Scamming Prevention Guide

While Runescape is for the most part a friendly community with honest players, just as in real life there will be some untrustworthy and dishonest people who will look to gain an unfair advantage by trying to scam you of your items/account.

Our policy is to never return lost items to players that have been scammed. Doing so just encourages users to claim they lost items they never had to gain an unfair advantage. We provide a totally safe way to trade items in the game.

We suggest that you read the following information to ensure that you do not fall victim to a scammer.

What is a scam?

A scam is the act of acquiring item(s) from another player through misinformation, confusion and pressure, or by taking advantage of basic trust.

What do I do if I get scammed?

Unfortunately, if you do fall victim to a scam we cannot return any of the lost items to your player. However, you can report the scammer during the event by using the in game 'report abuse' button which is situated to the bottom right of the client window. For more information see our Reporting Abuse Guide.

How do I prevent myself from being scammed?

We have put together some useful tips for you that should help prevent you from being scammed by another player, which are listed below.

Use the Grand Exchange

The nature of the Grand Exchange makes it impossible to be scammed - you know what you're buying and how much you wish to pay for it, and when you're selling an item you set the price exactly as you want it (within around 5% of the market value). This means that you will always get what you're asking for!

If you choose not to use the Grand Exchange, please pay careful attention to the following points.

Think carefully about the trustworthiness of the other player

Before commencing in a trade/transaction with another player always consider the trustworthiness of their character.

Be wary of newly created/low level players

A player's level is one indicator that may be used to measure their trustworthiness. For example, if a level 3 (lowest level) player is offering you rare or expensive items, you should ask yourself exactly how such a low-level player could have acquired these items? There are some people that will register a new character purely to scam other players. Higher-level players are generally more trustworthy as, if they do scam and you report them, they have more to lose than a newly created character. These examples are not ALWAYS the case, and it does not mean ALL high-level players are trustworthy, or ALL low-level players are untrustworthy, but it's good general advice.

You can see a player's level by right clicking on their player, or by going to the hi-scores table from the main page (under the 'Community' drop-down menu).

Ask around

If you are unsure of a player's credibility, it is definitely worth asking around in game to see if you can find out anything on the player. You might be able to find someone who has had a trading experience with this player.

Do they want to trade officially?

If another player suggests an unofficial type of trade, you should definitely be suspicious. We have a very secure trading system for players and there is absolutely no reason why someone should not want to use this. Some examples of this are people asking for you to give them items first before they are willing to give you their part of the deal. Another example is someone asking you to drop the items on the floor instead of using the trade window.

In 99% of these cases the other player will be looking to scam your items. Suggest to them that you use the secure trading system and if they decline then refuse to go any further in the trade. For more information on our trading system please refer to the Trading Guide, located in the Controls section of the Game Guide.

Displays of trust

Some players will ask you to display an element of trust in order to receive a free item or to join a group. This normally comes in the form of giving them an item, and them giving you it back. This will start as a small item and escalate to larger items or even multiple items.

Do not engage in any type of trust test as it will almost certainly result in you losing valuable items. A good rule to go by is do not give any other player an item you are not yourself willing to lose.

Is the deal too good to be true?

If you are being offered an exceptionally good deal and there are certain things that are making you suspicious then do NOT go ahead with the deal. If something seems too good to be true, in most cases it normally is.

Be extra careful and vigilant

When conducting a trade with another player try to be extra careful and vigilant. You should be aware that people can remove and add items freely up until the final confirmation screen. ALWAYS check the final confirmation screen to ensure that you are giving the items you mean to and you are receiving what you expect.

Players offering to make you items

Certain objects in RuneScape have minimum level requirements in order to craft the item. If somebody offers to make an item for you, its good practice to not only be aware of the level of skill needed to craft that item but to check on the high scores table to ensure the player really does have the skill level to make that item.

Then if you are happy with their levels it's a good idea to ask for something in return to the same value of the items you are giving them, to cover yourself should they be looking to steal the items. Any player that is genuinely looking to craft these items for you should not have a problem with this method. If they do, then most likely they are trying to scam you.

Large trades

If you are conducting a very large trade and it is too large to conduct in one transaction, it is suggested that you break it into smaller, equal proportions. In order to cover yourself, it is best that for each of these smaller trades you only trade items from the other player of the same value.

Trojan/Key loggers

This is probably the most common way players have their accounts stolen. Trojan/key loggers normally come in the form of an executable (.exe) file, but can take different forms and are normally cleverly renamed to try and hide the .exe extension. Often they are passed off as possible applications that claim to be related to Runescape (Runescape cartoons, calculators etc). They can be distributed as part of an email attachment, a download from a website or even an instant messenger file send.

Scam sites

These are sites that claim to offer advantages to players and will ask for your character name and password to pass them on to you. These are normally things like item/stat upgrades, free items, beta testing, moderator applications etc.

We do not offer any of these services and anything claiming to is ALWAYS a scam. You should NEVER be entering your RuneScape password into a website that is not www.runescape.com

Fake emails

We never send emails to players.

• We never send emails saying we need your password to check you aren't cheating!
  
• We never send emails saying we need your recovery-questions to check you didn't steal the account.
  
• We never send emails containing attachments of any sort
  
• We never send emails saying we need your password to let you join the Jagex staff.
  
• We never send emails offering to let you test new features or servers. These are fakes!
  

Staff impersonation

It is true that Jagex staff do have moderator characters, but all Customer Support issues are dealt with officially through our Customer Support area on the RuneScape website (under the 'Help' drop-down menu).

Staff will NEVER ask for your details in-game and never request that you give items to them. If someone does approach you claiming to be Jagex staff and asks for information that makes you suspicious, then it is certainly someone impersonating our staff. These characters should be reported using the in-game report system.

Downloading 3rd party software

Programs that claim to give you an advantage in RuneScape will either be one of two things:

1. A macro program that will control your character for you while you are away from your computer. Our systems detect these and we permanently ban any accounts we find using them.
   
2. A keylogger or a trojan virus.
   

Either way, your account and any information you have on your computer will be at risk and we suggest you NEVER download these types of programs, for your own safety.

For more detailed information on keeping your account secure, we have an in-depth Security Tips Guide that will be of use.

More articles in Safety & Security Guidelines Responsible Gaming Policy Health & Safety Scamming Prevention Guide Security Information Stronghold of Player Safety

Further Help If this article does not help you, you may find the following sections of the RuneScape site helpful: Visit the forums Rules of RuneScape