Scam

Introduction
A scam is anything that a character does to get Equipment, Money, or other Items in a dishonest way.

Scamming is one of the main problems in Tibia, especially on Non-PVP worlds where there is no (or little) threat of being hunted and killed by a higher-level character.

This is NOT against Tibia Rules, so a Gamemaster can't do anything to help you if you have been scammed. If you are on a Non-PvP world you could maybe use a Blacklist, or in PvP worlds you can perhaps contact a higher level friend to kill the scammer.

Bait and Switch
The ultimate goal of this scam is to get you to do a Trade (the correct way), but offer an item that only looks like the item you want to buy. This can also be done when selling a Backpack of items - especially fluids. Someone may have included some vials of Wine in a Backpack of Mana Fluids, or some vials of Blood in a Backpack of Life Fluids.

Most frequent Bait-and-Switch items

Weapons

 * [[Image:Giant Sword.gif]]Giant Sword looks like [[Image:Two Handed Sword.gif]]Two Handed Sword
 * [[Image:Bright Sword.gif]]Bright Sword looks like [[Image:Carlin Sword.gif]]Carlin Sword
 * [[Image:Justice Seeker.gif]]Justice Seeker looks like [[Image:Crimson Sword.gif]]Crimson Sword
 * [[Image:Stonecutter_Axe.gif]]Stonecutter Axe looks like [[Image:Battle_Axe.gif]]Battle Axe
 * [[Image:Infernal_Bolt.gif]]Infernal Bolts look like [[Image:Bolt.gif]]Bolts
 * [[Image:Royal Spear.gif]]Royal Spears look like [[Image:Spear.gif]]Spears

Armor

 * [[Image:Blue Robe.gif]]Blue Robe looks like [[Image:Cape.gif]]Cape
 * [[Image:Golden Armor.gif]]Golden Armor looks like [[Image:Brass Armor.gif]]Brass Armor
 * [[Image:Golden Legs.gif]]Golden Legs look like [[Image:Brass Legs.gif]]Brass Legs
 * [[Image:Dark Helmet.gif]]Dark Helmet looks like [[Image:Viking Helmet.gif]]Viking Helmet
 * [[Image:Worn_Soft_Boots.gif]] Worn Soft Boots looks like [[Image:Worn_Leather_Boots.gif]] Worn Leather Boots

Misc.

 * [[Image:Mana_Fluid.gif]]Mana Fluid looks like [[Image:Wine.gif]]Wine
 * All of the [[Image:Music_Sheet.gif]] Music Sheets look like each other.
 * [[Image:Crystal Coin.gif]]Crystal Coins look like [[Image:Platinum Coin.gif]] Platinum Coins
 * [[Image:Phoenix_Egg.gif]]Phoenix Egg looks like [[Image:Egg.gif]]Egg and [[Image:Tortoise_Egg.gif‎]] Tortoise Egg
 * [[Image:Treasure Map.gif]]Treasure Map (Pirate) looks like [[Image:Treasure Map.gif]]Treasure Map
 * [[Image:Ring_of_the_Sky.gif]]Ring of the Sky looks like [[Image:Crystal_Ring.gif]]Crystal Ring
 * Both a winner Lottery Ticket [[Image:Parchment.gif]] and a blank one look like each other.
 * Yellow parchments look the same as Gingerbread Recipe's [[Image:Gingerbread_Recipe.gif]]

Symptoms
 * Player offers to sell an item at an unbelievable low price (or agrees too quickly with your too-low offer)
 * They tell you to "accept the trade window quickly" for any number of reasons (bad connection, need to log soon, etc.)
 * You open a trade window, and they offer the correct item, but they reject the trade and then try to trade again right away for the wrong item.

How To Avoid
 * Never accept a trade without "looking" at the item (Shift+Left Click) in the trade window, and verifying that it is what you agreed on.
 * When buying a Backpack of something, always "look" at some (or all) of the items in the backpack to make sure that they did not switch some of the items for their cheaper counter-parts. Also make sure the backpack has 20 items in it, and if you are buying runes look at all the numbers to make sure they have the correct number of charges.

