Essay:Apotheosis's Guide on how not to get Scammed

Trading

How to trade:

Trading with a player is easy. When you want an item you put out an advert in trade chat or on the forums with the name of the item and how much you are willing to pay for it. Shortly afterward, another player may PM you to say he has the item you are looking for. You agree on the final price and the meeting point. When you meet up one person pays the agreed price by selecting the other player and pressing (x) then selecting "give money". The other person then tosses the item overboard for it to be scooped up.

Items available only from players:

Some items are only available from players. In other words you can't buy them from an AI station. Some examples of items not available from a station, but available from a player, are: Vazaha Invertoblast, Faranji Energy 1 and Prismatic Conversion. So if you want to get your hands on any of these items one of the best ways to go about it is through trade.

The benefits of trading:

Trading with a player has many benefits. Firstly it builds trust. The more you trade the more people will trust you as a good trader and the more you can trust them. Secondly it allows you to get your hands on some hard-to-get items that aren’t available from an AI station. Lastly it is usually cheaper and quicker to buy a hard-to-get item from a player than searching for it yourself.

Scammers

What a scammer is:

A scammer is someone who doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain. They will either not pay but take the item, or not give the item and take the pay. There is currently a list on the Star Sonata forums of all the flagged scammers out there so it's worth checking out.

How a scammer scams:

There are several ways in which scammers scam you out of your entitlement. Firstly they wait for you to give them the money for an item they supposedly have and then run or log out. If you are in a protected galaxy there’s nothing you can do; they’ve gotten away already. Secondly the reverse happens and they take the item and don’t pay you the money. Money comes and goes but you may never see another item like that again, so this is possibly the worst kind. Lastly (but not as often) the scammer will wait in a stealthed ship near where a trade is taking place between 2 other people and then snatch up the item that is tossed over board. This is also very harsh because the two people who were trading may think the other person is trying to scam them.

Why scammers ruin Star Sonata for everyone:

Scammer take hard earned money and items away from people who may have worked very hard to get them. They break up the Star Sonata community and destroy the communal trust we have in each other. More than that they ruin the gaming experience for us all.

How not to get Scammed

Apotheosis's Tip #1:

Check on all chat: Before making a trade ask on the all chat if the player your dealing with is a well known trader or a good-for-nothing scammer. Let other people's experiences be your guide.

Apotheosis Tip's #2:

Check their character: If they have a name like “DickFace” or “Cock-Suckers-United” it gives you an idea of their maturity. An immature person is more likely to scam you than a mature person. Also check their lvl. Most scammers are low lvl F2Pers (or P2Per alts) who get a kick out of scamming the innocent.

Apotheosis's Tip #3:

Use a ship or credit scanner: If you want an item from someone who you suspect is a scammer you can use a ship scanner to see if they have the item on board. If they do have the item it may mean they are not a scammer. If you’re the one wanting the money, however, use a credit scanner instead to see if they even have enough money on them to pay for the item you have. Ship scanners can be purchased in every AI station but credit scanners are harder to come by. Try Glass Matrix if you want to add a credit scanner to your anti-scammer collection.

Apotheosis's Tip #4:

Ask if they will go first: Its always worth a try asking if they will go first. If they seem reluctant to do so they may be a scammer. A good trader will not mind who goes first but a scammer will, so always ask.

Apotheosis's Tip #5:

Tell people: If you do get scammed tell people about it. Once a scammer has been identified they will find it very difficult to make trades with players again with such a poor rep. This also works the other way around, so if everyone tells everyone else who are scammers and who are good traders the scammers will find it a lot harder to strike. This is perhaps the most important tip of all.

Conclusion

You never know when a scammer will strike or how, but if you follow these tips they will find it a lot harder. I hope this guide has hoped potential traders and experienced traders alike. The tips certainly helped me!

Thanks for reading,

Apotheosis