIT YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE OUT OF THIS TRADE. You make this EASY mistake, then check your bag later, see that you got something of NO QUALITY AT ALL, you tell yourself : "S***!"
-BEFORE YOU CONFIRM THE TRADE BY PRESSING [TRADE], MAKE SURE IF THE OTHER GUY DIDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING.
This is ALSO easily exploited. For instance, the scammer tells you that he will buy the item, you put the item up on trade, he puts the promised gold, you press "trade" (turns your side into green), then suddenly your side of the trade goes grey for some reason. You thought it was a server lag, and just mindlessly presses the trade. Here's the tip : THE TRADE DOESN'T GET AUTOMATICALLY LOCKED OFF EVEN IF THE SERVER LAGS. IT ONLY LOCKS OFF IF SOMETHING HAS BEEN MODIFIED BY YOU OR THE OTHER PERSON.
What usually happens is :
Scammer is the Buyer : They put 12,000 gold up there, erases 0, and presses Trade. You don't really think about it, and loses unbelievable amount of profit.
Scammer is the Seller : They switch the actual item with another crap with the same icon and presses Trade. You don't really think about it, and loses unbelievable amount of profit.
THIS IS HOW YOU AVOID IT
Addon / Client modifier : https://github.com/Kkthnx/SS_SafeTrade_WotLK
What it does is pretty simple. WHENEVER something on the trade is changed, IT WON'T LET YOU PRESS TRADE. You will be forced to "confirm change" before you can trade. This way, there is absolutely no way that they will be able to scam you.
NEW TYPE OF SCAM THESE DAYS
http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50182 Scams :
Blood Queen's Crimson Choker with low drop rate and having Crit+Haste secondary stat, it is considered the best and the rariest necklace that can be obtained as a spell-caster. As it has high-demand with low-supply, it's value is extremely high. (Normally traded at 70k+ gold on Icecrown) Unfortunately, this item has the exact same icon has many TBC epic red gems. (http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=32193) What they do is, put the Choker on the trade, then switch it with the gem and take your 70k+ gold.
This scam was NOT famous before as its price was measure at 230k+ (gold cap) and wasn't eligible for trade. Now its price has dropped to about a 'humanistic' level, these scamming scumbags are coming back to life; trying to exploit as much life as possible out of you.
Edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjIU4ls60Yg
Made a video of how these scams work and how SafeTrade steps in to protect you from these scams.
Sorry for bad quality. 4 AM and I want to go to bed too.
Edit 2:
Actual scamming video:
http://sendvid.com/p7jwzfda#
