Scamming and YOU!
Ever see something that just seems far too good to be true? It probably is! Make sure to read this post and make sure you won't get caught by the scammers!
This thread will outline the most common scams, why they don’t make sense and what to do if someone like this approaches you.
(tl;dr take a lesson from the early 90’s and JUST SAY NO!)
GM/CM Impersonation
There are players that will impersonate our staff to try to get personal information from other players. Whether it's Campitor, Astra, or anyone else from our staff:
- We will NOT ask for your password. We just don't need it and never will..
- We DO NOT hire GMs/CMs in-game. I am sorry to disappoint but we never go in-game and recruit players to become GMs or CMs. Our company has a whole application process and requires a face-to-face interview. Any player that is saying you can become a GM or CM instantly in-game is lying.
- We will NOT ask for your bank account information. We don't need it to give you money, we don't need it to take your money, and we don't need it to verify your purchases.
- We will NOT ask you to go to a random Discord channel to continue talking to you. All of our communication is done mostly through tickets or in-game.
- We will NOT ask you to download programs. Well, maybe the RO game client if you need to reinstall. But that's it!
- We will NOT threaten to suspend your account if you don’t do what we say. If you did something bad, we will just suspend you, and you are welcome to write in a ticket. We will not, however, say we will ban you unless you give us money, or talk to us on Discord or any of the other things we've mentioned.
If you have ANY doubts about someone that is messaging you, you can always take a screenshot of your conversation and submit a ticket; a GM will be able to verify whether that person is an actual GM/CM or an imposter. If you are not certain, check first, before you do something that might compromise your account or your wallet. Better safe than sorry.
The Desperate Clan Master (or Friend)
One of the best things about RO is our delightful little community. Some of the better known players are almost elevated to celebrity status! Like the GM/CM issue, some people will try to take advantage of players by pretending to be someone else in the RO community. When your best friend asks you for your incredibly rare, incredibly upgraded gear, here are some things to think about first!
- Why does your friend suddenly need this item? You have known each other for a long time and they have never asked it of you before! If they are acting funny and seem… a little off, tell them sorry BUT NO! Even if it really was your best friend or guild leader asking you for something, keep this in mind: there is no such mechanic such as “lending” items. If you trade an item to anyone, you do so with the understanding you might not EVER get it back.
- Why is this well-known person asking for favors from another account? If they are who they say they are, let them log in to the character by which you know them. I can’t think of any reason for “SpicyPancakes” to ever message you from a character named “qwertuyio102938fo.” If they claim they are unable to log in to that specific character at the moment, it sounds like they have a personal issue and you should recommend they get that cleared up by submitting a ticket! If your friend can’t take 10 seconds to prove they are your friend, you shouldn't take 10 seconds to help them rob you!
- Well their name looks similar but… You think it’s quite odd that a fellow Guild Member suddenly wants to borrow something? Well I think that’s odd too! Why don’t you meet up in town and see if this suspicious character really is your pal. I understand that SillyMan can look just like SiiiyMan when capital “I” and lower case “L” letters are involved! If your SillyMan is in the clan, but SiIIyMan has no guild emblem – it looks like you’ve found a scammer.
The Positively Ridiculous Phishing Site
RO and other Gravity games will regularly have exciting contests with chances to win FABULOUS prizes. All of these events tend to have one thing in common: they don’t involve you giving away your password. If you are given lofty promises of free Warp Portal Energy and billions of Zeny, keep the following things in mind:
- Your password is a sacred key that guards your precious goods. There are only two places you will ever need to type in your password: the RO client log-in screen, and the official Warp Portal Account Binding page. Once your RO game account is bound to your Warp Portal account (and this only applies to users who created a RO account before the Warp Portal system existed) you will never ever ever ever ever ever EVER EVER need use your password anywhere but the game’s log in screen. I know this sounds like common sense, but you would be surprised how easily some users throw this information around. We even receive tickets saying “hey Mr. GM help my game crashed and my password is megaman!” Remember what I said before? We don’t need your password so you shouldn't give it out – even to us!
- We employ professional web designers. Just look at the website you are at. Is it one of those ridiculous Geocities or Angelfire pages from when the internet was still young and untamed? Is it a “free web hosting by X” style web page that looked like it took about 14 seconds to create? Now, we may not be perfect, but I have enough pride in our team to state that we would never produce such a shoddy-looking website. You can also make note of the Gravity Interactive verified security certification in your browser.
- The most common one is someone asking you to go vote for their friend on this really cool voting site, with promises of in-game rewards just for voting for their friend. Be careful. This is a common way for scammers to get you to input your information and then they are able to use it to log in to your account.
Hey- Lemme “See” That
If a user ever wants to get a good look at an item you have, they can look with their eyes, not their trade windows! As I said earlier, once you click confirm and exchange, you have officially given up all claims of ownership for that item.
For Steam Users: I'll give you a code for <insert game here> for your items/Zeny!
Steam is an awesome hub of games, where you can not only buy and play several games, but gift them to other users! There's always the chance that you'll get a message on Steam or in-game saying, "I'll give you this super awesome game if you give me some super awesome items!" You decide it's a pretty good deal and all you're giving up is your amazing Poring Hat, so you trade it out and the person never gives you an authorization code or gifts you a game. Like the "Lemme see that" scam, once you click confirm on the trade, you have officially given up all claims of ownership for that item. Play it safe and be suspicious!
Player to Player Agreement
If you and another player agree to something, like splitting the loot on a dungeon run, that is great!
However, the GM team will not police any agreements made between players. This means that if you do not trust that the other person will keep their end of the agreement, it would probably be safer not to agree to it.
The GM team will consider review or support when it comes to trade agreements, and after you provide unedited evidence of in-game communication between you and the other player. If you have evidence of a trade agreement gone bad, such as screenshots or video, please submit a ticket and the GM team will consider the issue.