Crovax's Unofficial Neopian Encyclopedia Of Scams, Second Edition
Written by crovax7
Currently contains 13 scams

Updated:
Friday, January 31st, 2003
Saturday, January 25th, 2003

TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction
- Section 1: The Obvious (Password) Scams
- Section 2: The not quite as obvious scams
- Section 3: Indirect scams
- Section 4: Quickies
- Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Neopets advises you to NEVER give out your password. While this holds true, there are also several other ways to get scammed that do NOT involve handing out your password. A "Scam" is defined as a "fradulent business scheme". So in other words, a scam is just someone trying to take advantage of you. This guide is designed to help you hold your hard-earned neopoints, and not give them to some slimy Joe's who'll deceive and trick for an extra buck.

SECTION 1: THE OBVIOUS (PASSWORD) SCAMS
4 entries

Throughout this guide I will mention stages. Huh? Well, all the scams can be broken up into stages or events. You don't just send the scammer your password or neopoints right away... you have to be lured first.

1) The classic: Free NP

Stage 1: Chat board

You notice a board on Neopets Chat advertising free NP, and that all you have to do is neomail them (or MSN/AIM them)... Really, it's because they can't just post their scam on chat. Most of the time the chat users are quick to label these a scam (and quite vividly too), however there is always one person who will end up neomailing the scammer...

Stage 2: Neomail/AIM/MSN

Eventually they contact you back simply saying that they need your password to give you the free NP. Sometimes there is a lengthy excuse used only to try and trick you (i.e. "I am/used to be a member of the neopets staff...")

Stage 3: Scammed

All your NP and rare items have mysteriously disappeared, and the scammer is gone.

2) Programs!

Stage 1: Chat board

You notice a board on Neopets chat. Sometimes it will say "I have a program, MSN/AIM me", sometimes it will say "MSN/AIM me I know how to get lotsa free np", and occasionally it will just say "AIM/MSN me". As with many chat board scams, many of these are labeled "SCAM!" by board users, but some people fall for it anyway...

Stage 2: MSN/AIM Chat

Conversation ensues. The scammer will try to coax you into giving up your password so they can use their program on you. Remember, they don't have a program! No such program exists! NEVER EVER give up your password.

NOTE: Some people would consider you lucky if you get to this stage, as this is really the only way to have "fun" with scammers. See some other excellent guides on PPT for your personal entertainment purposes :)

Stage 3: No proggy...

All your items and NP are gone! Where's my triple NP? It ain't coming...

3) Free NP sites

Stage 1: Chat boards

On Neopets Chat you see a link to a page where you can get free NP. It's too good to be true. No, really, it is.

Stage 2: A form....

You view the page. There is a form that may look something like this...

Username: _______
Password: _______ (D'oh! Never give this out!)
How much NP would you like: ________

Then you click send...

Stage 3: I specifically asked for 1,000,000 free np...

...and instead all your items and NP are missing. You've been scammed!

4) Whuh-oh, what did I do wrong?

This one just happened to someone I knew... poor guy...

Stage 1: Me? Warned?

You've just received a neomail or an e-mail from someone claiming to be the neopets staff. They claim that you have broken the rules and must send your username, password (for verification, they say), and reason why you shouldn't be frozen. So you send it and wait...

Stage 2: The irony...

The ironic part is, it does the exact opposite. You never did anything wrong, and now your account is frozen because the scammer did their thing...

NOTE: A surefire way to avoid this scam is to check these two things:
1. Are they telling you not to send the message to ______@neopets.com?
2. Are they telling you to send it to a "free-mail" address (such as Hotmail and AOL)?

NOTE: There are forms on the internet where you can send an e-mail from the page, and you can put anything in the "from" field (these forms aren't illegal, just misused). So even if the e-mail you get says it's from _______@neopets.com, it doesn't mean the e-mail is authentic. Remember that no member of the neopets staff will EVER ask for your password.

SECTION 2: THE NOT QUITE SO OBVIOUS SCAMS
3 entries

Fake login pages and e-mail changing. Remember kids - don't do it! Basically, this includes scams where the scammer is not asking for your password directly, but still ends up with it.

1) The classic fake login...

Stage 1: A ________ for 100np? Wow! *click*

You are looking through the shop wiz when you notice a semi-rare, rare, or even hidden tower-rare item for ultra cheap. In a panicked frenzy, you click. C'mon, c'mon, why won't this page load... wait, it loaded! You click on the item... and...

Stage 2: No! Panic, panic, PANIC!!!

You've been logged out... or have you? Check the URL, if it is not www.neopets.com/loginpage.phtml, you are at a fake login page. Anyways, in your panicked frenzy, you hastily log in without bothering to check the URL...

Stage 3: What?

Sometimes you will see an error message, sometimes you will see a "mock" message (ex. "Hahaha I scammed you!"), and sometimes (I've seen this one), you will see a FROZEN page! Eeek!

Stage 4: Ya lost more than a rare item there...

Your account is empty.

IMPORTANT: As soon as you realize you are being scammed, instead of panicking, change your password! Even if the scammer is online, it will take him at least a minute to look at your password and enter your account. I changed my password after falling for this scam (stupid, stupid me) and came out just fine.

2) E-mail, change!

Stage 1: Chat boards

You see a board (sometimes asking for a favor) which will offer you a reward of some sort. They want you to either Neomail, MSN, or AIM them for details.

Stage 2: We have contact!

Sometime during this conversation you are asked to change your e-mail... sometimes as a favor and sometimes so you can get your reward. Don't do it -- see, there is this trick called "I forgot my password" where they have the password sent. If you changed your e-mail they now have access to your password.