Slime Trick
 NOTE: Players can no longer die from poison on Rookgaard, but this scam may still be used to lower your hitpoints and make you more vulnerable to death from other creatures.

Someone will say right click on them and then on yourself and you will be healed, which they usually have a vial, cup, mug, ect. under them of slime. You will then lose your healthpoints, and possibly die.

Sometimes a player approaches you when you are low on health, and offer to give you a Life Fluid, or sell one to you VERY cheap. Instead of a Life Fluid, they give you Slime. If you drink the slime, you will be poisoned. This only works on rookie players that don't look at what they are buying. The poison cannot kill you, but it will reduce your hitpoints so that other creatures can kill you more easily. If you die, they will loot your body.

This usually only occurs on Rookgaard because inexperienced players are the primary targets, you cannot attack another player on Rookgaard (even on PvP worlds), and there is no depot to keep stuff at, so everything you own is in your backpack.

Symptoms
 * Someone offers to sell you a Life Fluid VERY cheap when you are low on health, but sometimes they sell it at normal price to trick you.
 * Someone gives you "life fluid" in any container that is NOT a Vial. They may throw you a Cup, Mug, Pitcher or other container where you cannot see the color of the liquid inside of it.
 * Someone says that he can heal you, or you need to heal him, and begs you to Ctrl-click him and click on yourself. In fact he did put a Cup or other small fluid container under him containing Slime. If you do what the scammer asks you for, you'll drink the Slime and die.

How To Avoid
 * Always "look" at an item (SHIFT+Click) BEFORE drinking it. It will tell you what kind of liquid is inside it, or if it is empty.
 * NEVER Control-Click on other players.
 * Always keep at least 1 Antidote Rune (adana pox) in your backpack. These can even be bought on Rookgaard from the NPC Lily. If you are on the Mainland, have the Antidote spell ready to use.

Broken/Incomplete Items
This scam involves selling/trading an item that is not "complete" or "full". This is usually done with Amulets that are missing charges, Rings that are missing time (the Might Rings have got charges instead of time), Runes that are missing charges, or Backpacks that are missing Runes or Vials.

Symptoms
 * They tell you to "accept the trade window quickly" for any number of reasons

How to Avoid
 * Always "look" at an item (SHIFT+Click) in the trade window and make sure it has the proper number of charges/time/etc.
 * When buying a Backpack of Runes, look at all the little numbers in the top corner of the item "box" to make sure they have all their charges.
 * Make sure that the Backpack has all 20 items in it (unless agreed upon trading fewer items). the quick way of doing this is checking the weight, a backpack of runes is 42oz. You can check the weight by simply clicking on the backpack in the trade window. NOTE: You must be standing next to the person trading with you, or it will not show you the weight.
 * When buying a Backpack of Fluids, "look" at a few of them to make sure they are the CORRECT type of fluid. Be sure that they didn't include some vials of Wine in their Backpack of Mana Fluids, or some vials of Blood in their Backpack of Life Fluids.

Duplicate Items Scam
This scam begins when someone tells you they know how to duplicate items. Their instructions may vary, but essentially, they will tell you to place the item on your depot box in front of you, and hold CTRL while you type "CLONE" or "DUPLICATE" or another word.

The effect is that when you press CTRL+L, you will logout, and they will take your item.

Symptoms
 * Someone tells you they know how to duplicate items, or tries to give you instructions on how to do so.

How To Avoid
 * First of all, do not place your items in the open, even on your depot box (many scams depend on this).
 * Learn the keyboard shortcuts for the game, and watch out for people that tell you to use certain key combinations.
 * Do not press CTRL+L or CTRL+Q unless you want to logout.

Drop Scam 1 - Floor Drop
This scam depends upon you dropping the item on the floor so that the other person can see it. When it is on the floor, they will grab it. If you drop it out of their reach, they might throw Rubbish or use Fire Field, Energy Field or Poison Field on it (or on you to block you), and grab the item when the field dissappears (or they might use a Destroy Field rune).

Symptoms
 * Character wants to trade an expensive item AWAY from the Depot
 * Character asks you to "show" them the item/money by placing it on the floor
 * When you refuse to "show" the item to them, they start to walk away, and may call you a thief, or they may say they don't believe you actually have the item/money. Don't be fooled - your natural reaction will be to prove them wrong.

