Guild Wars 2

Seriously, I’m getting tired of reporting these gold sellers, but they just keep popping out.
They are spamming people in starting areas. Like 1 whisper every 10-15 seconds.

Isn’t there anything you can do to stop them? or just banhammer whenever they pop?
Also, if they do this is because they get profit…. That’s really suspicious, like it seems they don’t get banned.

They’re selling 100g for 3$. One GW2 account is worth ~30$, they need to sell at least 1000g for each banned account just to not loose money…

They sit in tutorial areas I think. The last wave of gold spammers didn’t affect me till I made a new character, and then I guess I suddenly made it onto their script and started getting a kitten load of messages every day.

They can afford to sell gold so cheaply because they don’t actually buy accounts. They steal them, strip them of everything valuable and transfer the gold to other accounts then use the ones they’ve stolen to spam chat until they get banned. Or set up bots to farm more gold, again until they get banned.

This is why Anet put limits on how much gold you can transfer in a week, and even stricter limits on new accounts. It’s also why they implement things like the new 2-factor authentication to try to stop accounts being stolen.

But there’s only so much they can do when some people still consider anything except inputting the same 6 character password they’ve used for absolutely everything in the past 10 years (including the email address for their account) to be an idiotic inconvenience they shouldn’t have to deal with.

I report and block everyone who contacts me about buy and selling gold

and its always the same website they advertise too

honestly I don’t know why companies like Anet etc don’t just file legal action against these websites and have the people running them arrested.. they are obviously breaking the law and essentially commiting theft..

its all well and good to up security but its not going to stop them.. just slow them down..
better to just cut the head of the snake as they say and have these scumbags face legal action

Teratus.2859:

I report and block everyone who contacts me about buy and selling gold

and its always the same website they advertise too

honestly I don’t know why companies like Anet etc don’t just file legal action against these websites and have the people running them arrested.. they are obviously breaking the law and essentially commiting theft..

its all well and good to up security but its not going to stop them.. just slow them down..
better to just cut the head of the snake as they say and have these scumbags face legal action

That’s where you run into complications with our political and legal systems not having caught up with the internet. It’s virtually guaranteed that these website are based in countries other than the USA, which means Anet can’t simply issue a cease and desist order or contact the police. I don’t actually know what the process would be but I know any kind of international crime prevention gets complicated fast (even within the EU where in theory everyone is on the same page and already has processes in place for this) and usually isn’t worth the hassle for something as ‘minor’ as theft of video game accounts.

blackoil.2673:

Isn’t there anything you can do to stop them? or just banhammer whenever they pop?
Also, if they do this is because they get profit…. That’s really suspicious, like it seems they don’t get banned.

They do get banned and quite regularly, pay attention to the account names you block and report – they’re never online again after one day. The problem is customer support needs to manually go through every gold seller report to make sure they’re actually banning a gold seller and not some poor slob who got trolled by a bunch of fake reports; the gold sellers, on the other hand, automate everything with no other concern than to get as much spam out as they can before being banned.

They’re selling 100g for 3$. One GW2 account is worth ~30$, they need to sell at least 1000g for each banned account just to not loose money…

They buy accounts during sales and steal the rest through phishing scams (those “your account will be banned, go to this link and enter all your information to prevent this” scams) or stealing from their own customers (from what I’ve read by people who bought gold, the gold sellers’ registration forms asks enough information for them to be able to pretend to be the victim while asking for a password reset/email change). They wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t profitable.

Maybe they should add a challenge–response authentication test that pops if you whisper too many messages including a combination of words from a a list of buzzwords.

Fail the test, the automated chat block kicks in so you can’t write anymore for a while, and your account gets flagged for review with high priority.

How many people does any single individual needs to whisper people about “selling” and “gold”, anyways?

I’ve had about 4 or 5 whispers in the silverwastes so far today – all within the space of 5 minutes from different accounts but identical messages.
They must be able to use some form of phrase parsing on whispers – I’m sure that some of those word combos shouldn’t appear in a genuine whisper.

Pandaman.4758:

blackoil.2673:

Isn’t there anything you can do to stop them? or just banhammer whenever they pop?
Also, if they do this is because they get profit…. That’s really suspicious, like it seems they don’t get banned.

They do get banned and quite regularly, pay attention to the account names you block and report – they’re never online again after one day. The problem is customer support needs to manually go through every gold seller report to make sure they’re actually banning a gold seller and not some poor slob who got trolled by a bunch of fake reports; the gold sellers, on the other hand, automate everything with no other concern than to get as much spam out as they can before being banned.

They’re selling 100g for 3$. One GW2 account is worth ~30$, they need to sell at least 1000g for each banned account just to not loose money…

They buy accounts during sales and steal the rest through phishing scams (those “your account will be banned, go to this link and enter all your information to prevent this” scams) or stealing from their own customers (from what I’ve read by people who bought gold, the gold sellers’ registration forms asks enough information for them to be able to pretend to be the victim while asking for a password reset/email change). They wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t profitable.

In addition to hacking accounts, they also use stolen credit cards to buy new accounts. All the ones with gibberish display names were not hacked and unless the gold seller is spending real money of their own, they are using the stolen credit cards to buy disposable accounts that only live for a day before they get terminated.

I might have a slight idea to add to the mix. Since most of the messages are just copy and past maybe there is a way that Anet can put a time limit on how many whispers someone can send per set time limit. It takes time to type out a message. =P

As Hidori says, as long as people buy gold from RMTs, they will spam messages and steal accounts.

Plus, since they use stolen credit cards to buy the accounts, there’s virtually no cost to spamming as many messages as they like, no matter how many accounts get banned.

