Contents

What is a scammer?
Is this scamming?
Known scams
What is a hacker?
How can I be hacked?
How can I prevent being hacked/scammed?

Runescape is a brilliant online game to play, but as with all online games, there are real people playing and just like in real life some of those people are not very nice. There are a lot of scammers on Runescape and lots of people are being tricked by them daily.

In this guide you will learn how to keep your computer safe from viruses and keyloggers, how to recognize scammers and scams and how to make your Runescape experience safe and fun!

What is a scammer?

A scammer is somebody that tricks or deceives another player for there own gain. And as RuneScape puts it: You must not scam or deceive other players. Lying to other players for your own personal gain is not in the spirit of the game. Always report scammers, Jagex will always view each report and hopefully the scammer will be banned, meaning they cannot scam anyone else. Even if a scam fails, you can still be permanently banned for it, so always report!

Is this scamming?

While most scams are obvious, there are a few things people are unsure about. Hopefully this section should highlight any of your problems and provide you with an answer.

Is claiming an item to be rare when it isn't scamming? - Yes. You are lying for your own gain and to trick the opposite player: Selling RARE spinach roll 400k! - Scam. Selling spinach roll 400k - Not a scam, you are not saying its rare. [Please note, Spinach rolls are WORTHLESS, do not pay any sum of money for them.]

Is switching items in the trade screen at the last second scamming? - Yes, this is also a scam. You say buying rune plate 100k. As they put in the rune plate you quickly change the 100k to 10k and accept.

Is picking up somebodys arrows scamming? - No. While this is considered rude, its not breaking rules and you cannot be banned for it.

Known scams

Trimming armour - This is impossible, the only way you can obtain trimmed armour is to buy it off another player, or complete a treasure trail (Members only).

Account selling - This is breaking rules and also very easy for you to be scammed. After the trade is complete and even if you change the password, secret questions or card details etc can be used to recover the account!

New update! Runescape blocks your pass ***** see! Try it! - Runescape will block your password. When you type out your password, it will come out as asterisks. But you should still NEVER try because one letter off and it will show it. DO NOT take chances with something this serious. People saying this should still be reported.

Rune/Iron/Mithril swapping - Noted rune/mithril/iron items look VERY similar. They can be swapped in the middle of a trade without notification. ALWAYS read the 2nd trade screen to see what the trade is!

Doubling items - It is impossible for anybody to duplicate items, also dropping them and pressing a sequence of buttons is also impossible, the buttons will refresh or close your browser leaving the items on the floor!

Free gem cutting - To avoid being scammed, simply trade your uncut gems for there cut gems, no trust/risk involved!

Change your password - NEVER change your password to what someone has asked you to, after changing it, the scammer will simply log on to your account and steal it!

Dual Scamming - In a popular bank, 2 scammers will stand opposite sides, one will be selling an item that isn't well known, such as cheese, for 10k. On the other side someone will be buying cheese for 50k, the idea is somebody notices this and quickly buys the cheese for 10k, runs over to the other person buying it for 50k and attempt to sell it. Its a trick and they will both be in on it, nobody will buy it and you would have been scammed.

Wine of Zamorak - Somebody will ask you to take the wine for them, often saying they will pay you, or you get some levels or something. When you pick it up, the monks will attack you and low levels will die straight away from them. The person who tricked you into taking the wine will then pick up your items.

Wilderness - Never EVER be led into the wilderness by someone you do not totally trust, don't even CUT through the wilderness. If you need to find somewhere or something and someone says it's in the wilderness DON'T believe them! Check RuneHQ for a guide, or check the map and find the place you need to go by yourself! You can be killed in the wilderness and if you die you only keep your 3 best items. Some people may tell you to attack them to get a reward, or cool skull above your head, DON'T do this, as a skull above your head means if you die you will lose ALL your items! Please note, if you do obtain a skull above your head, it will disappear in 20 minutes and you will be back to normal.

Staff Impersonation - Some players may ask for your password or items claiming to be a Mod. Never do this, staff will NEVER ask for your password or items. To tell a real mod they will have Mod in front of there name, such as Mod Andrew and a gold crown next to there name when you speak. Player mods will have a silver crown next to their name. If by some chance a REAL mod asks for your password, report them and ignore them, as it's possible their account has been stolen, and they are trying to take advantage of you. Remember, NEVER EVER tell ANYONE your password, even your friends or family!