How To Avoid
 * ALWAYS use the built-in "Trade" function of Tibia. NEVER SET AN ITEM ON THE FLOOR TO TRADE OR TO PROVE YOU HAVE IT. They can look at it and get their proof in the trade window. Best way to showoff an item is to show it in your house, or a trustable friend's.

Drop Scam 2 - Depot Drop
This scam involves standing in a depot stall, and the person asks you to "show" them the item/money before they will trade with you. If you set the item on your depot (where they can't reach it), they will immediately start throwing junk (rubbish, fish bones, worms, candlesticks, etc.) on top of it. The hope is that you will get carried away tossing the items OFF, that you will accidentally throw your item/money on the floor where they can reach it.

This scam may even happen if you are NOT trading with someone, but merely showing off an item to some friends.

Symptoms
 * A person asks you to "show" the item/money to them while standing in a depot stall. They may pretend to want a screenshot, or say that they don't believe you have the item/money, or any other reason.
 * If buying something more than 10k, they ask you to change it into Crystal Coins before trading. This allows them to get more than 100 Platinum Coins at a time.
 * A person shows you an item on their depot, and says something like "I bet you can beat this", or any other scheme to get you to place your equipment in plain sight.
 * To make it more trustworthy the character may even move to the next set of dp boxes and say he cannot throw stuff because he is behind a wall. In reality a friend -or second personally controlled character- will be standing around that may seem unable but in fact is able to throw garbage on your dp. The original character will then also move back and offer help like a backpack just 1 square away. Pick it up and a third char will be logged in on your dp spot and take your valuable item.
 * If you become a victim of this scam, and your item/money is covered in junk, someone may suggest that you report the thieves by pressing CTRL+Q or CTRL+L. [b]DO NOT PRESS IT![/b] These combinations are hotkeys used to logout. So they will be able to move into your spot and uncover your item/money.
 * Another thing to watch out for is the server save. When the server saves, all players are kicked from the game and have to log back in. If this happens when your stuff is covered in junk, the other player will most likely be expecting it, and they will log back in before you, take your spot, and steal your stuff.

How To Avoid
 * ALWAYS use the built-in "Trade" function of Tibia. Never set an item out in the open - even on your depot box - when making a trade.
 * If they ask you to change your Platinum Coins into Crystal Coins, refuse. If they are honest, they can change them after you trade.
 * If someone refuses to trade with you until you show the item to them, show via the Trade function, if they say to show on the depot box then, just walk away.
 * Do not press CTRL+Q or CTR+L to report scammers. Stealing and scamming is technically not against Tibia Rules, but if they also break another Tibia Rule, use CTRL+R to report them.
 * When making a trade, try to stand in a depot stall where you can throw directly into a trash bin.
 * If someone throws junk onto the top of your items, don't throw them off anywhere where this person could steal them. Instead, put the items into your depot.  That way, in case you do get carried away, your items will return to your depot, safe and sound.  This is better than throwing the junk into a trash can where you could possibly lose your items for good.

Drop Scam 3 - House Drop
This scam happens when someone invites you into their house. When inside, they ask to "see" the item. You drop it on the floor. They cast the "alana sio" spell (see Tibia Guide on Houses for more information), and you are immediately kicked out of the house, but your item/money is still inside.

Symptoms
 * Someone asks to trade with you in their house. They may use any number of reasons (it's a safe zone, I don't trust you, etc).
 * Anyone asks you to "show" the item/money to them on the floor of their house or flat. They may even try to make you feel safe by letting you into a room in the house and closing the door, with them standing outside the door. They can still cast the spell, and you will still be kicked out of the house, with your money/items on their floor.

How To Avoid
 * ALWAYS use the built-in "Trade" function of Tibia. Never set an item out in the open - ESPECIALLY IN SOMEONE'S HOUSE - when making a trade.
 * If someone refuses to trade with you until you show the item to them, just walk away (be prepared to run if they attack you).
 * Only trade in public safe zones, and certainly not in someone's house that you do not know and trust.

