The following are some of the most common techniques used to scam players of their accounts or of their items. Whilst this list may look scary these are all very simple tricks so can be very easily avoided through common sense, awareness of the small minority of dishonest players, and never giving your Password to anyone.
The Lend Item Scam
The Set Up
"Do you want to take part in a trust survey? There's a big prize!"
The Reality
The scam originates from a "Trust Survey" and relates to players asking you to 'hold onto' items for them to see if they can trust you.
What to do
Anything that contains the word 'trust' that relates to trading with another player should always be viewed with suspicion. You should also use the mentality; "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". This will help you avoid 99% of scams.
Password Censoring
The Set Up
" Jagex blocks your pass!" "Jagex blocks your password backwards"
The Reality
The chat filter is designed in a way that will actually block your password from being said in game, however if your password is typed incorrectly or spelt backwards, then it will be visible. It is best not to even attempt to type your password in game.
Remember this when dealing with potential scammers, they will try and trick you into saying your password any which way that will work!
What to do
The best way to deal with this situation is to report these players for password scamming, adding them to your ignore list and NEVER saying your password to anybody.
Recovery Questions
The Set Up
Some unscrupulous players may try and learn your recovery answers by asking you very specific questions in game.
The Reality
While password's are blocked from the chat filter, recovery answers are not. If they learn your answers they will try to recover your account based on your answers.
Be aware of your recovery answers, and try and avoid typing them in the chat as much as possible.
What to do
If you feel that someone may be attempting to learn your recovery answers, please use the in-game report function and add them to your ignore list.
Account Selling
The Set Up
"Selling my account"
The Reality
A couple of things could happen here.
- You may purchase an account, but never receive the password.
- You may buy and gain access to the account, only for the account creator to recover it back.
- You could buy and gain access to a stolen account, therefore it will be secured and the true owner will successfully recover it.
We stress that each account should be used by one person for your protection. While it might seem like a good idea at the time, the likelihood of you keeping a bought account is very slim. In most cases you will be left out of pocket and without an account to play on. Is it really worth the risk?
What to do
If you see a player selling their account in game, please report them under the account selling/trading offence.
Free Accounts
The Set Up
"Quitting RS, giving away my account"
The Reality
The player is letting you believe they no longer want to play the game. By giving you their password you are able to access the account, play the game, maybe even trade your items and add membership onto your newly acquired account. However within a couple of days the owner will recover the account, gaining free membership and a stack of new items.
What to do
Again, please report these players in game for account selling/trading.
E-Mail Scams
The Set Up
A player will inform you of this cool new e-mail that will give you free membership. All you have to do is send an e-mail to the address with your password and username, and the membership will be added to your account.
The Reality
The e-mail you are contacting is most likely some random address that was set up by an account intruder . They will use the username and password you sent in the e-mail to steal control of your account.
No such E-mail exists. The only legitimate e-mail addresses that Jagex use are @email.Jagex.com or @email.runescape.com
What to do
Please ignore any claims like the above, and do not contact the e-mail address.
Cheat Programs
The Set Up
"View my video on how to make quick easy cash!" "Be a pro PKer and make lots of money"
The Reality
User generated video content may be advertised in game from time to time. Most are legitimate videos made by genuine players who want to help or express themselves. Some videos however can encourage cheating to gain an unfair advantage in the game. The videos usually show a program that can "hack" RuneScape and give you better stats, or infinite amounts of gold. Some even claim to be able to DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) another players account, so you can PK them easily.
These videos, whilst not dangerous on their own, usually have a link to a download in the description. This download will most definitely be a virus or keylogger.
What to do
You can report the player advertising the site in game by using the "Report Abuse" button.
Jagex Staff Impersonation
The Set Up
"Hello, I am member of Jagex staff and I am pleased to announce that you have been selected to become a player moderator. All you have to do is fill in this form"
The Reality
The player is pretending to be a Jagex moderator. The form that they are referring to is usually a phishing website, used to harvest players passwords and account names. The player will then access your account.
Jagex staff will never ask you for your password ever. If a member of staff is truly contacting you in game, they will have a gold crown next to their name. No exceptions.
What to do
You can help by reporting the player for staff impersonation and do not visit any websites that are mentioned by them.
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