Prevent Getting Scammed

If you go to my SCAMMERS! page, you will see how many sad stories there are in the comments of people getting scammed. There is really nothing you can do once you get scammed, besides pleading with Fantage and asking your friends to do the same on your behalf (which usually doesn’t work unless you have a LOT of friends).

So instead of telling you what to do AFTER you get scammed, let’s talk about what to do BEFORE. In other words, how to prevent it from happening in the first place.

1. Don’t Double Trade

This is really the easiest way, PinkStarBritney has made an entire post about it, and funnily enough, nobody listens. I know that as a fact because every day, I see people on Facebook posting “Does ______ scam?”.

Whenever people see an item they want really badly, their common sense goes poof and is replaced with excessive trust. They do anything to get that item, including risking some of their own. Scammers know VERY well that this is how people react, so they take advantage.

Don’t be taken advantage of, use your brain.

2. Don’t Go First

Ask the other person nicely to go first. If they refuse, don’t trade at all, and just walk away. They were most likely planning to scam you and have seen, to their disappointment, that you didn’t fall for their trick.

3. Record Your Transaction

Take a video of everything that happens during your double trade using screencast-o-matic.com. Remember to record as much as possible: a chat box between you and the person, you offering your item, you accepting their offer, etc. If they scam you, upload the video to YouTube and send it as a report to Fantage as proof. They can’t ignore such hard evidence.

 4. Google Their Username – NEW!

Whenever people get scammed, they usually post it on a blog, on Facebook, on YouTube, etc. This is perfect, because you just have to Google the person’s name to see if they are a known scammer!

If they show up, then that’s a HUGE sign to tell you to WALK AWAY, and to NOT trade with them.

If they don’t show up, don’t let your guard down, they could still be a scammer, so follow the tips 1-3 on this page.

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Hopefully, if we all follow these 4 simple tips, scamming will decrease. Do your friends a favor and tell them about this!

If you were scammed in the past but got your items back, help us out by commenting what steps you took! I’m sure a lot of people would appreciate it.