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Bogus Clan Tests and Initiations Staff Impersonation Item Scams

One of the many dangers of friends and especially “boyfriends/girlfriends” in RuneScape is that many of them are not genuine. There are actually two different but related dangers here. The first is when you become friends (or “boyfriend/girlfriend”) with someone in RuneScape, and at first the friendship starts out fine, but it later degenerates to the other person constantly asking you for gifts or “loans” of items or gold. The second is when you get people you barely know who ask you if you want to be friends, and then start hitting you up for stuff almost immediately.

First, I want to re-emphasize what I have said elsewhere: online friends (in RuneScape, or net boards or whatever) are not the same as friends in real life. That's not to say that online friendships are bad—I have many myself that I value deeply—but it takes much, much longer to really get to know someone on the Internet than it does in real life.

In RuneScape, especially, most friendships tend to be very superficial and shallow. Someone can seem like a “great guy”, but if all you do is chat with him a few times and play Castle Wars together once a week for two months, you barely know the person.

Having friends ask you for things can make you feel very uncomfortable. Some will try to manipulate you, suggesting that if you were really their friend, you'd give them what they want. Or they may say, “if you needed it, I'd give it to you.” Some may even threaten to end the relationship if you refuse, claiming you've hurt their feelings.

But consider: do real life friends constantly bug you to give them money or loan them expensive items? Probably not, because that's not what true friendship is about. The same applies to RuneScape as well: if you have a “friend” who is always bothering you to loan them gold or items, are they really interested in you for your friendship, or do they see you as just a sucker they can exploit? (I've ended friendships in RuneScape before when the latter turned out to be the case.)

So what to do? I can't tell you exactly, because every situation is different. But there is one hard and fast rule: never give anyone in RuneScape any item you can't afford to lose. That’s important, because if it turns out that they won't return it, for whatever reason, you can't get it back.

Finally, the matter of “loans”. Unless you have no friends at all, it's only a matter of time before a friend in RuneScape will ask you for one. They will usually have a sob story attached to this: “I died” or “I got hacked” are the most common, but some are more creative. What I usually do in this situation is to loan the person a reasonable amount of money, say 50k or 100k, to help them get back on their feet. And I just assume that I will never see the money again. I do it as a good deed, and I just don't worry about it. If the person gives the money back, great! Then I helped a friend, and I know the person is true to his word. If he doesn't return it, then I know he was only using me.

Beware of more sophisticated scammers. They will borrow something and return it, then ask to borrow something bigger and return that, building up your confidence in them over time. Then, one day, you'll loan them something very valuable, and the person will disappear and you'll never see them again. This is similar to how the “trust game” scam works, but is trickier because it is done over a long time by people you think are friends. And it happens far more often than it should.

If you lend someone something that isn't returned, definitely do not loan them items a second time. Amazingly, some people have the nerve to borrow gold, “forget” to pay you back, and then return for more—they figure you're a “softie”. These people are trying to abuse your good nature, so do yourself a favor and remove them from your friends list.

Be especially cautious of RuneScape “boyfriends” and “girlfriends”, which I recommend you avoid, period. These are not the same as in the real world at all, for many reasons. Most RuneScape players are teenaged boys, and due to being in that difficult stage of life, they often get very excited by female attention, even in a game. Some girls will take advantage of this by trying to get their “boyfriend” to give them gifts, and then later dump them, causing a lot of grief and pain. Male players know this too—scamming by male players who pretend to be girls is common, and can also cause a lot of hurt and anger in addition to lost items.

Also remember that Jagex has now made it against the rules to ask for boyfriends or girlfriends in-game.

Finally, beware of sob stories from strangers. It seems that of late you cannot go into any bank without someone asking you for gold because “they got hacked”. This may be true but often is just an emotional ploy used to make begging seem more legitimate.

Bogus Clan Tests and Initiations Staff Impersonation Item Scams