Scams

RSCRS

Scamming is the act of stealing money, items or accounts from another player through deception or trickery. It is strictly against the Rules of RuneScape (Rule 2) and can be punishable by a mute or ban. Scamming is as old as RuneScape itself, and the wide range of scams range from simple and obvious to clever and complex. Most scams involve tricking a victim in one way or another although occasionally, scammers will exploit flaws in the trade system, or even glitches in the game, to steal players' items.

Players can be reported for attempted or successful scamming. However, victims of scamming will under no circumstances have their items returned to them even if Jagex punishes the scammer.

Quick tips to avoid scamming

Players who adhere to the following suggestions will find it much easier to spot scams and avoid being fooled by them.

• NEVER trade in a PvP world. It is most likely a lure.
• If a deal seems too good to be true, it is probably a scam.
• Do NOT meet in Draynor Village, Brimhaven, Entrana, or Wilderness for the following reasons:
  • In Draynor Village, you may be lead to the jail guards, who are aggressive and can kill very low-levelled players.
  • In Brimhaven, tribesmen are aggressive and can poison up to 10 easily killing low level players.
  • In Entrana, you may be lead to the Entrana Dungeon, where an exit will lead you to the Wilderness.
  • In Entrana, lurers and scammers use a variety of techniques to lure you as noted in the Law Altar and Stairs Lures.
  • In the Wilderness, you can get attacked and killed!
• If the person requires you to give them valuable items while giving you back some other items after the current trade (2-time trades, e.g. doubling), it is probably a scam.
• For items you are not willing to lose, it is advised at any point to NOT do any of the following: drop them, bring them into the Wilderness, or offer them in trust trades (including gambling).
• Keep account information secure. Only enter your account information into the official RuneScape website, and NEVER ever tell anyone else your password, recovery questions, or email address. When clicking a link to the website, make sure it is the official one, as there are a plenty of fake sites with a similar looking address.
• ALWAYS carefully check the trade window to verify which items are being traded.
• If the person is obviously using a bot to advertise, it is more than likely a scam.
• ALWAYS make sure you know the price of the item you are buying; people can overprice an item at the same time as advertising that they are selling other items at low or market value, thus making you think the item they are selling is at a good price. Some uncommonly traded items may also be listed at a higher value than they are worth.
  • Example: Selling Archers ring 4500k, where Archers ring may really be worth about 1600k at the time.

Trade scams

Sometimes, when people trade, they place their offer and quickly remove it and press accept in hopes that the player performs the trade very quickly. These scams involve abuse of the trade window, and the offender could be reported under Item Scamming.

An example of a common trade scam.

Warning: ALWAYS check both trade screens thoroughly.

Similar-looking item scams

In item-swapping scams, the scammer will initially place the requested item first. Then, he or she will decline and claim that he or she lagged. Next, he or she will re-trade the victim and place another item that resembles the original item requested as seen in the following examples below.

Prayer potions

Players may place a regular Attack potion instead of a Prayer potion due to similar appearances.

Dragon bones

Players may quickly replace dragon bones with big bones due to similar appearances when in noted form.

Yew logs

Players may quickly replace yew logs with normal logs due to similar appearances when in noted form.

Armadyl crossbow

Players may place a Hunters' crossbow instead of an Armadyl crossbow due to similar appearances.

Verac's set

Players may place a Black plateskirt instead of a Verac's plateskirt in order to scam the player. This may be done when the set is noted.

Granite maul

Players may replace a granite maul with a rock hammer, which look very similar in appearance, especially when they're noted.

Trident of the seas

Players may replace a fully charged Trident of the seas with an uncharged one, due to both icons appearing the same.

Saradomin sword

Players may replace a Saradomin sword with a White 2h sword, which look very similar in appearance, especially when they're noted.

Elysian spirit shield

Players may replace an Elysian spirit shield with a Spectral spirit shield due to similar appearances, especially when noted.

Dragon med helm

Players may place an Uncut ruby instead of a Dragon med helm in order to scam the player. This may be done when the items are noted.

Obsidian cape

Players may place a black cape instead of an Obsidian cape or swap them in order to scam the player. This may be done when the items are noted.

Rune items

Players may place a Mithril full helm or an Adamant full helm instead of a Rune full helm in order to scam the player. This may be done when the item is noted. The same applies for weaponry, platebodies, platelegs, and kiteshields.

Armadyl pages

Players may place a Saradomin page instead of an Armadyl page in order to scam the player due to similar appearances.

Money scam

When Player 2 would buy something from Player 1, Player 2 would put up all the money at first. Then, when Player 1 accepts, Player 2 adds items to the deal to make it seem like it's worth it more to them. At the last second, Player 2 would change the money.

Example:

• Player 1 is selling a Rune platebody for 80K.
• Player 2 puts in 80K, and Player 1 puts in the platebody and accepts.
• Player 2 then edits the trade, adding 10 tuna one-by-one, and then at the last second, he or she changes the 80K to 8K.
• Player 1 accepts, not knowing about the change, since they didn't see it.
• Now, Player 2 has a rune platebody, and he or she has only paid 8K plus the price of 10 tuna.

