you are welcome to link this forum anywhere and share it. The more attention to these scams the better and the more people that will learn to spot these scams before they are scammed!
I found myself looking in forums, for potential scams that I can avoid myself, and to my surprise there was only *one* scam warning forum, which can be found here and due to this post being posted 7 years ago, the owner of it is Not updating the forum with new scams that are about.
This is where I come in, I’ve made a guide to all these scams, and how to avoid them. I’d just like to make it clear that you Cannot target, name, link people you think you have been scammed by here. Take that to MODBOX for the possible case of misinformation.
Moderators do not permit players to discuss, or allude to, issues they've had with other players anywhere on site. - so please do not do so.
Though you are more than welcome to comment here on scams I may have missed. I want to spread awareness for every scam out there. But unfortunately there is quite a lot some of these are scams and some are just warnings/heads up
Bare with me if this guide is missing things, feel free to correct me I wrote this late at night.
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⭐️ Traditional Studding ⭐️
What Is Traditional Studding?
Traditional studding is when you send your lioness to another player for them to breed her. This is normally when their king that you want to stud is out of stud slots for the week.
They breed your lioness, and depending on if you supply a IBF or not they will keep her for 3 days, until she gives birth in which they should send them back.
What Is The Scam Here?
The scam is here the potential chance at them not sending your lioness back to you, ignoring or blocking you. Meaning that they take your lioness and do not return here.
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
Nothing really unfortunately, other than reaching out to the person. This is called a promise transaction and cannot be protected.
How can I avoid this scam?
Don’t send your lioness, if someone suggests using traditional when studding using liodens feature is readily available, don’t stud them. IF using the traditional method I HIGHLY suggest only doing it with well known, reputable breeders.
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⭐️ Promise Transaction (Pay you later)⭐️
What Is It
A promise transaction is when you are promised something, such a a lion, item currency etc. it works like this
P1 “Hey I have a lion for sale”
P2 “I’m interested in it! Can I please purchase her for 5gb?l”
P1 “Yeah sure, you can send the GB now but I’ll send her later, as she has to wean her cubs”
This is a promise transaction. Where both party’s do not receive what was agreed on through a trade or transfer.
What Is The Scam Here?
The scam is the person who has promised to send the currency/lion/items does not send the promised thing. Blocking or ignoring the player.
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
Again, unfortunately promise transactions are not protected. So you can’t do to much, you need to be smart when doing transactions like this, use trades!!
How can I avoid this scam?
To avoid this scam is simple. Don’t do promise transactions! Never send a lion, item or currency over UNLESS you are receiving the other end of the trade. DON’T use the gifting feature! use the trade feature and make sure you are receiving the other end of the trade before you send over your end.
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⭐️ BRANCH PRICES ⭐️
What Is It
People will put items up in branches, normally cheap items for 100sb & 1 GB. Now this gb can easily be missed.
What Is The Scam Here?
People will buy the item not seeing that it is 100sb AND 1gb, meaning they are overpaying for the initial price they saw.
Here’s a example
But THANKFULLY lioden has implemented a feature that makes the buyout button appear gold
So this should help avoid accidentally buying these! But then again just make sure!
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
You can message the player and ask for a refund, moderators CANNOT help you here. As it was your own careless attention. It’s all in the hands on whether the person who you bought from wishes to return the currency.
How can I avoid this scam?
Double check! That’s all you have to do, just double check the price before buying!
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⭐️ ART ⭐️
What Is It
This is for all the artist out there, but not only for the artist! For the buyers too! When buying art you should not send payment until a sketch is shown. And as for artist. If doing the art for the buyer before taking payment, when sending WIPS send a heavily watermarked piece. Once payment is sent you can send a non-watermarked version.
What Is The Scam Here?
If buying the art, you may send payment over and get completely ignored. As for the artists you may send over a non-watermarked version of the art before they pay. In which they may block and run off with the art before paying,
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
If the verbal agreement was onsite (DMS, Forums) you can reach out to modBox, in which with proof they can refund you and reach out to whoever may be scamming.
How can I avoid this scam?
For buyers, don’t send payment until a sketch is shown and there’s contact about the art being started, as for artists, do not send unwatermarked art until you’ve received payment.
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⭐️ Buying Event Currency BEFORE event ⭐️
What Is It
Most commonly done with heartshells, people will sell event currency or reserve items for event currency. Most are reliable depending on how it’s done.