Server Save
This scam is just another variation on any of the Drop scams listed here. In this case, you are told to "show" them an item/money/etc. near the time the server will be saved. When the server does a save, all characters are kicked from the game, and have to log back in. If you have items on the floor or on your depot box, they will still be there, but the other person will most likely be expecting it, and they will log in before you, and take your items/money.

Symptoms
 * Someone wants to initiate a trade very close to the server save.
 * You are asked to "show" the item or money to someone who wants to trade with you.

How To Avoid
 * Know when the server save is for the world you play on.
 * Do not initiate a trade close to the server save.
 * Never place items in the open when trading. The other person can see if safely in the trade window.

Parcel Trade Scam
This is a very obvious scam where someone asks you to parcel them the money, and they will parcel you the item. Inevitably, they keep the money, and you do not ever recieve the goods.

Symptoms
 * You negotiate a trade through private messages, and the other person asks you to parcel the money to them.
 * They refuse to travel for the trade, and if you offer to travel to their location, they give you some reason that it will not work (they need to logoff soon, or some other reason).
 * They initially try to meet with you to trade, but you cannot find them. Ultimately (after a long time), they say to just parcel it to them. In this case, they may not even be in the town they say they are, and they may just be sending you on a wild goose chase.

How To Avoid
 * Don't do a parcel trade
 * If you still got to... then make the other guy send first, and make sure you got what you wanted before you send.
 * Look the name of the character up, using the character interface, check their level and their residence.
 * Exiva them, and if it comes up obviously as they are not in that town, just cancel it and get out of that city, they may character switch while you have the items (or money as the case may be) on you. (Here comes the pk'ing).
 * If you have a list of items you may do a parcel trade for cheaper items. Once they pay you the first time they gain your trust. By doing this you think that they will pay you the second time but they will take the better item and log off.

Lure and Kill
This scam happens when someone (usually in a PVP world) wants to trade with you, but they say that they left their money in their house (or somewhere else), and you need to come with them to go get it. When you get a sufficient distance from a Safe Zone, they will attack and kill you and take your stuff. They might also take you to a monster spawn you can't handle (Dwacatra for example).

Symptoms
 * A character tells you to follow them somewhere (other than a safe-zone) to do the trade. They may have any number of reasons for you to follow them.

How To Avoid
 * Only trade in a Depot or other safe zone (like a Boat)
 * Do not follow another character to their house or anywhere else to trade. If they say that they need to get their money, tell them you will wait for them.
 * If you are attacked, and you are close enough to get to a safe-zone pretty quickly, then DO NOT attack them. Even though they have a Skull, you will get a combat mark, and will not be able to enter a safe zone until it goes away.

Party Kill
This is when a character asks you to join a Party for training or hunting. After you join their party, they attack you mercilessly and kill you before you can exit the party.

The reason someone would do this, is that they can kill you, get your stuff, and not receive a Skull for the attack or kill.

Symptoms
 * Someone asks you to join a party to train while you are at a hunting area. Party training is usually done near a depot or store so that you can both have quick access to food when you run out.
 * Anyone you do not know asks you to join a party

How To Avoid
 * Never join a Party with someone you do not trust.

King/Queen Kill
In this scam, the main objective is to kill you. Plain and simple. It will usually start when someone asks you to help them do a quest, and they need your vocation/premium account/etc to get through it. Part of the quest will involve sending you to speak with Queen Eloise or King Tibianus, to get an item or give them something. When you are there, they will tell you to say a certain phrase to the king/queen (such as, "silly key quest" or "hat of the stupid quest" or other words they won't like). This phrase will be offensive to the King/Queen, and their guards will attack you with some kind of magic and you will be left with one hitpoint. Being vulnerable, your trusted friends will easily finish you off.

Symptoms
 * Someone you do not know (or don't fully trust), says they need you for a quest. This is especially suspicious if they are the same vocation as you, have a higher level, or have a premium account.
 * Part of the quest (usually the first part), sends you to talk to the King or Queen. This may be legitimate, since some quests do require you to speak with them, but in a legitimate quest, you will be sent to them by an NPC, not another player.
 * You are told to say something to the King/Queen that may be offensive to them.

How To Avoid
 * Unless instructed by an NPC, do not say anything that may be offensive to the King or Queen. Use good judgment.
 * There are no quests that BEGIN by speaking with the King/Queen. If someone tells you otherwise, do not believe them.


 * Any swear words will offend the King/Queen. Do not under any circumstances say words such as "Sh**", "F**k", "A**", etc. when you are closer than 4 square meters from their guards.

Phishing
In this scam, a namefaked character (Examples: Mateuzs Dragon Wielki, Eternal Oblivlon, Taifun Deyilry) will use a cheat tool known as a Broadcaster to send a message throughout the world. This message usually contains a link, and some sort of threat or information that might lure you. The link goes to a website that looks exactly like the Tibia site, and when you enter your account information the person who broadcasts will steal your account and items.

Symptoms
 * A higher level (or just a random player) suddenly informs you of a website and sends you a link.

How to Avoid
 * Read all links thoroughly.
 * Don't trust links given by strangers in PMs.
 * Never enter your account detials (account number, password, recovery key) on any website but www.tibia.com. Beware of lowercase 'L' and the number 1, and - instead of '.'. (Eg. TlBlA.COM or tibia-com)

Notes: Broadcasters became obsolete after an update by Cipsoft.

Also another way, is using namefaked characters to ask for your help. (Example: 'Arieswer' instead of "Arieswar"). They would ask for you to send them runes or anything valuable. Saying like they are hunting, and that they will pay you back later after hunt. Sometimes they even make namefakes of either guild leaders or guild members to trick other members.

How to Avoid
 * Copy name and use the character interface on Tibia.
 * Check, if they ask you to send valuables to another character, sometimes this is because the namefake character they are messaging on, is still in Rookgaard.
 * Have the Show Level option on -> Shows the level of the character who is messaging you, easy to tell if its fake. (Example 12:17 Arieswar [136]: hi, is different from 12:17 Arieswar [2]: hi). To turn it on, go Options -> Console -> Tick 'Show Levels in Console'.

House Trap Scam
This scam involves a player inviting you into their house, but not giving you rights to open/close the door. Once in their house/guildhall, they close the door and tell you to drop your gp or items on the floor, or they will never let you out of their house. Since you cannot open the door, you may think that you are trapped. The truth is, anyone can "uninvite" themselves from any house/gulidhall that they can enter. Simply say alana sio "your character", and you will immediately be teleported outside of the house.

Symptoms
 * Any character invites you into their house to do a trade
 * Any character you do not know or trust invites you into their house

How to Avoid
 * Remember the magic spell "alana sio"
 * Do not perform trades in someone's house

Training Scam
In this scam, one or more players will ask you to train on a monster with them. He/she/they will take you somewhere and kill you. They may not kill you right away, trying to lull you into a false sense of security. They may also use the monster to attack you.

Symptoms
 * Any character you do not know asks you to train on a monster with them.
 * There is more than one character training.
 * They say they "need" another character to train (which will never be true).
 * This one is especially important! They take you somewhere you will not be able to get away from on short notice (e.g. a rooftop or on top of a mountain). They may remove the boxes so you can't get down if you don't have the right spell.

How to Avoid
 * Do not train on a monster unless you can easily and quickly get away should an attack occur.
 * Do not go on top of anything that requires stacking of boxes to get down.
 * Do not train with people you don't know (especially if they have a skull!)

Bookcase/Depot Scam
In this scam, a player will make a "man-made" depot in between two bookcases. He/she will set this mechanism up so it works like a normal depot where other players cannot move you, and you can show your items free of fear. The scammer will start to put his equipment on the man-made depot and encourage you to do the same. Once you put your equipment on the chest acting as a depot, the scammer will throw a bunch of junk on your item to slow you from picking it back up. While you are moving the junk, the scammer quickly changes characters and his other character would have been logged out on top of the man-made depot giving him access to your items. He may push you out of the way or throw your item back to his and relog. This is a fairly new scam and is not widely known around the tibian world.

Symptoms
 * If there is a two chests set up to imitate a depot environment in between three bookcases or other objects that can't be moved.
 * If the person is persisting you to show your items on his man-made depot.
 * If the person will not switch you places (this is in order to make the scam work).