Grand Exchange price scam

Sometimes, there will be discrepancies between an item's guide price and street price. Usually, this occurs with new items, infrequently traded items, or crashing items. Scammers will use a price discrepancy to their advantage when victims are unaware of the true market value of an item where the Grand Exchange price is labelled higher than the street price. Due to players almost always relying on the GE price as the real value, scammers manipulate victims into paying the higher price, and this can be combined in a number of scams, such as the common trade scam, doubling money, rounding money, and player-killing scams.

Teleport trading scam

Sometimes, people may ask you to meet another person at a different place, such as in Camelot. They will place a Camelot teleport tablet onto the trade in hopes that you will accept the trade with the item you wanted to sell. Often, they will offer to purchase said item for more than you're selling it for to make you less observant in hopes of a higher profit. Another scam, due to recent updates, is giving a player a teleport tablet that leads into the Wilderness. An example of one is the Annakarl teleport tab, which leads to level 47 Wilderness.

Example of a transaction:

1. Player 1: "Selling Bandos tassets 18.4m!"
2. Player 2 offers trade to Player 1.
3. Player 2: "Hey, my friend will buy those for 20m. He will meet you at Camelot bank. Here's a tab."
4. Player 2 offers a Camelot tab.
5. Both players accepted trade.
6. Player 2 leaves or logs off leaving Player 1 behind.

Warning: You must carefully check both trade screens to ensure that you are not being scammed.

As a side note, if told to add "icy lich" in a trade, instantly decline and ignore the offer. This username has become popular when attempting to scam through this method, most often with Camelot.

Free items/Show inventory scam

A popular scam seen in crowded trading places, such as the Grand Exchange or formerly World 1 at Varrock West Bank. The scammer will often claim to be quitting RuneScape and giving away bulk quantities of an item, such as dragon bones. The scammer will instruct the player to show their inventory, so they know how much they can accept, as the item will not be in noted form. The scammer will adjust the number of the item they are giving away so that the other player will be able to proceed with the trade. This scam is done in hopes that the trading player will be distracted by the promise of free items and forget that they offered their inventory in the trade window. If the trade is accepted, the player will receive the item given away by the scammer but at the cost of every item in their inventory. The scammers will exit the trade window if the trade will not pay off for them due to the trading player offering non-expensive items.

Many variations of this scam exist, including the Duel Arena scam, in which one requests to test their max hit on a player (and thus, ask to show inventory to see how much unnoted sharks to give them).

Trust trading scams

A trust trade occurs when a victim gives a scammer money or an item, trusting that the scammer will then return the favour, either by providing a service or by giving the victim a greater amount of money or a more valuable item. Instead, however, the scammer simply takes the victim's money/items and leaves.

Any players who consider engaging in a trust trade should factor in the risk that the recipient will steal their item or money. Even a friend or clan member could decide to abuse a player's trust and scam them out of millions of coins.

EOC/OSR gold transfer

Since the release of Old School RuneScape, a market has appeared for trading coins between OSRS and RuneScape 3. While Jagex has not implemented any system for transferring items between the games, players have began trading coins in one version of the game for coins in the other. For example, Player A would pay Player B a sum of money in RuneScape 3, after which both players log into OSRS and B trades A another sum of money. As this transaction relies on a trust trade, Player B could simply take Player A's payment and log out.

Double money scam

The money-doubling scam is one of the most popular scams in RuneScape and can often be seen being performed at populated areas, such as Grand Exchange or Varrock West Bank, particularly on trading worlds. The scammer will offer the victim a deal — if the victim trades the scammer some money, the scammer will then trade the victim double the victim's amount. The doubling occurs in a separate trade; the money must first be given to the scammer. Doubling money, therefore, is a trust trade. After the scammer receives the victim's money, they will simply log out. Over time, this scam has evolved to appear more legitimate. For example, in order to establish credibility, the scammer will often double small amounts of money (such as 50,000 coins) before accepting a larger amount and logging out. Some players will simply take this smaller amount and leave, much to the dismay of the scammer. Some scammers may also have other players pretend to have their money doubled by the scammer and stand around talking about the "legit" money doubler. However, the scammer will still log out when given a large amount by an unsuspecting player.

There are also variants of this scam: adding certain percentages to your money.

Example of a transaction:

1. Player 1: Doubling money! 50k test!
2. Player 2 offers trade to Player 1, and Player 2 offers 50k.
3. Both players accept.
4. Player 1 and Player 2 trade again, and Player 1 offers 100k to Player 2.
5. Player 2: Wow you are legit!
6. Player 1 and Player 2 trade again, and Player 2 offers 500k this time in hopes of receiving 1M back.
7. Both players accepted trade, but Player 1 leaves or logs off, leaving Player 2 behind and taking the money.

Note that doubling in one trade can still be a scam, especially with the GE price scam, and follows the same properties of the most common trade scams in which a player will quickly remove the input money. This is not always a scam, and you should be checking the second trade screen before accepting.

Suggested actions: Report the player with Item Scamming, and do not try to give your money to doubler if they do it in two trades. "Testing" the doubler is a risky process even with small amount of money due to the fact that some people intentionally ask doublers for a test and take the doubled 'test money'.

Doubling in two trades is never to be trusted. If they are going to double, then why not in one trade where the 'victim' doesn't give anything?

