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Changing Item Quantities Confusion Scams Using Multiple Items and Trades

There are six sets of Barrows armor, several of which are among the most expensive items in the game. Each consists of four pieces: a weapon, body armor (robe top or armor body), leg armor (skirt or leg armor) and head armor (helm or hood). In each set, the values of the pieces differs greatly; in particular, the helms are usually the most expensive of the three armor pieces. For example, Guthan's helm is worth over 2 million gold right now, while the Guthan's skirt and platebody are worth less than 1 million. (There are reasons for this that I won't get into here.)

Graphically, some of the helms look a little like skirts, so scammers who are selling sets will try to substitute an extra skirt for the helm. Watch for this especially closely when buying Verac's set. The scammer will put up Verac's flail, Verac's brassard and two Verac's plateskirts, or will put up a full set and then try to swap the helm for a second plateskirt (the swapping is more difficult now since the trade window warns you). If you don't notice, you are out over a million and will have to find the helm elsewhere, which can be difficult.

Always check the second trade window and use the Five-Second Rule, especially for high-value trades. But be careful even there, because part of what makes these scams difficult is that each item will start with the name of the set. Some people only glance at the second window, see “Veracs” or “Guthans” as the first word in four items, and hit “Accept”.

Another less common trick is to sell broken Barrows armor as if it were new. These items degrade with use and can only be sold when either fully repaired or completely broken. When they are broken, each item will have a “0” (zero) after the name. You can still buy these items, but bear in mind that it will cost anywhere from 165k to 330k gold to repair a full set, depending on how you do it.

Finally, watch for item removal and gold quantity change scams, as with all trades.

Changing Item Quantities Confusion Scams Using Multiple Items and Trades