Following people - If someone asks you to follow them for any reason, the best thing is to decline as they may lead you to a dangerous place, such as high level monsters that could kill or poison you, leading to you losing valuable items.

Luring - Luring is tricking someone into entering the wilderness, where you will most likely be killed. Examples of this scam are people standing behind Oziach's house and asking you to sell them something, or perhaps when you are selling something on the forum they ask you to meet at Edgeville, when you get there they tell you that they are woodcutting and to go meet them... you go out there to trade them and get killed, losing the valuable item you wanted to sell.

Useless items

• Charcoal - Can be bought from the Tai Bwo Wannai General Store
• Spinach roll - Can be received from the Mysterious Old Man, it's also a drop from Moss Giants and other monsters
• Muddy key - These are dropped by Chaos Dwarves, they are worth some money, but people try to sell them for insanely high prices in F2P worlds. They are worth about max 2k and you can use them on a treasure chest in the lava maze deep wilderness.
• Unfermented/Bad Wine - You may have heard of a rare jug of wine, this is called Half a jug of wine. Unfermented or bad wine is absolutely worth nothing. Unfermented wine will turn into Wine, and Bad wine is the result when your wine turns out badly
• Shade robes - These are dropped by the Shade Random Event. They only give a small prayer bonus and are basically worth nothing.
• Paramaya Inn ticket* - These can be bought in Shilo Village, they are used to gain access to the Paramaya Inn where you could sleep in RuneScape Classic, it hasn't got a use anymore
• Hollow Reed* - An item obtained during the Legends Quest, it has no use after the quest and is completely worthless
• Lit Arrows* - Can be made during and after the Underground Pass Quest, they don't give any extra bonuses and are only useful during the quest.
• Sliced/Diced bananas/pineapples/any other fruit* - These are obtained when using a knife on the corresponding fruit. Mostly used in Gnome Cooking.
• Fez* - Can be cheaply bought after completing the Clothes part in the Rogue Trader Minigame.
• * = members only

What is a hacker?

While on online games a hacker is someone who steals accounts etc, out of the game scene hacker has a completely differant meaning. However, a 'Hacker' on a game will steal your account using trojans or keyloggers. Keylogger - A keylogger will log keys pressed on a keyboard, then email them to the creator, or upload them through FTP.

How can I be hacked?

There are a number of ways, the most obvious are:

1. Downloading a program and being infected with a keylogger
2. Having an insecure browser and being exploited. I recommend downloading Mozilla Firefox or Opera.
3. Sibling or friend watching you type your password.

How can I help prevent being hacked/scammed?

You can visit the F2P and P2P Security Stronghold to get tips on staying safe. You will also be rewarded for this and can earn lots of new emotions and 10k cash! For more information, visit the Account Security minigame guide.

Be careful going on worlds that are not based in a language you speak or understand. Some scammers have taken to using these worlds to avoid the warnings (which their victims would not be able to read) that Jagex has put in the game for your safety.

The most obvious way is to have a secure firewall and antivirus software. Most computers come with firewalls and antivirus software pre-installed, but if you don't have any, download one of the following free softwares immediately. AVG Free is an excellent free virus scanner. For a firewall, you can either use the built in firewall provided with Windows SP2, or use ZoneAlarm.

To prevent cookie trackers or information loggers, otherwise known as Spyware or malware, then use one or both of the following free spyware removers: Ad-Aware and/or Spybot Search and Destroy.

Never install software related to runescape, such as Hacks/Autoers/Flooders/Cheats. Even if they do work, the odds of them being infected outweigh the odds of them not by a lot.

Use a mixture of letters and numbers in your password, so they cannot be brute-forced or guessed by a friend. An example would be rAnd0m3p8as (please dont use this).

Before logging out, bank all your items (make sure it's PIN protected). This way if you are hacked the hacker cannot take any of your items.

If you find a trojan/keylogger or virus on your computer be sure to delete it straight away and change your password AFTER being positive the infection has been cleaned.

If you have a friend/family member around who plays RuneScape, make sure they do not see you type your password in!

Use the RuneHQ Price Database to check out an items price before paying for it. You're not going to want to pay double the amount for an item - this is basically you scamming yourself!

Hopefully this guide has helped you understand hacks/scams better and will prevent you from being tricked by them.

Remember to use your instincts. If something seems to good to be true, then it probably is!

Thanks for reading!