Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Scamming


OK...I am enamored by the sandbox. I find that this is one of the main reasons I play this game. A pretty novel concept: I get to decide how to play the game I purchased. And the developers..."let" me play it that way.

RL isn't fair...MMORPG games shouldn't be either. I get it. Most don't get it.

One thing that makes this game so amazing is the brutality that is EVE. Part of the brutality is scamming.

I am fascinated by scamming...for two reasons. First and foremost: self preservation. I have to be up-to-speed on the latest scams so I don't become a victim. (My corp has an award called the "Special Kinda Stupid" award. You receive this if you do something really stupid. I hope to never get it...) The second reason is the mechanics of a scam. I find this soooo interesting. Whether is be social engineering, creative use of game mechanics, etc., this makes scamming such an unique way to play the game.

I have been 'collecting' scams on my corps' forums...a running list of scams and how they work. (Kinda like magic tricks and their secrets) Some of them are very ingenious and seem like they would work well. The list is quite long.

This weekend...I moved from pure fascination to actually putting a few into action.

And the results were nothing short of amazing! 1 Billion isk over the two days.

Crazy easy money...plus, extremely entertaining! (Shout out to my Sensei...Herr Wilkus!)

And the really amazing thing...two of my marks KNEW I was scamming them! That's right! They knew beforehand and still went through with it! I'm at a lose for words here...

well done
From: Red Ozy
To: Sarkor Nafaar

too fast :(

This guy^ was told in local that my spam was a scam. He bit anyways. -275m isk for you.


quick clicker
From:
Texas Bamf


i thought i could beat ya to it but ya got me quick clicker


This guy^ knew it was a scam also!?! and thought he could somehow reverse the scam and win. -350m isk for you.

Somehow folks think that the scam I used was about how fast you "click". They are...mistaken. And poorer for it.

The next guy I scammed immediately EMORAGE logged...no e-mail, convo, or anything. -250m isk for you. However, he miraculously showed up in my home system the next day. (I put my "marks" on the watch list for a few days. <-Notice scammer lingo...lol..."marks"...love it. I feel like a real grifter)

Local:

Sarkor> Hi
Elephantosis> o/
Sarkor> u my new best friend?
Elephantosis> Yes
Sarkor> Cool...well...back to buying Officer mods with your isk. Cyas

Gonna do a Ninja vanish for awhile and pop up somewhere else...with another scheme. Good times ahead.

1 comment:

  1. Great job! I'd love a list of known scams and methods.

    Right now, I'm slowly working on getting a nice ponzi scheme together, but I don't have the time (real life) to keep it going the required time for a profitable return on the "investment"...

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