Common Scams and How to Avoid Them

KThxBaiNao · September 2016

Hey everyone,

I want to make sure you, your account, and all your items are safe!
Here is a list of common scams, and how to avoid them.

Scam 1: Drop Game

The idea of this is someone tells you to go somewhere of their choosing, and tells you to drop your best items while they drop some of theirs. They usually go through a few rounds, rewarding you for playing. Once they see something they want, they will either vac (Use hacks) your drops to them or have someone come out of hiding and swipe your precious items before you can pick them up again. This usually occurs at the Henesys hair salon.

Prevention - NEVER drop anything you are not willing to lose. In fact, just don't drop anything, that's why trades exist.

Scam 2: Duplicating Items

A person will tell you to put your best items up for cloning. There are various ways they do this so I will not explain each. They will then tell you to click trade but do not click accept. Once that comes up, they will tell you to type "Copy." Now the "y" in copy causes it to act as a yes and they have just received all of your items in trade. Many users will also offer to clone or duplicate an item for you, they tellyou to put it up in a trade box with them, and hit tab+tab+space+enter. This will make you complete a trade with them.

Prevention - Knowledge is power! No really, it is. Now that you know, you can spot these kind of scams the moment they happen. Simply report the users and inform others around of their doings. As well, never hit tab+tab+space+enter.

Scam 3: Buying/Selling

This usually occurs in the Free Market entrance. Someone will say "B> itemX 10mil" while another person is shouting "S>itemX 6m" The problem is, itemX is only worth 2m and once you buy it from the person selling for 10mil, usually both the seller and the one who is buying for alot both log off after having scammed you of your mesos.

Prevention - Be weary, there is not really any fast cash from this method. If someone is B> and S> the same items in the FM, they would have traded each other already.

Scam 4: I'll Give you NX/ I want to try your character

Many players will pretend to be your friends in order to gain access to your account. They will either tell you they are going to charge NX for you, or wish to play on your character to try it out. NEVER let them. Most likely you will never see it back.

Prevention - NEVER give out your account information to anyone.

Scam 5: Pay to join a guild

Most guilds are free to join, those requesting mesos to join are an iffy situation. Not all are scams, some may need the money for expanding. Though in many cases, they will invite you, have you pay your "membership" fees and boot you from the guild almost immediately after.?

Prevention - Try to join a guild of a friend or ask to pay at a later date, after you are established in the guild.

Scam 6: Fake GM's

Usually someone will chat request you with an IGN that sounds like it has a relation to Nexon. They will tell you that your account has been reported for hacking and they need to scan your account. They will then ask for your login information. They will then log off, and as soon as you log off, they will have your account. Alternatively they may ask you for your email or attempt to send you a file. These are usually keylogged.

Prevention - Just ignore these people. Unless they are carrying an actual Wizet briefcase, or hat. A GM will never ask for your user information.

Original Author:

KThxBaiNao · September 2016

Scam 7: Trade Switching

A person will be selling an item you desire for a very cheap price. Usually a scroll or attack work glove. They will trade you once, tell you to hurry up and then will close the trade. They will say they are sorry and to please hurry. Now they have replaced the item you were going to get in the first place, for something that looks identical on quick inspection, but is not worth nearly what you are paying. Usually a clean work glove or cheap scroll.

Prevention - Examine all items closely before accepting a trade. Double-check them again, then you are free to trade.

Scam 8: Quitting Sale/ Massive Sale

A person will Super Megaphone saying that they are quitting and are selling some rare item at a very cheap price. (Ex: 1 meso Ilbis) They will then have their fm store open and will be telling you to keep clicking and hitting enter to get in. This will cause you to buy whatever they have in their top slot, which usually is worth noting for whatever price they choose.

Prevention - Anything that seems to good to be true, usually is. Never click + hit enter going into a store.

Scam 9 - Account Selling

Users in the Free Market can be seen selling or trading their accounts. This is against the games Terms of Service first of all, and can result in you being scammed out of your account or your money as well as banned. They usually ask for your information or money first, and simply run off.??

Prevention - Don't buy/sell/trade accounts.

Scam 10: Youtube GM/NX Phishing Links(submitted by Ryuujin131)

These kinds are posted in videos and are mostly found on YouTube as well as other video sharing sites. The user states that he has found a glitch through a GM approval system or a NX Cash maker. He then asks you to compose an email to a fake NEXON email (Ex: NexonGameMasterApp@randomemail.com or Nexon@email.com) with a supposed code which includes putting in your account ID, password, and PIN in the code. They then show supposed proof that this works, (Ex: they show a video of supposed GM in there, but it's really from a client-sided hack.) If you fall for this and send it to the supposed email, the user simply logs into the fake NEXON email, and gets the information through the supposed code to hack into your account.

Prevention - NEXON doesn't use free email programs like Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo!, Email.com, etc. They have their own email accounts, which look like, *email@nexon.net. There are no such glitches when charging NX or ways to become a GM. Game Masters are hired employees of Nexon as it is a real job.