Doubling in one trade can also be taken advantage of by:

1. Player A says in the chat "Doubling one trade!"
2. Player B trades and puts in their cash stack.
3. Player A puts in an item such as unfired pots (unfired pots are an item with a value of approximately 1,100gp; however, they rarely sell in the Grand Exchange).
4. Player B accepts not knowing that they will find it very difficult to get their cash stack back.

10% money scam

A player will offer to "Give you 10% of your money if you show the stack." After showing the stack, the scammer will drop in 10% of your stack and accept the trade. If the victim isn't paying attention, they will accept and be left with 1/10 their original money and the scammer will have all of it.

Trust game

In the trust game, a scammer claims that he or she will give money or a valuable item to whomever trusts the scammer the most, by giving the scammer a less expensive, but nonetheless valuable, sum of money or item. The scammer may also offer to return the victim's money or item after the trade is completed. The scammer will simply take the money or item and leave. Some scammers may use bots to spam a chat message claiming that whoever gives the scammer money will receive a valuable item, automatically accept any offered coins, and continue to spam the chat without giving anyone anything.

There is also another version of this scam where the scammer will host a stream and tell people to join. After people are watching the stream, the scammer's friend will trade the scammer a large amount of money. The scammer will then trade back the money plus a bonus. This will make people watching the stream trade their valuables and cash to the scammer hoping they will get more in return. But, after the scammer receives the loot, they will instead trade their friend the loot plus extra to trick people into believing he was trading back the person who gave it to them. This scam is obvious if you are watching the stream and carefully watch who they are trading.

Information for payment

A victim may request information about something from a scammer, who will offer the information in exchange for a fee. If the victim pays the scammer before the information is shared, the scammer will simply log off with the payment. Several websites exist, such as this wiki, that can provide reliable and accurate information on any RuneScape-related subject. There is no need to risk a trust trade by paying another player for information.

Gem cutting scam

A scammer will offer to cut any gems for free; this scam is particularly performed with higher-level gems such as diamonds, dragonstones, and onyxes. Instead of cutting the gems and returning their cut versions, the scammer will simply leave.

Item making scam

Some players will offer to turn raw products into finished products for those who cannot do so, such as smithing rune, cutting dragonstones, and enchanting amulets. These are not always scams.

If concerned, have the player trade you collateral, which can be either the finished product in exchange for the raw materials (e.g. a Godsword blade for all 3 Godsword shards) or a sum of money equivalent to the raw material's cost. Additionally, look up the player in Hiscores to ensure that the player has the required levels to make the items. Also, offering compensation to the player (i.e. paying the player a fee) for his or her service could help greatly.

Armour trimming scam

One of the oldest scams still in existence, the armour trimming scam involves a scammer offering to trim a victim's suit of armour for free, most often rune armour. Players cannot trim armour, and anyone offering to trim armour should be reported for Item Scamming. Trimmed armour is only available as a reward from Treasure Trails or from trading with other players.

Bone running scam

This scam is usually performed in World 31 (House Parties), where the scammer—once you join someone's house for a gilded altar—will offer to help you in carrying your bones from the bank to the house portal while you are training Prayer, to save that time for you. Once you trade them the bones, they will log out and set you on ignore. To avoid this scam, simply don't trade with them. Instead, take the time to run from bank to portal and back. It is time consuming but still better than be scammed for 1,000 lava dragon bones. (Note: If "bone running" is done properly, it might not be a scam. You can keep all your bones noted in your inventory and keep trading 27 noted bones in exchange for the runner's 27 unnoted bones plus a fee. If you wish to hire a runner, always ask what his or her rules are.)

Drop item scam

This scam takes use of glitches, which although instantly reportable for bug abuse may not deter a scammer. The common variation takes use of squares across the RuneScape map that do not permit a player to stay on them for an extended time and will push a player in a certain direction if stepped on. The scammer will come up to the victim attempting to duplicate an item, show an interesting bug, or otherwise intrigue the recipient. They are then provided with the information of the bug allowing them to temporarily stand on the otherwise inaccessible square and are told to drop the item of interest. When the item is dropped, the bug is undone and the player is forced off the square. Unable to pick the item back up again, the victim loses the item to the scammer who telegrabs it.

Other variations

Other variations of drop scamming include different ways of removing the victim from the location (i.e. drop luring), from pushing them onto traps, kicking them from an instance controlled by the scammer (e.g. using instanced Corporeal Beast lair as described below), or having a partner kill them.

Corporeal Beast Lair Scam

This lure deals with instancing at the Corporeal Beast's lair. The scammer will feign an exclusive giveaway by coercing the victim into dropping his/her valuables for a cash prize, which turns out to be a facade. Firstly, the victim, who must have at least 90 Combat, is told to bank his/her stuff beforehand as a measure of safety and is led to the Corporeal Beast's lair. Secondly, the scammer will go over the proceedings before sending the victim back to retrieve his/her items to "look good" — a nod to the YouTube scam. Also, the scammer will have the victim join his/her friends chat in order to make the lair instanced because (s)he doesn't "want PvMers to ruin the giveaway", which, again, is a ploy. Afterwards, the victim is told to drop all his/her stuff (including any games necklaces) before engaging in a trade with the scammer, who stalls and confirms that the items were, indeed, dropped. Once it has been confirmed, trade is denied, and (s)he will promptly kick the victim and snag his/her loot.