Stage 3: Bye-bye items...

'Nuff said.

IMPORTANT: Changing your password is not enough, remember that they can re-send it! This scam can be pulled off very quickly (1 minute) as the scammer is online when this happens, so do the following fast: FIRST change your e-mail back to what it was before, THEN change your password. If you don't realize what you've done immediately after you've done it, however, chances are it'll be too late.

3) Fake hidden tower?

Stage 1: Chat boards

You see a board on neopets Chat saying that the user has found a hidden tower where you can buy the items for much cheaper! So you click the link...

Stage 2: Wow! It exists!

Yep, you see a bunch of uber-rare items for 100np or something. So you either hit login (say, what happened to my auto-login cookie?) or try to buy the item...

Stage 3: Wow, how unoriginal

A fake login page. Just don't.

SECTION 3: INDIRECT SCAMS
6 entries

Wondering what I mean by "Indirect"? Well, I mean ways you can get scammed without giving away your password. And yes, believe it or not there are quite a few...

1) From cheap to pricey in 2.361 seconds...

Stage 1: The Shop Wizard

You're browsing the Shop Wizard, and you see... *gasp* a negg/codestone/faerie for a few hundred NP! You click on the shop as fast as your mouse hand will allow...

Stage 2: Buying the "cheap" item...

Having seen many fake login page scams being played out like so, you hover your mouse over the picture for a split second and notice that your status bar reads "www.neopets.com/buyitem.phtml...", confirming that the item is real! So you click it and hit "OK" in a giddy rush...

Stage 3: Since when does 60,000 minus 500 equal 10,000?

You notice you're riding a few neopoints lighter... What happened is that the shopowner put the price really low so that someone would see the item almost immediately. Then, as fast as they could (assuming all goes according to plan, the would-be buyer is at the shop page), they insert another couple of zeros to the price. The people browsing the shop still see "500", instead of "50,000". If you're lucky you'll just get an "Error: You don't have enough Neopoints to buy this item!" screen. Unfortunately, those who walk around with a hundred thousand or so (usually restockers) will get hit with the outrageous bill.

2) omg like me iz wanting the fr33 items!!11!!1!!!1!one!!

Stage 1: Chat boards (again!)

You see a post on the Neopets Chat. The person wants a codestone/faerie/negg/item or wants you to bid high on one of their trades, and in exchange they will enter you in a draw/give you an even better item/give you a secret...

Stage 2: Item sent

. . . **elevator music plays**

Stage 3: . . .

...I'm waiting... (You've been scammed!)

3) Palm fans for 50np? I'm not buying those... or am I?

Stage 1: Chat boards

You see a post on the Neopets Chat... A person will either ask you to neomail them in exchange for a secret, or they will just post the secret:

"To make lots of NP fast go to my shop and click the palm fan and then hold down enter for 10 seconds and if it doesn't work neomail me"

Stage 2: You've been scammed!

You've just bought dozens of overpriced junk items without realizing it (the shopkeeper often has hundreds of these junk items). Don't bother neomailing the scammer to tell him it didn't work, because it did -- but for him, not you.

4, 5) Quest help? Define 'help'... (2 scams)

I see this all too often on the quest board.

Stage 1: Chat boards

You've just got an Uber-Faerie quest! So where do you go? To your pals on the Quest Help chat, of course! You tell them that you need a (whatever).

Stage 2: The fix is in

The item is in one person's shop and it's WAY overpriced. Unfortunately, poor shopwizardless you wouldn't know until it's too late.

---

Stage 1: Chat boards

Same as above, only you reply to a post like this:

"I will help you with quests, just tell me the item you need and then I'll buy it and put it in my shop!"

Stage 2: The fix is in yet again

The would-be helper bought the item for cheap off someone else and made a tidy little profit. While this is perfectly OK in the world of Neopets, I hardly call that "help"...

6) Oh boy! This guild has jobs!

Stage 1: Chat boards

It seems the Neopets Chat is the root of all evil... j/k. You see an advertisement for a guild where you can make money off jobs! So you join...

Stage 2: The jobs

You are told to buy items from the neopian marketplace for cheap, and return them to the guild. Then the guild will give you more than what you paid for it. Great deal, right? WRONG. They will tell you not to use the shop wizard, that everyone is selling it for way more than what it's worth. Then, of course, the guild leader sells all the items himself for a huge profit. And you get the rear end of the horse, so to speak.

SECTION 4: QUICKIES

Quick tips to help you avoid quick "scams" (see the introduction).

- Putting an item in your shop for 99,999 when everyone else has it at 100,000 is NOT smart
- Lu codestones are NOT worth as much as the other codestones
- The shop wizard IS accurate, tens of millions of neopians can't be wrong!
- thebe0petsteam, theneopetssteam, and TheNeopetsTeam are NOT real staff accounts (the staff account is "theneopetsteam")
- Anyone saying their shop is "THE CHEPAST IN NOPIA" usually means their items are way overpriced
- Snow Faerie Snowglobes are NOT worth anywhere near as much as the others
- Nobody's neofriendship is worth a faerie or codestone, no matter how bad their spelling is

etc. etc. When in doubt, check the shop wizard.

CONCLUSION

As the "Second Edition" part may have pointed out, this is not the final copy of this guide. There will always be new scams created, and new variations of older scams. I intend to update this each time a new scam is created and executed. Here's hoping to a scam-free Neopia!

-crovax7 (It only took me 30 minutes to type this, so apparently I do have a life ^_^)



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