It is sad to say it, but there are scammers, Hackers, and Cheaters, just like in real life. Not unlike in the real world, they usually want to separate you from your belonging such as, Gold, through such means as scamming you or hacking. Most get reported and banned, whereas the
scammers think they will not be caught.

April of 2008, stolen credit cards were used to buy items from the Item Mall. The credit card thieves then went on a CHEAP selling spree,
selling stuff at "too good to be true" prices. Of course, they did not do so in the Merchant mode as they had to sell fast. Aeria swiftly
"temporarily suspended" the buyers to receive the stolen merchandise. The buyers were given a "permanently suspension" notice as I
presume, Aeria did not have a "temporary suspension" notice available. People eventually got their accounts back, albeit the stolen loot.
Some complained, but in real life it is the same thing. If you buy a stolen TV, the police will still confiscate the TV and you are just out of
luck on your money. The moral of the story is to buy things in Merchant mode, unless the person is a good friend of yours to sell you
something super cheap. You can report any behavior but have video or screen shots to back up your claim:

http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?t=37384

Below are two ways people in may scam you while in Merchant mode. They advertise one thing, but sell another. Further info on hacking and other bannable actions follow.

Pet Selling Scam #1	Pet Selling Scam #2
The traditional "It is to good to be true" scam. Most people will not read, just jump at the opportunity before someone else will. Then after they click to confirm, then discover they were scammed. If a price is too low on anything, check the level. You notice, it is level 1 pet not level 30 as advertised. But sometimes you can find good deals. There was a person selling a rare accessory for 1 million gold instead of 10 million gold, they were sleepy and forgot to add the extra "0" to the price. (Hea, it was 4 am in the morning, and I was tired, LOL). Honest mistake, but you can jump on it as no misrepresentation of price or item was advertised.	This one is an old one. But the person states they are selling a level 30 horse for cheap because they are quiting the game, but after you purchase the house you notice it is a level 1. If you think about it, if you are quitting the game why would you sell anything cheap, you wouldn't need the gold. If a normal person quits, they usually give away their items. FYI, if you are quitting you CAN NOT sell your account either. That is a bannable offense. Personally, I do not see why, but that is a rule of the game enforced by Aeria.

Other Scams or Ways to Separate you from your Gold and Items!

Trading Aeria Points (AP) for Gold Scam - Sometimes you may want an item in the Mall and a person says they will buy it for you at an agreed price or item(s). You give the person the gold or item(s) and you never hear from the person again. Do NOT trade for AP, unless you know that you can trust that person. Too many people out there do this all the time.

Trading or selling pets/items - This is reminiscent of the old shell game. For example, the person is selling you a level 31 horse for 20 million. The first time the trade window opens, you of course check it out and it is the level 31 horse as agreed upon. Then all of a sudden the window closes. The seller apologizes making excuses that he was not ready or hit the wrong button. The window comes up a second time. Again, the horse is still there, but the window closes down again. The seller may say he is lagging and having problems. On about the third or fourth time, the window opens up but you do not check the horse's level as you are frustrated and you go ahead and click sell and confirm. When you finally check your inventory you have a level 1 horse instead. The seller was relying on you checking maybe the first and second time but by the third or fourth time you have you may not do to frustration. This scam works for anything that you can sell like, armor, weapons, and other items. Remember, these people are scammers and do NOT feel sorry for them. If they make too many, "Oops, my window closed because I hit the wrong button" excuse, either cancel the trade or check every time the item being sold every time.

Game Sage (GS) or Game Moderator (GM) Impersonators - There are people out there who say they are a GS or GM. You say on the public chat that you are having a problem or issues, then this "helpful" person whispers or messages you. They may state that they are a GS or GM and ask for what the problem is. Now if they are a GS or GM, you should ask them to show you their glow which only a GS or GM can have. They may ask you for your account name and password so they can troubleshoot your problem or issues. Under NO circumstances do you ever give a GS or GM your password. Besides, they should never ask you for it, only scammers will. Generally, if you give them your account name and password, at some point all of or some of your items, etc. will mysteriously disappears.

GM Impersonator. First of all if a GM does chat with you, there should be no one else in the box. GMs NEVER ask for ID and password. They work for aerie and can hijack your account anytime they want. I loved the bad English and $200 of sp for me. I was so overwhelmed I nearly fainted. LOL Yes, if this happens get a screen shot. Just push the button on the top right somewhere that says "Print Screen." Then if you have problems locating it, just send me a PM and I will be more then glad to help you. Younger kids might fall for this and get all their stuff stolen. Hate to see that happens. FYI, this is on the Sarissa Server.



Speed Hack - Makes movement and Attack speed uber fast.
Damage hack - Makes all hits a certain amount. Example: 99,999
Range hack - Makes you able to hit anything at any distance, however you must be within a certain range to take damage.

TIPS

Hey, I have some advice for those of you who like to keep their gold because there are hackers that have found a way steal your gold from
you while your in Merchant mode. I have no idea how they do this, but I have a suggestion. Before you ever go into merchant mode
deposit your gold into the Warehouse, this should enable them from stealing your gold because it's not in your inventory.
By Blazedm (Structure Revised by: Phantomliger) Source(s): www.Youtube.com