Scams in EVE Online: Difference between revisions

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===The Margin Trading Scam aka The Drunken Buy Order===

''The Margin Trading Scam'' exploits the mechanic where a margin buy order will fail if the buyer can't pay for the goods, but the order will remain on the market. It is also known as ''The Drunken Buy Order'' because it is often announced in local that a player must have been drunk when they placed a buy order.

''The Margin Trading Scam'' exploits the mechanic where a margin buy order will fail if the buyer can't pay for the goods, but the order will remain on the market. It is also known as ''The Drunken Buy Order'' because it is often announced in local that a player must have been drunk when they placed a buy order. There are a couple of variations, but they both depend on margin buy orders failing and upon player inattention.

It's a Trap

The scammer announces in a chat channel (usually local) that a player must have been drunk when they put up their buy order and invites you to check it out with a link to the item being sold. Following the link, players will see a buy order offering a great deal more than the sell price of the item. If the player can act fast and deliver the items in the order before anyone else, they stand to multiply their ISK~~, usually by orders of magnitude~~.

The scammer announces in a chat channel (usually local) that a player must have been drunk when they put up their buy order and invites you to check it out with a link to the item being sold. Following the link, players will see a buy order offering a great deal more than the sell price of the item. If the player can act fast and deliver the items in the order before anyone else, they stand to multiply their ISK invested.

How it works

How it works (all numbers are examples)

#The scammer buys up all of an uncommon item in a region, say for ~~20,000~~ ISK each.

#The scammer buys up all of an uncommon item in a region, say for 1B ISK each.

#They make a bunch of sale orders to sell them for around ~~2 million~~ each.

#They make a bunch of sale orders to sell them for around 2B ISK each.

#They put up a few buy orders for ~~20,000~~ ISK each.

#They put up a few buy orders for 200M ISK each.

#They put up a margin drunken buy order offering ~~20 million~~ each with a ~~large~~ minimum number, say ~~200~~.

#They put up a margin drunken buy order offering 5B each with a minimum number, say 5.

#They transfer most of the money away from their drunken buy alt.

This how they hope the victim will respond:

#The chump sees the opportunity to buy items unknown to them at 2M ISK and sell them at ~~20M~~ ISK each.

#The chump sees the opportunity to buy items unknown to them at 2B ISK and sell them at 5B ISK each.

#They enough items at 2M ISK to fulfill the buy order.

# Scam 1: They buy enough items at 2B ISK to fulfill the buy order. This is above market value and the chump has already lost their money.

#They ~~attempt to fulfill~~ the ~~buy order~~. However, the buy order was on margin, and the drunken buyer does not have the cash to pay for it, so it fails. The ~~chump~~ is ~~left with a collection of items they bought at inflated prices and can't sell except~~ for chump ~~change. The~~ scammer ~~pockets (in this case) 200 * 2M - 200 - 20K = 396M ISK~~.

#They submit a sell order for the 5 items. However, the buy order was on margin, and the drunken buyer does not have the cash to pay for it, so it fails.

#Scam 2: The sale will then revert to the next best buy order, which is for 200M each. If the chump clicks OK, the scammer gets to buy back the items at below market value.

How to see it coming

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*Buy orders with minimum volumes.

*Check on EVE-Central to see what the item is selling for across New Eden. In this example you'd see a lot of 20K ISK sellers. You'll only do this if you were already suspicious, though so it's verification, not a clue.

How to scam the scammer

*If the scammer is a noob, they won't recognize that the scam relies on Margin Trading, which takes 4 days to train from scratch to level 1 (including Trade and Accounting). So if you see the drunken buy orders from a char that is 3 days old or less, then the order will actually fill reliably. Oops.

*Scam 2 relies on the low-ball bid being the next best buy order after the drunken buy order. If you then put in a buy order for 200,000,000.01 ISK, you can buy items at below market value.

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 ===The Margin Trading Scam aka The Drunken Buy Order===
-''The Margin Trading Scam'' exploits the mechanic where a margin buy order will fail if the buyer can't pay for the goods, but the order will remain on the market. It is also known as ''The Drunken Buy Order'' because it is often announced in local that a player must have been drunk when they placed a buy order.<br>
+''The Margin Trading Scam'' exploits the mechanic where a margin buy order will fail if the buyer can't pay for the goods, but the order will remain on the market. It is also known as ''The Drunken Buy Order'' because it is often announced in local that a player must have been drunk when they placed a buy order. There are a couple of variations, but they both depend on margin buy orders failing and upon player inattention.<br>
 <u>It's a Trap</u><br>
-The scammer announces in a chat channel (usually local) that a player must have been drunk when they put up their buy order and invites you to check it out with a link to the item being sold. Following the link, players will see a buy order offering a great deal more than the sell price of the item. If the player can act fast and deliver the items in the order before anyone else, they stand to multiply their ISK, usually by orders of magnitude.
+The scammer announces in a chat channel (usually local) that a player must have been drunk when they put up their buy order and invites you to check it out with a link to the item being sold. Following the link, players will see a buy order offering a great deal more than the sell price of the item. If the player can act fast and deliver the items in the order before anyone else, they stand to multiply their ISK invested.
-<u>How it works</u><br>
+<u>How it works (all numbers are examples)</u><br>
-#The scammer buys up all of an uncommon item in a region, say for 20,000 ISK each.
+#The scammer buys up all of an uncommon item in a region, say for 1B ISK each.
-#They make a bunch of sale orders to sell them for around 2 million each.
+#They make a bunch of sale orders to sell them for around 2B ISK each.
-#They put up a few buy orders for 20,000 ISK each.
+#They put up a few buy orders for 200M ISK each.
-#They put up a margin drunken buy order offering 20 million each with a large minimum number, say 200.
+#They put up a margin drunken buy order offering 5B each with a minimum number, say 5.
 #They transfer most of the money away from their drunken buy alt.
 <br>
 This how they hope the victim will respond:
-#The chump sees the opportunity to buy items unknown to them at 2M ISK and sell them at 20M ISK each.
+#The chump sees the opportunity to buy items unknown to them at 2B ISK and sell them at 5B ISK each.
-#They enough items at 2M ISK to fulfill the buy order.
+# Scam 1: They buy enough items at 2B ISK to fulfill the buy order. This is above market value and the chump has already lost their money.
-#They attempt to fulfill the buy order. However, the buy order was on margin, and the drunken buyer does not have the cash to pay for it, so it fails. The chump is left with a collection of items they bought at inflated prices and can't sell except for chump change. The scammer pockets (in this case) 200 * 2M - 200 - 20K = 396M ISK.
+#They submit a sell order for the 5 items. However, the buy order was on margin, and the drunken buyer does not have the cash to pay for it, so it fails.
+#Scam 2: The sale will then revert to the next best buy order, which is for 200M each. If the chump clicks OK, the scammer gets to buy back the items at below market value.
 <br>
 <u>How to see it coming</u>
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 *Buy orders with minimum volumes.
 *Check on EVE-Central to see what the item is selling for across New Eden. In this example you'd see a lot of 20K ISK sellers. You'll only do this if you were already suspicious, though so it's verification, not a clue.
+<br>
+<u>How to scam the scammer</u>
+*If the scammer is a noob, they won't recognize that the scam relies on Margin Trading, which takes 4 days to train from scratch to level 1 (including Trade and Accounting). So if you see the drunken buy orders from a char that is 3 days old or less, then the order will actually fill reliably. Oops.
+*Scam 2 relies on the low-ball bid being the next best buy order after the drunken buy order. If you then put in a buy order for 200,000,000.01 ISK, you can buy items at below market value.
 <br>