Warning: NEVER drop an item when asked to do so, and do not drop or risk an item that is of high value to you especially when a player proposes an empty promise, such as a stalled trade.

Drop and teleport scam

In a sense, this trade entails elements of both teleport-trading and item-dropping scams. A scammer approaches a victim with a valuable item and persuades them to drop it on the floor, claiming knowledge of a glitch that will duplicate the item or otherwise benefit the victim. Once the item is dropped, the scammer trades the victim a number of seemingly random items including some teletabs. The scammer claims that if the victim trades back the items in the exact order in which they were given, the glitch will occur. The two will trade again, and the victim will begin offering the items. Once the victim begins offering teleport items, the scammer will decline the trade, hoping that the victim accidentally left-clicks a teletab and activates it, teleporting away. The scammer is then free to pick up the victim's item once it appears for them on the ground.

This scam may also be used without the element of a dropped item - for example, "If you trade these items back in this exact order, I'll give you 5M". While the victim won't lose any money or items in this instance, it will still teleport them away, to their annoyance.

Fishing Trawler Scam

A scammer will contact the victim and hold a conversation. He or she will claim to have profited from trolling scammers or anti-luring. He or she gives an explanation of how to do it by just generally chatting to the victim and being all nice. Sometimes, the scammer even has a YouTube video of him or her 'scamming' a scammer. The fact is the video is fake and staged into making the victim think this method works.

The scam, which doesn't actually exist and makes you think it's a scam is the scam, and it gets victims to drop their money or items on the Fishing Trawler dock, go on the Fishing Trawler boat where the scammer trades you some amount of money or an expensive item and stalls you on the bottom floor of the boat until the minigame begins. After it starts, the scammer logs on an alternate or noob account and picks up the stuff you dropped. In actuality, the game starts the instant you get on the boat with the scammer where he or she will still get on an alternate account and pick up your stuff. He or she then messages you and gets you to think you are learning the secret on how to take scammers' money. In some cases, the scammer's friend or friends will be in on it, and one person fakes doing the fake scam to the scammer to show you how it's done and his friends will be following him or her around saying that this fake scam was a scam to make it look even more legit to you, and another person will try to finally 'scam' you after the original person, who messaged you, is conveniently on another world trying to do the 'bait' you're doing.

Varrock Rooftop Agility Scam

Similar in a sense to the Bridge Lure, a scammer will make an empty promise of trading the victim a large sum of money after the victim is told to drop his or her stuff. The scammer will lure his or her victim to the edge of the penultimate obstacle in the Varrock Agility Course, which is a gap that has to be leaped. Once the victim trades the scammer to confirm that the items were dropped, the scammer will stall the trade until he or she declines at the last trade screen. The victim will keep clicking accept frantically and will accidentally click on the "leap gap" option out of haste, thus forcing the victim to continue on with the course and leaving the scammer there to loot the dropped items.

Warning: Again, do not drop items when requested, and do not risk wealth when following a player proposing impossible things. NEVER ever drop or risk an item that is of high value to you.

"Turning 1M into 11M" scam

In this scam, a scammer will offer to turn a victim's pile of 1 million coins into 11 million coins in one trade. Instead, the scammer will offer 111K coins. This scam is difficult to fall for as the trade window will warn the victim that they are giving away 889,000 coins in wealth. Also, in this case, 11M will be shown in green text, 111K will be shown in white text.

Money-rounding scam

A scammer will offer to round someone's collection of coins up to the nearest million coins in one trade. The victim will offer an amount (for example, 850,000 coins) in trade, and the scammer will offer the remainder (in this case, 150,000 coins). However, because this is being done in one trade, the victim will give the scammer 850,000 coins and will receive 150,000 coins in return, resulting in a loss of 700,000 coins for the victim. This scam can be easily avoided by paying attention to the bottom of the trade window, which will always display the net value of the trade.

F2P Ironman Bond Scam

Don't use bonds on an ironman account without full trust or upfront gold payment for the bond. If an ironman says they need help getting a bond and will trade you members items to compensate afterward, be weary. Even someone who you've known for a long time can take advantage of your trust and kindness.

Duel Arena scams

Duel Arena duelling options scam

This scam involves your opponent in the Duel Arena changing the rules before fighting just before you hit accept. For example, you are going to duel with the scammer, and your bet is a valuable item. You agree that no food will be used during the fight, but just before you hit the 'accept' button, the scammer unticks the 'No Food' option. Of course, the scammer brought food with him and will easily defeat you since you (most likely) didn't bring food yourself. You can avoid this scam by ALWAYS checking the second confirmation screen carefully just like trade scams.

Level-3 boxing scam

Once in a while, you might come across a player stating that they are a level 3 and wish to stake a large amount of money in a duel. He or she will request that all of the other players' stats be level 1 and that they will log out and back in to make sure that each player's stats remain at 1. Once the duel begins, however, the player that requested the duel will soon start to gain levels and quickly overpower his/her opponent. This is from the player hoarding experience lamps from random events.

Fake opponent staking scam

Another common duel scam is to have two account with similar names, one with decent Combat stats and one with high Combat stats, so when a player wishing to duel with that person in a stake, they will look up the account seeing the one with decent combat stats, and end up fighting the one with high stats.
Example:

• 90/80/90 build with 1 Prayer - Name: Slake
• 80/85/80 with 70 Prayer build - Name: Stake.

Because of the name Slake, the person will most likely look up the player named Stake and see his build but will really be staking the person named Slake, and because the real opponent has 1 Prayer, their Combat levels will be close to one and other despite the higher Combat build.

Duel Arena trading scam

A scammer will simply spot someone with an expensive armour set or weapons, and he or she will ask the victim to help him or her to train in the Duel Arena in exchange of an amount of money like 1M or 2M. The scammer will then ask the victim to remove his or her armour and will trade the victim the amount offered and then decline the trade. The scammer will then ask the player to show his or her inventory in the trade to see how many inventory spaces the victim has in order to give him or her food. The scammer will then trade the player back and show the money he or she promised to the player, and then the scammer will wait for the player to put all of his or her items in the trade, and the scammer will then put the food in and accept the trade hoping the other player didn't notice that he or she got all of the victim's stuff inside the trade. This scam is a play on the "free stuff" scam.

Phishing

Phishing is the act of tricking a player into divulging their login details, particularly their username and password. Once a scammer has access to a victim's account, they can then steal all of the victim's items and money. Players should never enter their login details into any website except runescape.com, and should never tell anyone else their login details, in-game or otherwise. Note that scammers can run websites that appear to be the official RuneScape website; for this reason, it is important for players to carefully check the address bar at the top of the web browser to ensure that the website is, in fact, runescape.com.

Phishing site scam

There are multiple forms of the phishing site scam. All of them involve the scammer attempting to get the victim to enter their RuneScape account's login details into his or her website, which may or may not resemble the official RuneScape website. The scammer then logs into the victim's account and takes all of their items. Scammers will often offer victims incentives to login to the fake website, such as membership in a clan, or being given a valuable item. Some scammers will also pose as Jagex staff and tell their victims in private messages that they are being considered for a position as a player moderator, which they will receive if they verify their account details on the (fake) website. Another way is scammers will send out fake emails telling players they have been banned and need to log-in to appeal their ban. However, Jagex staff will never contact players in-game and will instead use the Message Centre. Anyone who offers a position as a player moderator in-game should be reported for impersonating Jagex staff.

YouTube scam

Note: A variation of the YouTube scam is also often associated with the Fishing Trawler and Corporeal Beast scams in which scammers produce fake anti-luring videos to deceive their victims.

Some scammers will stand at Varrock West Bank with spam bots and claim that if players search YouTube for a specific phrase or player name, they can watch videos that teach them how to easily make money or promise a giveaway of items. Instead, these videos attempt to phish victims' login details by telling them to log into a third-party website controlled by the scammers or find the username's details and use a password cracker to compromise the account. These third-party sites may resemble a site controlled by Jagex. For example, the scammer may provide a link to a "post on the RuneScape forums" which is actually a third-party site disguised as the forums, which then prompts you for a password. Some scammers also stand there and tell you that you can be in a YouTube video they're making when you follow them. If you follow them, they will take you to a dangerous place like the Wilderness and eventually kill you when you're in the dangerous zone. Always lookout if there is a second person following the person who has invited you. He will act like he is also participating in the video but will eventually help the other person kill you and eventually get a part of the loot.

Warning: Do NOT access RuneScape Forums from a third-party link especially via YouTube videos!

Password phishing

A scammer will attempt to get a victim to say their password aloud. One possible way to do this is to say, "Look, Jagex changed it to where you can't say your password backwards anymore! See, mine is ********." However, the asterisks are actual asterisks; while RuneScape does censor passwords in chat, it will not censor variations of passwords, such as passwords said backwards. The scammer will then log into the victim's account and take all their items.

Another variant of this scam is to tell players to change their password to something specific, then log out in order to receive free items. This will simply result in the scammer logging into the victim's account and stealing their valuables.

This scam will not work on members who have set a character name at least 28 days prior, as such players must use their original account names to log in. Also, this scam will not work on free players who have their accounts created after the 24th of November 2010, as such players must use their e-mail address to log in. Therefore, this scam may have lost popularity.

Membership scams

Sometimes, scammers will log into free-to-play worlds and start offering to buy membership for anyone who gives the scammer their password. Rather than upgrading the victims' accounts, the scammers will simply steal all their items. Scammers may also offer membership in exchange for coins or valuable items, with which they will simply run away. This is a form of trust trading.

Furthermore, there are websites that claim to upgrade players' accounts to members status for a smaller fee than what Jagex charges. These sites will simply take the victim's fee, then log into their account and take their in-game items as well.

Suggested action: If you wish to purchase membership with your in-game wealth, the safest way to do so is by purchasing an Old school bond over the Grand Exchange.

Real-world trading

Aside from violating the Rules of RuneScape and risking a permanent ban, players who engage in real-world trading may find themselves at risk of having their accounts compromised. An RWT website may request the victim's email address in order to verify the transaction; using the email address, they will then attempt to guess the victim's recovery questions in order to get their gold back and take all of the victim's items.

Macroing

Similarly to real-world trading, players who use macroing software may have their accounts compromised. A website may offer "undetectable" macroing software that is "guaranteed to work", but actually contains a keylogger, which records any keys the victim presses on their keyboard (such as when logging into RuneScape) and sends them to the website's owners. The owners then use the login information to break into the victim's account.

