Scams occur when one player or a group of players deceive other players out of money, goods, or enjoyment in-game. The only way to fall victim to a scam is to be unaware of them; knowledge and a little common sense will protect you from any scam another player tries.
Identifying a scam[]
In general, any offer that appears to be too good to be true is probably a scam. If you are in doubt as to whether a deal is genuine, ask on a public channel. If you catch a scammer in the act, be sure to tell everyone around you and report it to ArenaNet as soon as possible (see instructions below).
Be cautious about paying any fee in advance of any service (e.g. runs) and always double-check trade windows before accepting any deals. Scammers can be creative, and there are many scamming mediums; the most common are: incorrect and misleading sums of money (e.g. 6 gold instead of 6 platinum), objects that are similar in appearance (e.g. a Mursaat Token instead of a Glob of Ectoplasm), and weapons that are slightly different from what is advertised (e.g. sundering 19% instead of 20%).
Scammers may impersonate moderators or falsely claim that you owe them money for a previous service, and may—ironically—threaten you with action against your account.
Reporting a scam or policy violation[]
- Generate proof of the scam. The PlayNC support site recommends that you include the following information about the scam:
- Produce evidence of the scam. This is best done using a screen capture. Press the Chat button (bottom left corner) or the ` key (under Esc). This will bring up the chat log and you can scroll to where the scam took place.
- The name of the player that has committed the scam.
- The area in which the scam took place.
- The time of the scam, including your time zone.
- The character you were playing as at the time.
- Any other information you feel is relevant.
- Proceed to the PlayNC support page (http://www.plaync.com/us/support/)
- Choose your location/language and proceed to the Guild Wars page (http://www.plaync.com/us/support/prod_48.html)
- You need to create an account. Go to the login page and fill in the required information. After submitting you will receive a verification e-mail. After verifying your account you can log in through the same page.
- Fill in the question/report form using the Ask a Question page and submit it to ArenaNet.
Note[]
In certain cases, ArenaNet will not take any action for petty scams, such as incomplete runs or the sale of a common quest item; they deal with a large number of cases, and the more serious violations are their priority.
Notes[]
- As of the 6th November 2008 update players can select "scamming" as a reason for their report.