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Confusion Scams Using Multiple Items and Trades Nasty Tricks with Edible Rares

What's the best way to avoid trade-related item scams? Check the second trade screen. Right? Right! I keep telling you to do this for two reasons: first, it allows you to confirm the details of the trade before you accept; and second, it lets you see the names of the items spelled out. This second aspect is important in avoiding many common scams, especially look-alike-item scams: you can check the name of the item to make sure you aren't being tricked.

But what if you can’t read the second trade screen? Unfortunately, there is now a way that scammers can indeed reduce its usefulness. In early 2007, Jagex launched its first non-English servers, starting with the German language. On these servers, all prompts and messages are in German, not English—and so are item descriptions.

Scammers will now sometimes log onto a German world and ask you to come there to trade them. They will try to trade items that are easily confused—like iron ore instead of coal—but when you check the second trade screen, you won't be able to see the trick unless you know German. The same issue comes up with other items that are distinguished only by name and not appearance, such as herb seeds (see Figure 93 for an example).

Avoiding this scam is simple: do not trade on worlds where you don't know the language well enough to check the item descriptions in the second trade screen. Period! There are enough legitimate sellers who speak English well enough to trade on an English-speaking world, even if it isn't their first language.

Confusion Scams Using Multiple Items and Trades Nasty Tricks with Edible Rares