Warning emails

Players may be sent a warning purporting to be from Jagex stating that their RuneScape account has been credited with an infraction. It will provide a link that claims to lead to the section of the RuneScape website that will show this offence and allow them to appeal. Needless to say, this link is fake and should not be followed, however, convincing the email looks. A few things to watch out for:

• The addressee of the email - Any real email from Jagex will use your current display name to address you; however, a scammer will not know this.
• The email address the email is sent from - If the email has come via another address, it's not legitimate.
• The offence you've been accused of - If you know you have not botted, been involved in RWT/advertised a gold site and you're being accused of it, then chances are it's a scam.
• Look for the domain at the end of the email. Jagex use the domain "@email.runescape.com" to send email. Any other domain is fake (such as "@jagex.com, @runescape.com, etc).
• Hover your mouse over any link in the mail and look in your left bottom corner of the screen. The link you are hovering on will display the real site you are going to visit. This sometimes is still close from the real link Jagex would use, so be careful.

If you have any doubts about the legitimacy of the email, then you can check your account status without following the link in it. Go to the main RuneScape website in another tab, either via your bookmark or the URL, log in there and check the account status section of account settings.

Player-killing scams

For information on more Wilderness or PvP scams and lures, see this page.

Safe zone scam

A player will ask that you meet up with them in a safe zone in which "banks are designated as safe areas where combat is forbidden" according to Jagex in the PVP World update. Although players should NEVER conduct trades on PvP, the problem really consists of meeting and trading the scammer at a limited safe area like Shanty Pass and being pulled outside the safe zone, which is only three squares in size. Like Wilderness luring, the victim is attacked and killed, thus losing his or her cash stack.

Warning: Again, NEVER trade in a PvP world. It is most likely a lure.

4 noted items scam

See also: Lures#Baiting lure

Although this scam primarily existed prior to the Grand Exchange, it has emerged in a different form. As in the GE scam, this scam also aims to take advantage of price discrepancies. In the Wilderness, particularly in the Revenant Caves or Wilderness God Wars Dungeon, a player will teleblock and attack you if you're wielding valuable items like an Abyssal whip or Toxic blowpipe. Once you've killed them and exhausted your food supply, appearing will be a drop of four noted items valued higher than your whip or valuable items on your person at the time. As soon as you inevitably pick up the loot, the player's friends will appear and kill you, and you will only keep three of the noted items (or all four if you used Protect Item). Since the GE price is set higher, you will lose whatever valuable item on your person.

Previously, items held on death was determined by alchemy value, so for example, four Dragon sq shields would be prioritized over Bandos tassets despite being much cheaper to buy. As the GE price is now the deciding value, there are fewer items that can be exploited for this. A notable example are the weapons dropped by Revenants that had a street price much higher than their GE price, prompting Jagex to manually increase the latter (Craw's bow going from 10 to 100 million, for instance). For this reason, caution should be exercised when using newly released items in the Wilderness.

Protect Item scam

A scammer will approach a victim who owns a valuable item and ask to fight them in the Wilderness. The scammer will recommend that the victim bank every item except the valuable item, and use the Protect Item prayer to keep their sole item safe. After the victim attacks the scammer, the scammer will initiate some form of prayer drain (i.e. Smite) to drain the victim's Prayer points and deactivate Protect Item. The scammer will then kill the victim and take his or her item.

Warning: NEVER bring items that you cannot afford to lose. Take nothing into the Wilderness.

Redemption variation

The scammer may also ask the victim to activate the Redemption prayer along with Protect Item. However, once the victim's Hitpoints are reduced to 10% of maximum, Redemption will activate, heal the victim, and drain all their Prayer points, thus deactivating Protect Item.

Suggested action: Never turn Redemption on.

World-switching variation

The scammer may ask the victim to hop worlds together, citing an excuse such as lag or a lack of people in the area. Upon logging back in, the victim's Protect Item prayer will be turned off, and the scammer will attempt to kill the victim as quickly as possible before the victim can reactivate Protect Item. It is also possible to quick-hop to a high-risk world from within the Wilderness, so even one-itemers with quick reactions are at risk.

Suggested action: Do not hop worlds if you think you are not fast enough to active Protect Item after you've hopped (or at all without checking the type of world being hopped to).

Skull trick scam

A skulled player will try to trick an unskilled player to skull by either using a freeze spell or the Zamorak godsword special attack. After a successful hit, the skulled player will then run in the victim's spot, forming a death dot, and pop back out with his or her alternate account or friend. In order for this work, however, the two accounts must possess similar names and be within proximity of Combat level.

Suggested action: Set player options to Hidden, and never manually attack anyone.

Deep Wilderness variation

You will come under attack by a player killer in Deep Wilderness near Deserted Keep and try frantically to escape. As you try to slash the web after being frozen, a camouflaged alternate account donning all black priest robes, including hair and skin colour, will log in and slash the web, forcing you to accidentally click and attack and become skulled.

Alternatively, a player killer could just begin attacking you and jump in with his alternate account of a similar name. If you click to manually retaliate, and you happen to attack the alt, you will become skulled and run the risk of losing all your items if they kill you.