ANet already has the following other tools in place — to the annoyance of legit players — that reduce the spam from what it might be:

• Message suppression — you can send so many email before you get a time out.
• Chat suppression — ditto for /map or /say, only so many times you can post a similar message.
• Whisper suppression — ditto for whispering to different people.

In the meantime, /block first, /report after. ANet suspends and bans RMT spammers fairly quickly.

It seems strange to me that you keep seeing these gold sellers. In the 3 years I have played this game, I don’t ever recall, even once, seeing gold selling on chat.

On the other hand, I don’t pay much attention to chat.

redcomyn.4651:

It seems strange to me that you keep seeing these gold sellers. In the 3 years I have played this game, I don’t ever recall, even once, seeing gold selling on chat.

On the other hand, I don’t pay much attention to chat.

They’re more common in some areas. I see them most often in the Heart of the Mists and Rata Sum. More recently I’ve seen them in the starter instances (I guess targeting people who may feel like they’re ‘behind’ everyone else and it’s worth the risk to catch up…or at least people who don’t know how to report yet).

But it seems to happen in waves too. I won’t see any for ages, then I’ll go afk for 2 minutes and come back to 2 whispers and a message in map chat.

redcomyn.4651:

It seems strange to me that you keep seeing these gold sellers. In the 3 years I have played this game, I don’t ever recall, even once, seeing gold selling on chat.

On the other hand, I don’t pay much attention to chat.

I seem to mainly notice them in two different times, when I’ve been in the mists and when I’ve made a new character. They are much more likely to whisper you than chat broadcast though.

I almost never see them, but when I do, it’s a swift block & report. Every time.
It does mean I have to periodically clean up my block list, but what we have in GW2 is way, way better than how FF14 handles these kittenes.

Nidome.1365:

I’ve had about 4 or 5 whispers in the silverwastes

What is the point of doing it in the SW? To even get there you need to be level 80 (either on a main or an insta-80 alt) and by then people would know about the scam. Low level areas give the most bang for their buck as people barely have any silvers and are new to the game and what is going on with those whispers.

Rauderi.8706:

I almost never see them, but when I do, it’s a swift block & report. Every time.
It does mean I have to periodically clean up my block list, but what we have in GW2 is way, way better than how FF14 handles these kittenes.

I usually do not bother with a block as I have never heard from them again after a report (and would rather not fill my block list). Two reports actually, one for spamming and the other for gold selling. If I am feeling particularly grumpy I will send them a whisper that they have been reported, not that it makes a difference either way.

Some have gotten wise and technically are not offering to sell gold in the message but instead offer to sell valuable items for cheap. The url they list usually tells you their main interest is to sell gold though.

Menadena.7482:

Nidome.1365:

I’ve had about 4 or 5 whispers in the silverwastes

What is the point of doing it in the SW? To even get there you need to be level 80 (either on a main or an insta-80 alt) and by then people would know about the scam. Low level areas give the most bang for their buck as people barely have any silvers and are new to the game and what is going on with those whispers.

You don’t actually have to be level 80 to get there, you can enter any map at any level, the problem is that you wouldn’t survive long on a low level character. But if all they want to do is stand in the Pact camp and spam people as they come through they’d only need to be able to survive the run across Brisban Wildlands which is a level 20ish map.

As for why they do it SW is one of the major farming spots so my guess is they’re hoping to catch people who have been grinding gold for something or other and feeling desperate enough to consider an alternative, even if they know it’s a fantastically stupid one that opens them up to having their account stolen. (Or if they’re lucky just banned.)

Danikat.8537:

Menadena.7482:

Nidome.1365:

I’ve had about 4 or 5 whispers in the silverwastes

What is the point of doing it in the SW? To even get there you need to be level 80 (either on a main or an insta-80 alt) and by then people would know about the scam. Low level areas give the most bang for their buck as people barely have any silvers and are new to the game and what is going on with those whispers.

You don’t actually have to be level 80 to get there, you can enter any map at any level, the problem is that you wouldn’t survive long on a low level character. But if all they want to do is stand in the Pact camp and spam people as they come through they’d only need to be able to survive the run across Brisban Wildlands which is a level 20ish map.

As for why they do it SW is one of the major farming spots so my guess is they’re hoping to catch people who have been grinding gold for something or other and feeling desperate enough to consider an alternative, even if they know it’s a fantastically stupid one that opens them up to having their account stolen. (Or if they’re lucky just banned.)

Actually, unless they changed it you do need to be 80 to get into the wastes. The gate does not show until then.

In order to farm the SW you need to enter it unless you are lucky enough to catch the part of a train on the way through the fort. Being with the train group in the wastes itself helps your survivability but it is not a guarantee.

Menadena.7482:

Nidome.1365:

I’ve had about 4 or 5 whispers in the silverwastes

What is the point of doing it in the SW? To even get there you need to be level 80 (either on a main or an insta-80 alt) and by then people would know about the scam. Low level areas give the most bang for their buck as people barely have any silvers and are new to the game and what is going on with those whispers.

I’ve brought several <L80 toons to the silverwastes. (I was curious about what sort of rewards they would get from the JP — once you’ve gotten to Drytop Scratch, even an L2 toon can complete the puzzle successfully. Turns out tho, no value in taking a lowbie toon there.)

Menadena.7482:

Danikat.8537:

Menadena.7482:

Nidome.1365:

I’ve had about 4 or 5 whispers in the silverwastes

What is the point of doing it in the SW? To even get there you need to be level 80 (either on a main or an insta-80 alt) and by then people would know about the scam. