Common scams

In games such as Guild Wars, there are people who try to get ahead by dishonest means, cheating and stealing from other players. This article aims to arm you with enough knowledge to avoid the well known scams. Be aware of them!

The main article contains hard and fast ways you should act and things you should know to avoid being scammed. See the separate sub-articles for in-depth explanations and less common scams.

Item Scams
Main Article: Item scams (a more detailed listing of the item scams summarized here)

Many scams involve trading or manipulating items in various ways. Here are some simple guidelines for avoiding them:

Never buy customized items:

 * You cannot use, wear, un-customize, re-customize or customize-over any item customized for another player, ever.
 * Armor is always customized and cannot be used by another account (this includes Festival Hats)
 * The Igneous Summoning Stone and other /bonus items cannot be used by any other character, but also cannot be traded.

Use great caution before buying quest items:

 * Can it be used by another player? Read this wiki's article on the quest or the item before spending the cash.
 * Is it available elsewhere for less money? Ask other players you trust or in local chat.

Be cautious trading with players whose pitch includes claims of item rarity and value.

 * Is it truly valuable? A number of so-called rare items are inexpensive to obtain. (e.g. they are plentiful in a different campaign.)
 * Maximum Damage q8 items (those requiring an attribute of 8 or less) still drop; ArenaNet has never removed them from drops in any update.
 * Thunderfist's Brass Knuckles are a free quest reward in Eye of the North.
 * Tournament Tokens cannot be exchanged for any item.

Check with players that you trust before buying Minipets:

 * Minipets come from Birthday Presents, other in-game sources, and (a few) from special contests or promotions.
 * Only 6 minipets are available from gifts. The only gifts to produce a minipet are Gift of the Traveler and Royal Gift; no other gifts can produce a minipet.
 * Dedicated pets can be used in towns and explorable areas, but cannot be displayed in the Hall of Monuments.
 * Moa Eggs and Hardened Moa Eggs do not automatically produce a minipet. The Black Moa Chick requires a long cross-campaign quest, of which the Moa Egg is but one part; see the main article for more details.

Before buying Dye, read the main article:

 * In most of the game, dye is available at Dye Traders; never pay more or sell for less than these NPCs offer.
 * In Pre-Searing Ascalon, trading prices vary little from standard amounts. Check with other players or at the Pre-Searing Community before buying or selling.
 * Gray dye is sold at the merchant for 50, and is not subject to the usual trader supply and demand prices.

Review the articles on various collectible quest reward items, such as Monastery Credits and Battle Commendations

 * Monastery Credits and Battle Commendations have an equivalent value of at least 100 (if you exchange them for items to be sold).
 * Similarly, Imperial Commendations, Equipment Requisitions, Luxon Totems, Kournan Coins, Ancient Artifacts, and Inscribed Secrets are worth at least 200  to those willing to exchange them for goods.
 * 7 Trade Contracts can be traded for a Ruby, Diamond, or Sapphire. Always check the Rare Material Trader for jewel prices before selling your contracts.

Use real-life common sense:

 * Do not buy unidentified items unless you have read the main item scam article.
 * Never give hand-outs to beggars; there are plenty of ways that any player can earn gold.
 * Always independently verify the value of an item before buying it.
 * Beware of the "man-in-the-middle" scam, where you are asked to trade with a third party.

Trade Scams
Main article: Trade scams (a more detailed listing of the trade scams summarized here)

When trading with other players, it pays to be on your guard. Most players are on the level and will not try to cheat you, but there are bad apples out there, and keeping the following in mind will save you much grief:


 * Always hover your mouse over the items you're receiving in a trade an extra time before hitting accept. Make sure you're getting exactly what you expect. Be especially careful to check if the trade has been modified since it was originally offered.
 * Always make sure the trade window actually reflects the person you want to trade with.
 * Do not trust people who suddenly "get bugged" while trading with you.
 * Never agree to a trade that goes through a third party unless you know and trust that person.
 * Use multiple Ecto or Zaishen Keys to trade values in excess of 100k. Do not engage in trades that would require more than one trading session otherwise, as the seller may take your money from the first trade and run.
 * Never trust a player who asks you to drop your items on the ground for any reason. Some reasons they may give include being unable to open a trade window (trial accounts cannot trade, but they also cannot pick up items dropped by other players) or wanting to take a screenshot of the item dropping in the chat box.  After you drop the item, the player will use a shadow step skill (Ebon Escape allows any profession to do this) to teleport instantly to you and pick up your item.
 * "Item duplication" is always a scam. Many accounts have been permanently banned for even discussing how to duplicate items.
 * If trading for a quest item, make sure you look it up on the wiki first to ascertain the exact name of the item you need.
 * Never accept an item that is supposedly in a "bag". All bags must be empty to be traded.
 * Always remember that you may not wear/wield items that are customized for other players and/or other characters (on your account or otherwise). This includes armor and weapons.
 * Trading, selling, or buying accounts (player-to-player) is always illegal and both parties involved will have their accounts banned permanently without warning if ArenaNet finds evidence of it in the logs.
 * When selling or buying something, find out about the market price from reliable sources, e.g. guild mates or reputable web forums. Your trade partner may lie about the market price, or may have an accomplice give false price information (possibly with WTB or WTS) in the trade chat in an attempt to scam you.

Account Scams

 * ArenaNet will never, ever ask you for your username or password. Report anyone who does.
 * Don't use the same email address and password when you sign up for forums or teamspeak servers.
 * Trading or selling account keys violates the User Agreement and will result in a ban for both involved parties.
 * Be sure to keep your Access Keys, and to add them to your PlayNC master account, so that you can change your password if your password gets compromised.

Miscellaneous scams
Main article: Miscellaneous scams (a more detailed listing of the miscellaneous scams summarized here)

All the scams that fit none of the other categories. To make your life easier, pay attention:


 * Creating a guild does not require a GM (Game Master, an ArenaNet administrator, also referred to as Global Moderators) to help.
 * Don't fall for the temptation to download "hacks" or other 3rd-party tools such as bots. Using them violates the User Agreement and can get your account banned. They can also be trojan horses that install spyware on your computer, stealing your GW password and more.
 * In general, do not waste time trying to "catch" people who purport to give away free goodies to the first person who can find/touch them. This is not so much a scam as a waste of your time, as there are those that will refuse to give you anything, contrary to their own words. They also may use two accounts and already be in trade mode between them, meaning that even if you do catch them, you will never be able to initiate trade.
 * Do not pay anyone to be taken to a "secret place" or "farming spot". GuildWiki documents all of those better and for free.
 * Do not trade in-game wealth for items that are unable to be physically traded in-game. This includes accounts, guilds, access/promotion keys, etc.
 * Never "buy guild members" as the "seller" may give you names he knows will not join, making you waste gold on inviting them and you will have paid for nothing.
 * Do not buy gold, CD Keys, or items from online stores for real cash. There is no guarantee that you will get your product. It also violates the User Agreement and can get your account banned. (Section 7 of the current EULA)
 * Never promote untrusted members to a Guild Officer, it is a possibility they will kick/demote all your members and then leave the guild, leaving you with no members whatsoever.
 * Careful when helping new guild members, it is a possibility they will claim "Free Guild Member" help and then leave when they've got what they want done, for example crafting new armor.