Scam 11: NX Reward Scams(submitted by mzfuzzybunny)

A person will*offer an NX prize for winning*match cards,*or various other games. They may*let you win, getting 1 or 2 matches to reduce*suspicion. They then ask you for your login details.*

Prevention - Never give out your account info to anyone. Not even to Nexon Game Masters as they will NEVER ask for this information.

Scam 12: Website Scams(Submitted by*SINJoseph)

A user*tells you that if you want free mesos/NX/items/etc you should go on a website that makes you put in your ID, Pass, and PIN. As soon as this information is added, your account is now gone.

Prevention - Never give out your account info to anyone. Not even to Nexon Game Masters as they will NEVER ask for this information.

Scam13: Shop Comment Keyloggers(submitted by Skorbo)

This is a somewhat common practice lately, and it's not as hard to fall for as one might think. While in your shop over a period of time, a player will come in and tell you that they've used pictures of you in a video they have online. They also give you a link, saying to watch it and let them know if you want your pictures removed. If you follow the link, it will inform you your Flash Player is out of date and request to update. This update is where the keylogger comes in.*

Prevention - Be wary of any links you visit that are advertised in game through any means. If you aren't familiar with a website, google about it first.*

Scam 14: Phishing websites

It's becoming more and more common to see Smegas, messages, forum posts, or youtube comments from so people pretending to be GM's informing you of an event going on where you can get FREE BAN!!, NX items, mesos, etc. When you visit the website, it asks for your personal account information. When you enter it, you get nothing though you've just given them everything they need to steal your account.

Prevention - Practice safe browsing. Always keep your personal information safe, and always verify websites you visit are indeed real. Any "event" websites that do not end in .nexon.net are almost certainly phishing for your information as any official event would be on Nexons servers. Be especially wary for .tk domains. And remember, Nexon's website will never need your pin or birthdate for an event. If you do fall victim and realize before you are hacked, change your information ASAP.

Scam 15: Powerball Casino (submitte Khongi)

This game is often announced via Super Megaphone, often calling it 'the most equitable powerball casino, try your luck on ch... fm ...".
It's basically a scam disguised as a 'fair' gambling game. The players are encouraged to place bets of a couple millions of mesos, usually on numbers 1 through 6. You 'win' through a preset ratio (ie: you win the amount you bet multiplied by a number). The way this scam works is that the scammers target usually high-ranked, well known players and let them win alot, and have them perform word-of-mouth advertisement of this 'sure-thing' gamble drawing in more potential victims. The odds increase and players start to place in higher bets because they keep 'winning', once a player has placed a bet of a lot of mesos (more than 100 million) the scammer takes the money and the scam ends. The victim ends up losing a lot of mesos.

Prevention - Don't ever participate in this PowerBall Casino, as you'll end up getting scammed. Should you ever encounter this scam or an equivalent scam, the best way to go is to report the players using the in-game report feature.

ClawStaff · October 2016

I don't see how # 3 is really a scam (or at least that it always is)? The prices of items change all the time, and the seller themselves might not even know the item is being sold for a lower price somewhere. Sure it can be kind of a rip off, but it doesn't sound like a rule breaking scam. To me it's the buyer's fault, and only their fault if they don't check other shops first.

nenenenene · October 2016

One of the ways to avoid half of the scams listed above is to join the Reboot world.

Fennekin · October 2016

ClawStaff said:
I don't see how # 3 is really a scam (or at least that it always is)? The prices of items change all the time, and the seller themselves might not even know the item is being sold for a lower price somewhere. Sure it can be kind of a rip off, but it doesn't sound like a rule breaking scam. To me it's the buyer's fault, and only their fault if they don't check other shops first.

I think you might be misunderstanding? There are three actors in that scenario: the guy selling the item for 6 mil, the guy buying the item for 10 mil, and you. The scam is that the guy buying the item, and the guy selling the item are friends or guildies or whatever. The guy says he's buying the item for 10 mil, but he actually isn't he just wants you to buy the item from his friend for 6 mil, thinking you'll be able to make a quick 4 mil by selling it to him.

My friend once made me do this sort of thing for him a long time ago in RuneScape lol. It was so embarrassing, getting trade offers and having to pretend not to notice them...

BigDaddyDavid · October 2016

nenenenene said:
One of the ways to avoid half of the scams listed above is to join the Reboot world.

Literally

AKradian · October 2016

BigDaddyDavid said:

nenenenene said:
One of the ways to avoid half of the scams listed above is to join the Reboot world.
Literally

But the best way to avoid all of the scams is to not play MapleStory at all.

liljayyyy · October 2016

"Prevention - Anything that seems to good to be true, usually is...."

Yep, that's rule No.1 in games and probably life too

DeadMalcolm · November 2016

BigDaddyDavid said:

nenenenene said:
One of the ways to avoid half of the scams listed above is to join the Reboot world.
Literally

reboot is not where its at.

Aggraphine · November 2016

DeadMalcolm said:

BigDaddyDavid said:

nenenenene said:
One of the ways to avoid half of the scams listed above is to join the Reboot world.
Literally
reboot is not where its at.

If you have a pet, anyway.

Common Scams and How to Avoid Them

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