What Is The Scam Here?
If buying event currency, do not exchange any items to the buyer until you receive your HS exchange
If selling event currency , do not make any transactions until you receive the gb/items
In short, do NOT make any transactions until the tier of the items you want open and you can make a trade
you obviously can reserve things without the risk of being scammed
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
How can I avoid this scam?
Simply do not transfer any items over until you can make a transaction where you are both receiving items at the same time
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⭐️ Unbreedable / Frozen lions ⭐️
What Is It
THERE HAS BEEN A FEATURE ADDED TO AVOID THIS, but I will still mention this. As it’s not necessarily unbreedable lions.
This is when a lion is on trade and appears younger than what it is. Normally with the use of eyes in oasis. Which make lions appear younger then what they are.
Now lions will display a note on the trades
But this doesn’t help when a trade is labeled 3 years old and the lioness is 5.
What Is The Scam Here?
The scam here is that a lion will be labeled younger, or breedable when it truely isn’t. And when you come across a real good deal sometimes people don’t think twice and will buy the lion soon realising that the trade has lied. But it doesn’t necessarily have to lie either, a eye decor can fool you too.
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
Nothing really, you cannot modBox UNLESS it was labeled wrong. If you bought a lioness that was label as “breedable” and it wasn’t that’s a reportable offence. But if it was just labeled as a tigon, and you bought it without checking unfortunately that is on you.
How can I avoid this scam?
Check age before buying! You take that risk if you impulse buy. Just quickly check the age before you press buyout, if you miss out you miss out. Better than buying a lion, you didn’t want!
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⭐️ Trade Offers ⭐️
What Is It
Not necessarily a scam. More of a warning. When offering on a trade if you are tired you can very easily offer the wrong things or the wrong currency. Not long ago someone offered 500gb on a trade and had it accepted, instead of 500sb.
Same goes for when you have a trade and someone offers, if you are asking for a buyout of 6gb and someone offers 5sb it may genuinely look like 5gb, in which you may accept.
What Is The Scam Here?
You are just about scamming yourself by not paying attention. If you offer something on a trade accidentally and it’s accepted there is a low chance you will receive that item/currency back. They are under no obligation to give it back.
As are you if you accept that offer. But it would be good that if they reach out to you that you take it upon yourself to return the item if it was a genuine mistake.
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
You can reach out to the person who accepted your offer, and politely ask to refund the trade or get some items back. But unfortunately they are under no obligation. If you are the one who accepted the offer, you can reach out to them or wait for them to reach out to you.
ModBox cannot help you here.
How can I avoid this scam?
Just be careful on what you are offering! If someone over offers on your trade, there is nothing stopping you from accepting the offer, it’s just in the fact on if they reach out to you saying it was a mistake. But double check your offers before actually offering!
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⭐️ Misleading Trades ⭐️
What Is It
Misleading trade names are when a lion is labeled something it isn’t. For example “clean young breedable lioness” this lioness is NOT clean. Or “g5 rosette” this lion is NOT g5, “Ebony base lioness” this lioness does NOT have Ebony base “nrlc” this lion is NOT a nrlc. There is so many other ways to do this.- but it is important to note that some of these trades are defined by the players. For example one may think a lion is clean if there isn’t inbreeding on the page. Or one will say a leopon is g5, where as it’s g10 they just started counted from the first leopon mother.
This isn’t ONLY lions this can be something like “rare raffle background” or “CHEAPEST X” (this isn’t too reportable.)
What Is The Scam Here?
The scam is that they are lying about the lion. And I’d you don’t check it and trust the title you can easily buy a lion you weren’t after.
As for “cheapest” or “rare” you should simply check tc/branch’s to see if it’s truely rare, OR if it is the cheapest item.
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
If it was a title that was 100% misleading and extremely important, (such as stating the lion is a hybrid when it’s a CD) you can report the trade, modBox will deal with misleading trades. As for if you bought it, i do not believe there is too much you can do but learn from the experience!
How can I avoid this scam?
Check!!! I don’t think I can say it enough in this guide, just CHECK! If you see the trade title and take the time to check it can save you so much headache, If you see a misleading trade you can report it and modBox will deal with it accordingly.