Other variations

Skull trickers have other means of disguising themselves, such as dressing up like NPCs or monsters (e.g. chaos druids, Mage Arena mages), camouflaging themselves into the background, or changing form into coins or rocks. If victims forget to set nor have their player option set on Hidden, they'll become skulled should they accidentally attack another player in PvP.

Wilderness drop party scam

A scammer will announce a drop party and then lead everyone to the Wilderness borderline. The scammer will drop an item on the other side of the line, in the Wilderness, and then kill anyone who enters the Wilderness to take it. The scammer may cast Ice Barrage to prevent victims from running and also Teleblock to prevent victims from teleporting out. This scam may also occur in the vicinity of the Wilderness ditch.

Suggested action: If you really want to take part in this type of drop party, bank everything before you do so.

Tele Group Ice Plateau Scam

This scam involves the use of Tele Group Ice Plateau to transport an unsuspecting player into the deep Wilderness, wherein they can be killed by the scammer and any accomplices for their items. Although the spell has a confirmation screen warning players that they are about to teleport into the Wilderness, scammers may attempt to get players to accept the teleport anyway. A scammer may offer a teleport to another location, such as Catherby, and instead cast Tele Group Ice Plateau in the hope that the victim won't notice. A scammer may also enter a populated area such as Varrock West Bank and claim to be hosting a drop party or giving away valuable items. The scammer will attract a large crowd of players, then cast Tele Group Ice Plateau telling the crowd that whoever accepts the fastest will receive valuable items.

Suggested action: Never turn Accept Aid on unless you are in Barbarian Assault with others or during a boss fight. Also, check the location CAREFULLY before accepting the teleport.

It is also a common sight to see someone asking for help with training Magic via the Teleother Spells. When you agree on helping the scammer, he/she will teleport you for almost the needed amount of times and when you are reaching the goal, he/she might start talking about weather or something like that and when you are unsuspecting and have agreed a teleportation for a dozen times, you might start losing focus on what you are actually doing and this is the time when the scammer will try to teleport you to the Wilderness. So, if you are helping anyone, be careful on where you are being teleported.

First one to get my house scam (extension to previous scam)

This lure is popular on World 2 where people carry a lot of valuables with them, and it starts with lurer shouting out, "Drop party 100mil". After enough people are following, the lurer says something like this:

• "Who wants to win 50m?"
• "I teleport us to my house put your accept aid on."
• "First one to get there wins 50m."

Then, he casts Lunar spell Tele Group Ice Plateau. If people accept teleport, they end up in level 53 Wilderness with the lurer and his/her friends.

Monster-killing scams

These are a few types of scams where a player attracts an aggressive monster to another player to kill him or her, or a player will command another player to attack a high-level monster for a "reward." Luring monsters is one method in which players have been known to kill bots.

NOTE: Due to the updated death mechanics, players will have up to 60 minutes to retrieve any tradeable item on death, which renders monster luring ineffective since lurers have nothing to gain other than grief.

Karamja Scam

Player 1 would lure lower-level players to tribesmen found in Karamja and trick them into attacking them, or if they're low enough, under a Combat level of 65, the tribesmen would aggressively attack them regardless. Tribesmen poison very often and can poison up to 11 Hitpoints. Player 1 would try and stall them by saying that they had antipoisons and was willing to give them one or tell them there was a nearby bank they could deposit their items in. After 1–2 minutes the poisoned player would die, and the scammer would take all the items they dropped.

Suggested action: Report the player for Item Scamming.

Warning: NEVER follow a player into unfamiliar territory especially as a low level.

Wizards' Tower Scam

A higher-levelled player says to a player, usually below level 9 Combat, "Follow me!" The high level leads the low level to the Wizards' Tower if not already there. The higher level goes upstairs in the tower and stands at the doorway of a room on the 2nd floor and says, "Fight the wizard and I'll give you 10,000 gold". The low level, intrigued by the offer, begins to fight the wizard. When he or she tries to exit the room (because they are low on HP), the high level shuts the door before the low level can get out, thus leaving him or her to die.

This can also be done at the dark wizards in South Varrock. Over the years, they have caused a lot of casualties.

Warning: NEVER attack a monster that is near your Combat level or higher, especially as a low level.

Ranging Guild Scam

Player 1 would take someone into the Ranging Guild and tell them to attack the tower guard. He or she often says, "Keep Auto Retaliate on and if you kill them you get 500k each." Player 2 would then walk to the spot to attack them and get hit by the high-level rangers. Since there were three rangers that could hit fairly high cumulatively, Player 2 often died quickly, thus leaving Player 1 to collect the items.

Suggested action: Again, report the player for Item Scamming.

Warning: Again, NEVER attack a monster that is near your Combat level or higher. NEVER follow a player into unfamiliar territory, especially as a low level.

Miscellaneous scams

Price disguising scams

See also: #Grand Exchange price scam

Make sure you know the price of the item you are buying; people can overprice an item at the same time as advertising that they are selling other items at low or market value, thus making you think the item they are selling is at a good price.

• Example: Selling berserker ring 2800k/abyssal whip 1200k/archers ring 4500k, where archers ring may really be worth about 1600k at the time, but the other items are listed at a normal price.

