Common scams

In games such as Guild Wars, there are many 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. Keep the following things in mind:
 * The Mini Asura is being given away free with the May 2007 issue of PC Gamer and other magazines around the world.
 * Minipets do NOT come from Wintersday Gifts or Winter Gifts. Minipets come from Birthday Presents and other non-gift sources.
 * You cannot wear another player's armor, ever.
 * You cannot use an item customized for another player, ever.
 * You cannot un-customize or customize over armor and weapons, ever.
 * With the introduction of the festival hat maker players have the ability to craft multiple hats. All Festival Hats are customized.
 * You cannot use the festival hat maker to make yourself a hat using another player's hat.
 * Do not buy unidentified items unless you have read the main item scam article.
 * Before buying a quest item, always look it up on GuildWiki first and make sure that item can in fact be bought and used to complete the quest.
 * Before buying dye, read the main article.
 * Gray dye is sold at the merchant for 50 . It is also the standard color of newly crafted armor. It is not subject to the usual trader supply and demand prices.
 * There is currently no known use for Diamonds.
 * Beware of people advertising "collectible" or "rare" items (not Collectors items). Often the items may simply come from an expansion other than the one they are being advertised in. This scam can involve two scammers: one advertises selling a fake "collectible" or "rare" item, the other advertises buying it a much higher price.  Do not be tempted into being the middleman! Check up on the item on GuildWiki or with your guild/alliance mates first.

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 black dye to trade values in excess of 100k. Do not engage in trades that would require more than one trading session.
 * Never trust a player who asks you to drop your items on the ground, unless you are giving that item away. There is simply no need, just open the trade window.
 * Never believe someone when they tell you the item they are selling you is worth the merchant value shown in trade window. Some people will try to trade you an item that says "value:XXXgold" rather than giving you the gold you are asking for an item.  This is a scam because the item in trade window, if stackable, shows the merchant value of all the whole stack of items that person is holding, not just the one they are trading you.
 * "Item duplication" is always a scam. Do not let your greed get the best of you.
 * 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 you cannot buy armor from other players, it's automatically customized!
 * Always remember to check if the weapon is customized!
 * Don't pay a lot for a weapon or offhand just because someone says it has a popular or rare skin. If the item's stats are bad, it isn't worth much, regardless of its skin.
 * Watch out for people selling accounts from other games. Runescape is a game often used for this, so be very careful!
 * Watch out for people that try to sell off gold as platinums. Often, for example, if you are selling an item for a round thousand number such as 4,000 gold (4k), people will attempt to give you 4 gold instead of 4k. ArenaNet changed the display in the trade window, though, to thousands of gold and not platinums.

Adventuring Scams
Main article: Adventuring scams (a more detailed listing of the adventuring scams summarized here)

Various forms of nefarious acts can take place outside of the realm of trading. To avoid getting burned, follow this simple advice:


 * Do not pay up-front fees for running.
 * Unfortunately runners can get cheated when passengers simply leave at the end of the run and add the runner to their Ignore list. Payment in installments along way at safe spots is a common practice.
 * If you are running another player, they will sometimes say they are going AFK (away from keyboard), and will not return until the run is over. This enables a free run to their desired location. It is recommended that if the person you are running decides to go AFK, they pay all/half of the running fee before they do.
 * Pick up item drops assigned to you as soon as there's a break in fighting. Item assignments last for 10 minutes only, after which it may be picked up by anyone. Also note that once you are dead and can not be ressurected by anyone, any other player can simply wait for 10 minutes to go by and pick up the item for themselves. A lot of people have lost great drops because of this.
 * Entry into FoW (Fissure of Woe) and UW (Underworld) costs 1000 per party, not per person.
 * Before going to FoW, Underworld, or other high level farming areas, first read the main adventuring scam article (link above).

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:


 * ArenaNet will never, ever ask you for your username or password. Report anyone who does.
 * Creating a guild does not require a GM (Game Master, an ArenaNet administrator, also reffered 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 many 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 try to "buy a guild" from someone you do not know and trust, as it may be a scam.
 * Don't ever buy an account or an access key from someone you don't know or trust, as the majority of the time it is a scam. Trading or selling account keys also violates the User Agreement.
 * Never "buy guild members" as the "seller" will 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)