Scams

Scams occur when one player or group of players deceives another player out of money, goods, or enjoyment in-game. The only way to fall victim to a scam is to be ignorant; 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 probably is a scam. Scammers will often approach you directly, via whisper, with their offer, instead of announcing it on !All or $Trade. This allows them to avoid anybody else ratting them out. If in doubt to whether a deal is genuine, ask on a public channel! And, if you catch a scammer in the act, be sure to let everyone around you know what he's up to.

Item Scams
Item scams exploit traits of items to convince somebody he's getting something he isn't.

Selling Armor
All armor in Guild Wars is customized to the character that purchased it. This means that, while it can be traded to others, nobody else can actually wear it! The most anybody can do with a piece of armor is salvage it. The game now offers a warning in the trade window when the item being sold is customized.

Selling Customized Weapons
Whenever you buy a weapon from another player, look at it closely. If you see a line stating that it is customized for that player, you will be unable to equip the weapon if you buy it! You may still wish to buy it to try and salvage upgrades off of it. The game now offers a warning in the trade window when the item being sold is customized.

Decustomization
Often, a player attempting a scam with armor or weapons will tell you that a decustomization vendor will remove the old customization, allowing you to equip the armor or weapon. This is blatantly false; there is no decustomization vendor, and any customized equipment you buy will be useless!

Unidentified Items
This is not necessarily a scam, but it is definitely worth mentioning. As you probably know, using an Identification Kit on an unidentified item will show you what properties that item has. If the properties come from a rune or weapon upgrade, you will unlock that rune or upgrade for use on PvP characters. Merely purchasing an already-identified item does not unlock like this, so a thriving market in unidentified items exists in Guild Wars.

However, there are three good reasons not to buy unidentified items. Firstly, the odds of you unlocking a rune or upgrade you can actually use is extremely rare. Secondly, the seller can actually salvage the item before identifying it, which will, if the item holds a rune, tell you the strength and the profession of that rune. This allows you to purchase something far more likely to give you an item you can use. Finally, if you're purchasing the item to replace current equipment, the level of rarity of an item does not directly correspond to its power. A purple isn't necessarily stronger than a blue, and a gold isn't necessarily stronger than a purple.

In general, unless you have very good reasons for doing so, you should avoid buying unidentified items.

Althea's Ashes
This scam is done in Piken's Square mostly and it involves a player selling Althea's ashes for gold. When the buyer talks to Duke Barradin, at times the ashes will disappear but the player will not get the quest, this part though is mainly a bug. The only sure way to get the quest is to go the flame temple corridor and get it yourself.

It is possible to do the mission with the ashes if you put the ashes in your storage before taking the mission.

Family Sigil as Celestial Sigil
When trading for a Celestial Sigil, be sure to verify that what you are buying is indeed a Celestial Sigil and not a Family Sigil. Family Sigils are a valueless quest item.

Gold Dye
Gold dye can sell for prices up to 3.5 platinum, especially in Lion's Arch. However, gold dye barely costs two platinum to mix. It's a simple mix of orange, yellow, and silver dyes. The most expensive component of gold dye is the silver dye (which generally does not exceed 1 platinum). Some mixes of 'gold dye' lack the silver component as well, earning the seller a profit of nearly 3 platinum. Gold dye does not drop, even though a scammer may try and convince you otherwise.

Trade Scams
Trade scams involve trading between two or more players. Trade scams all rely on the scammer confusing you into believing him over the game window. Remember this important rule: the game window is always right!

Running / Getting Run
For those who agree upon a gold transaction for these "services", be aware that both the runner and the person being run are highly vulnerable to getting scammed. If someone offers a run for money, and wants payment up front, there is nothing to stop them from disconnecting once they have your cash. Or they might not actually be very adept at running, and will die several times before giving up in frustration. Few legit runners will require any gold up front. They accept payment 1/2 way, or for long runs, some pre-agreed terms for a certain amount of gold at a certain marker. Similarly, if you are running a party full of paying customers, there is no way you can compel them to pay once the run has been completed. Some scams involve a person saying they have the gold in their storage, and can't get it until you enter the destination, only to have them ignore you once they arrive. For this reason, experienced runners will verify funds by opening a trade window with each of their "clients" just outside the starting point of the run, and make them show that they are carrying the required gold on their person. Then, the runner will collect due payment at the beginning of the zone adjacent to the destination, which is generally far enough that the others will not be able to complete the trip on their own.

Despite these tips, getting scammed during a run is still one of the most prevalent forms of dishonesty. Be warned.

"I'm bugged!"
The buyer will submit nothing on his side of the trade, and when you ask him about it, he'll claim to be "bugged," and that he actually submitted the item you were trying to buy from him. While it is entirely possible to be bugged in trade, it is not possible to be bugged in this way. If the trader claims to be bugged, ask him to relog, and do the same yourself. If he resists or refuses, or if the problem doesn't go away, he is a scammer, and you should not trade with him.

Bait and Switch
Often, scammers will submit an item that is not what you agreed upon. However, this is likely to get the scammer caught, so they make sure you're in a hurry first. They will usually do this by repeatedly closing the trade window in the middle of the trade, and claiming he's "glitched", until eventually, you're hitting accept as fast as possible to outrace the "glitch." When he finally submits an item, it's junk that you don't want, and in your unthinking hurry, you hit accept anyway. Don't fall for this.

Money Switch
In offering to buy an item, the scammer quickly switches from an offer of platinum to gold, hoping to fool the seller. For example, a scammer may agree to pay 7 platinum for black dye. When the trade window opens he 'mistakenly' offers 8 platinum. Seeing the chance to make an extra piece of platinum, the seller eagerly clicks "accept". The scammer then says something like "Oops, sorry" and changes his offer to 7 gold, hoping that the seller won't notice the change from platinum to gold. Make sure you carefully check the final offer before you accept the trade.

Deferred Trades
This is a broad category of scams, but they all have the same scam element: the scammer will have you trade him an item or money, in return for an item or money he (or some other scammer) will supposedly trade you right back. This often takes the form of the three-way trade. The scammer says "I have Item A, which this guy here wants. I want Item B, which you have.  And you want Item C, which this guy here has.  So, you give me Item B, I'll give him Item A, and he'll give you Item C." Of course, as soon as you part with your Item B, they both leave or log off.

Impersonation Scams
Impersonation scams are scams in which the scammers act as ArenaNet staff.

Username/Password Requests
Never give anybody your username or password. Ever. ArenaNet will never ask for it; not through email, not through a whisper, never.

Sigil Status
This is targeted at EverQuest players, who needed to have GMs approve their guild creation in a chat room. In this game, all guild management is taken care of in-game, so the scam has no basis in fact. Basically, a scammer will tell you that, to get your Celestial Sigil, you must pay a GM gold, and he'd transfer the status onto you, allowing you to buy a Guild Hall. Don't do it! Sigils can only be purchased from other players or the Sigil Trader, or be earned in the Hall of Heroes.