Outsourced gambling scams

Although Jagex has removed large-scale gambling from the game, such as toy horseys and flowering, some dicing clans and communities still exist. Similar to using the in-game dice formerly provided by the dice bags in RuneScape 3, these clans use bots of any sort (like text chats, autotyper scripts, and websites) to perform the necessary rolls of the dice. Because these dicing bots are controlled by the dicing hosts themselves, it is not possible to trust them to roll fairly. It is very easy for the bot's writers to adjust the random rolls of the dice in order to bias the roll in the hosts' favour. Even after somehow demonstrating an "impartiality" of the bot code, a host may alter it live to have the winner be the host or his friends.

Streamer scam

A somewhat uncommon scam/lure, is one where someone, looking a little rich, will say, "Who here is nice enough to give me 1M?", and someone else will go up to them and say something along the lines of, "I saw you on a stream" (making people think its a somewhat famous streamer/friend of a streamer), and also say something like, "I saw you win 800M on the stream, why would you need 1M?", making people think the person is very rich, and also making people think if they gave him 1M, for publicity, they would give them something in return. In reality, this is just another ploy to take your money.

Telekinetic Grab Scam

Sometimes, players will ask the victim to drop an item across a fence or other obstacle and say that the player can pick it up if the scammer makes a move to take it. Do NOT drop your item for any reason; they may use Telekinetic Grab on it. You will also not be able to tell when your item becomes visible to them, allowing them to act like they have not seen the item up to the time they cast their spell.

Wilderness/Sawmill variation

North of the Sawmill and over the Wilderness ditch is a tree that lurers use. The scammer will lead his or her victim to said area after persuading the victim to wear his or her own valuable items to "look good" for a video. Sometimes, a "friend" will intervene and have the victim pull off the Telekinetic Grab Scam under false pretenses as a means of anti-luring before turning the victim back over to the scammer/lurer. The so-called friend is actually the lurer's friend and is in on the whole thing and could, in fact, be the actual player-killer or secondary account. The scammer/lurer will proceed to drop some items and/or a 10K cash stack, which he or she claims is 100M or something since 10K and higher amounts all look the same when dropped, behind the tree. When the victim hops over the ditch and casts Telegrab, he or she will automatically run into the danger zone because the stuff is behind the tree and get ice barraged, spec'd, and killed by the lurer's friend. This is also a player-killing scam.

Warning: Again, NEVER bring items that you cannot afford to lose. Take nothing into the Wilderness.

Interview scam

While this is a rare scam that is hard to pull off, it can be very costly and hard to detect. One person, generally mid-level, will ask you for an in-game interview to make a video or answer questions. While this person is supposedly recording, their partner will walk up and start bugging you to be in the video. The person who is interviewing you will begin world hopping or teleporting to lose this annoying player and ask you to follow them. Eventually, they will teleport you to the Wilderness or lead you to a danger zone and say that you should have the second person follow you. You will lead them into the Wilderness, with the intention to kill him/her or teleport, and they will both attack you, thus killing you and taking your items.

Quitting/giving away account scam

A scammer will claim that he or she is quitting the game and giving away his account, in the hopes that the victim will transfer all their items and money to their new, higher-level account. If the victim doesn't bother to change the new account's password, recovery questions, and email address, the scammer will change the account's password and steal all of the victim's transferred items.

It is against the RuneScape rules to receive or purchase an account from another player. Such action could result in getting banned.

Tag team scam

Two scammers will work together for this scam. One will be selling an item for a high price, higher than its market value, and another will claim to be buying the same item for an even higher price. An unsuspecting victim will buy the item from the first scammer at an inflated price hoping to sell it to the second scammer for a profit. However, after the victim buys the item, both scammers will leave, thus resulting in a loss for the victim.

Fake drop party scam

Although fairly uncommon, a scammer may claim to be trying to start a drop party, and encourage victims to drop their items. The scammer will then simply take the victims' items and leave.

Player-owned house kicking scam

See also: #Drop item scam

A scammer may bring a victim into his or her player-owned house and ask to conduct a trade by placing items on a table, or scammers will talk the victim into dropping an item because he or she can pick it up again before it appears to other players. Because placing an item on the table is equivalent to dropping it, the scammer will be able to expel or kick the victim from his or her house, lock the entrance portal, and take the item before the victim attempts to take it item back.

This scam may have lost popularity since players are given a warning before they drop items in others' player-owned house.

Silent doubler scam

Despite being difficult to report, this scam is rarely seen. Scammers will hang out in populated areas and try to find people who want to have their money doubled (see the doubling money scam). The scammer will trade the victim, take their money, and log out. The victim might then report the wrong scammer, since the only one who said anything is the conventional doubler, and it would be normal to just right-click on the "doubling money!" message in the chatbox to report. It's still possible to report the silent scammer by scrolling up in the trade log to get the name of the silent scammer (accessed by clicking the button next to Report Abuse), and then manually typing the silent scammer's name after clicking the "Report Abuse" button at the bottom right of the chat box. However, this is unlikely, since after reporting the person who has spammed "doubling money!", the victim will feel satisfied that the doubler has been reported.

Helpful links to prevent scamming

External links

• Look at Mod Poppy's post, Anti-Scam Measures to Protect Your GP.
• If you do not trust a site which may host malware, check it with VirusTotal. However, this tool cannot verify the intentions of a third-party site, and the fact that a site does not host malware does not necessarily mean that the site is trustworthy.

See also

• Rules of RuneScape
• Lures
• Griefing