For reference, the raffles I’m referring to are the ones where users will put a random item in place of a lion i.e. “winner of ~item~ gets ~lion~”.

I know some users have good intentions with these raffles, but it is too easy to rig for a scam. Scamming accounts will put up an item stand-in raffle, collect all of the raffle tickets, then simply not give the winner(s) their respective prize(s). Some scammers have the item stand-in raffle running while the prize lion is up for trade, so they can cancel the raffle is they get a trade offer they prefer over the raffle tickets. Worst of all, if they trade the prize lion and let the raffle run it’s course, then they’ve effectively tied the mods’ hands because they can’t take it away from the person who fairly traded for it. I’ve also seen item stand-in raffles where the scamming account will delay the transfer of a prize old lioness so that they can take advantage of her last heat while still technically not breaking any rules.

The mods can investigate and refund the victims’ raffle tickets, but would it not be easier to just ban these raffles all together rather than waste the manpower?

As a victim of one of these scams, I call for banning this type of raffle. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.