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⭐️ “First Gen mother” ⭐️
What Is It
This is a scam in which they will say “folded ears mother” or something of the sort. Which they are hinting that since the lioness has passed a bobbed tail in the past that she has a high chance to do it again . WHICH IS NOT THE CASE. No unmutated lion has a chance to pass a mutated cub higher than any other lioness. Just because it happened once does not mean it will happen again.
What Is The Scam Here?
Newer players will see that this lioness has possibly passed a first gen gon, and it is labeled as “first gen mother” in which hints that it may pass again. So they will buy this trade but will not breed a somewhat “promised” mutation
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
You can report the trade, but I’m not sure if you could do too much in regards to if you’ve bought it. Hopefully you didn’t pay too much.
How can I avoid this scam?
Just have the knowledge that it isn’t truly possible! Unless the lioness is a mutation to pass down, no lion can be promised to pass down a mutation.
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⭐️ Forum Games ⭐️
What Is It
There is a handful of forum games that come out as a scam. Some are prize wheels, gift the person above, grab bags and most likely a lot more. These are pay to play games. Where you need to pay and in return you will get a prize, which in MOST cases will be a prize half of the worth of the item you gave in.
As for gifting threads, it’s the same go, you may be skipped or given something less than what you gave.
What Is The Scam Here?
You are sending a higher-value for a CHANCE to win something good, you could give in a crunchy and in return get a few sb or decors, most of them aren’t actually willing you to give a good item in return for a “okay-ish” item.
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
If you genuinely feel you’ve been scammed you should reach out to the game owner and see what they have to say, they may be willing to make up for the loss. If not it may be worth making a ticket.
How can I avoid this scam?
Be smart! If it seems off don’t do it, don’t participate in games that have a “chance” as in most cases the chance is unfair!!
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⭐️ Paperclip Trades ⭐️
What Is It
Trades such as “1sb to a hybrid” “1sb to 100gb” Aren’t necessarily scams, but they are underlying begging. In which some people wish to help the challenge go along so they offer something worth more than what is being offered to them
What Is The Scam Here?
Kind hearted players will aim to help these players, but chances are the players making the trades have 5 different ones up at the same time, so genuinely whoever offers is encouraging the begging
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
Nothing, if you offered on one of these trades it was your own wrong doing, nothing can be done.
How can I avoid this scam?
Hide the trades and ignore them, don’t give the trades the attention or offers they are looking for.
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⭐️ Side Accounts ⭐️
What Is It
Something that seems to be rising in popularity is people using side accounts to fool other people. I’ve seen this used mostly in auctions but also in forum games.
What Is The Scam Here?
People use side accounts to influence more profit for their main, for example there could be one really consistent bidder who keeps outbidding people. This is where the side account comes in. They will outbid the person bidding so that they increase their price. So they are bidding non-existent gb (considering it is their own) to make the actual bidder increase their bid. So they are in a bid war with themselves. As for forum games side accounts will act like they’ve received a really great prize, in reality it is their side.
What Can I Do If This Happens To Me?
If you suspect a user is using their side in a unfair way you can reach out to modBox and they will deal with it accordingly
How can I avoid this scam?
Look for the signs! If something seems sus don’t bother!!
What you're responding to isn't what I've said. I'm for payment being given first. I personally work on an "all of it before," basis; but whether people want to do half payments is entirely up to them.
The thing I was commenting about was the thread basically saying, "if you don't receive a sketch first (before payment), then don't buy from that person." I offered other solutions, i.e half payments, etc, because I think the wording could be better. My only concern was people reading this, and thinking that artists (like myself) who do not start any kind of work until payment is received, are untrustworthy-- because that's what it reads as in the thread.
I'm not so much talking about what's done on site, so much as what this thread suggests to do-- and why I think what I do. I know a lot of other people, on LD, do "payment up front." I'm strictly only talking about what's been said on the thread because I was a bit concerned. That's all.
Then I apologize; I thought you were talking about my comment, because you said "you didn't read it all," and I thought you were misunderstanding what I said. My bad, I'm sorry.
Just wanted to lyk that promise transactions are protected by lioden as long as you have a direct link to where the agreement took place and it’s all onsite! Me and many other people have reserved HS from others before (sending items early) and I’ve gotten all my stuff back from the ones who tried to scam ^^ so just make sure all ur trading discussions happen on-site and keep the links to ur pm
Make sure to screenshot every single message as well even if theyre a close friend. Lioden mods can see deleted messages, but it's a damn hassle in order to do so.
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