How to Avoid
 * Do not ever put your items anywhere else than somewhere safe like your house or guildhall (reminder: things might look safe, but they are made to alter your judgment). Not even your depot is safe enough.
 * When you see a set up like this, avoid it, do not even try to play a game with the person.

Rookgaard Minotaur Scam
This scam is specifically for Rookgaard, and is usually done at the Minotaur Tower. The scammer gathers a small group of low-level players, and leads them to the Minotaur Tower, which is accessible only by boxes. The scammer then lets the players up first and takes the boxes away. When all of the players are dead, or only one is alive (to keep the minotaur from attacking the scammer), the scammer takes all of the player's items.

Symptoms
 * A higher-level character needing YOUR help, even if you are low-level, to defeat a creature you can't.
 * The character leads the way, but sits back and does nothing while you fight.

How To Avoid
 * Make sure you can get away if things get bad.
 * Ask the scammer to go first.He/she/ is higher-level, and should at least block.

Fast Hands
This actually started out as a fun game for Tibia but now some people started using bots to gain the item in the middle. Fast hands is when one person puts an item in the middle of 2 dp boxes and then both people try to drag it back quickly. Both people take a turn at doing this.

Symptoms
 * The person is willing to put a much more expensive item in the middle than you are because his bot will make him win
 * The person asks everyone in the depot to play fast hands, and usually insults the person if they don't play.
 * The person promises you will get your item back if he wins.

How To Avoid
 * Only play fast hands with friends you can trust, in a place in the depot where other people improbably won't go to avoid dp trashing.
 * If the person that wants to play looks dodgy, then do not play at all, or play with something you don't care to lose.

Guild Hall Scam
This scam is hard to carry out because the fact that the culprit needs to own a Guild hall to do so. Its carried out by when the Guild leader gets a guildhall and a large amount of people in the guild who are ready to display their items. when doing so the guild leader will wait for the majority of the "good" items to be down before he disbands the guild and all the items in the Guild Hall go to his DP.

Symptoms
 * The leader/owner of the guild/guild hall wants you to display your items rather more then you want to.

How To Avoid
 * There really is no way of telling who might do this cause their reputation as a player is in jeopardy. Only real defense is to know who your leader is and NEVER display NEEDED items.

Parcel Trap Scam
This scam is usually done in little spaces, such as a depot or dead end caves. One usual place is the depot, after you entered the depot, they will stay behind you, then he will put 3 parcels horizontally in his back. Why the parcels for? its because you cant move other characters into parcels, boxes or any type of boxes. You wont be able to move the scammer while the parcels still there.

Symptoms
 * Someone is telling you to go to a little place, telling you that he will give you free items or any more reasons.
 * You see parcels in a position you may not be able to escape from.
 * You see dead bodies in the space he is telling you to step on.

How To Avoid


 * In Non-PvP worlds, if you get trapped like this, the scammers wont be able to attack you, so if they want their scam to work they will have to stay until you surrender. DONT GIVE YOUR ITEMS, the scammers will have to logout early or later, so you will have to wait. Alternatively you can just log out and play on another character.
 * In normal combat worlds: the only options you have is fight or call a friend to move the parcels or boxes.
 * Carry some Desintegrate runes with you. These runes can destroy any moveable objects, including parcels.
 * If scammer doesn't attack you, you can just log off.
 * If you decide to wait scammer to give up, report him with ctrl+r, he may get banned for abusing game weakness.

Enchanted Staff
This scam isn't used much anymore, since the Enchant Staff spell can only be bought by promoted players (Master Sorcerers of level 41 and above). Someone trades you an Enchanted Staff (39/45), which is a good weapon, but after 60 seconds it turns into an ordinary Staff (10/25), which is not a good weapon.

Symptoms


 * A player sells you a good weapon for a really low price
 * The player is always in a hurry, because the spell only lasts 60 seconds.
 * Mostly Master Sorcerers do this scam

How To Avoid


 * Always look at the item, it will say Temporary magic powers enchant this staff. So this item is only temporary a strong weapon.
 * Never buy an Enchanted Staff, they're just no good.