Tips For Avoiding Scams
Hello Lineage II players! Lately, we've been seeing a fair amount of players engaging in dangerous activity resulting in scams from using Discord direct messaging and regular L2 mail exchanges. Most scams we have been seeing are a result of people impersonating players or GMs. Please trade responsibly and protect yourself from future scams by reading some helpful guides and reminders below:
In-Game Tips to Avoid Scams
Protection through in-game mechanics: Never engage in a player-made agreement that is not protected by established in-game mechanics such as the trading systems, exchange or Pay-On-Delivery Mail. The game is designed to provide players with everything they need via these systems. If you decide not to use these systems, it is entirely your decision and your responsibility. Never send items through one way methods, like sending regular mail, unless you are willing to give them away for free. Only trade items using the in-game trade systems.
Player-made agreements: while not prohibited, are not part of the game’s design. Remember that no player should feel forced to create, nor agree to, player-made agreements, despite whatever the popular trend seems to be.
Don’t be hasty, things aren’t always what they seem: Some scammers create an illusion that suggests you can get something awesome for almost nothing if you hurry and make the trade before someone else does. This is a hard-sell fast-and-easy-profit illusion, and it causes many players to be victimized, simply because they did not closely examine the agreement. Again, take a few minutes to carefully look at the items and conditions of the agreement or trade, and do not accept unless you’re certain of what you’re seeing, doing, and risking.
Alt accounts and characters: Many scammers will claim that they need to trade from their secondary account or character. This could be a sign of a scam due to the risk of exposing their high-level characters.
New characters: Scammers are usually at a low level or are on newly created characters due to the risk of getting their high-level characters banned. News of a scammer will travel fast as well, giving scammers the need to create a newly named character. If a low-level character offers you a lot of high-grade items, please be wary.
Beware of impersonators: Using different keys/letters in a character name allows people to use similar names of popular characters and GMs on the server. For example, the letter L can be replaced with the symbol “|” the uppercase letter “I” or even the number “1”. Usually, the impersonator will be at a lower level than what you would expect of the real character.
Staff interaction: GMs or NCA staff will never ask you to trade items with them or request any information pertinent to your account’s login credentials.
Discord Tips to Avoid Scams
Many scams begin with the impersonation of other in-game players or staff. Through Discord, it is very easy to impersonate other players through Nickname customization. Discord Nitro even allows users to change their name on each server.
Never trust unknown DMs from new users. Always verify player identities through trusted in-game players or long-standing public Discord accounts on our server. Do a little research on them in our server before trading with them.
Be very wary of newly created Discord accounts. If you click on someone’s profile, and the account was made recently, it is possible that this person has not yet been reported for being a scammer.
General Good Practices for High-Level Trades
Take screenshots throughout each stage of the process. This does not guarantee your safety after a scam, but it does help expose certain users to support.
Check references with other trusted players to see if the user is reliable.
Continue to check their in-game level or Discord account creation date throughout each stage of the process.
Never give in to third party pressure to make the deal quickly and outside of in-game mechanics such the trading function.
When using the in-game trade mechanics, always make sure the other party added the items or Adena that were agreed upon before finalizing the trade.
Be suspicious of trades that are terminated halfway through. If a new trade is requested, make sure to recheck all items added to the trade window.
Actions To Take if You’ve Been Scammed
Please trade responsibly. We are not responsible for items given away outside of the in-game trading system. (This mechanic is used to prevent scams.) We are not responsible for any player-to-player exchange of items.
If you encounter a scammer on Discord, please report them to our Discord Server Moderator Team by using #contact-mods. This will allow us to ban them from our Discord Server if verified.
However, this does not prevent them from continuing to scam people on our server through DMs. For this, we need to report their account to Discord HQ Staff. Use Discord’s native in-app reporting tool, so that Discord Staff can take action and possibly flag/remove their account. Generally, you can just right click on their message or their profile and click “Report”. There are plenty of great guides on how to do this below in the link section.
For in-game scenarios, if you encounter an impersonator or scammer, please report them to #game-support
The best way to avoid scams is to stay informed, be alert, and suspicious of any high-level deals.
Helpful Links and More Information
Tips and Support For Scams in Lineage II
Reporting Abusive Behavior To Discord HQ
Understanding and Avoiding Common Scams on Discord
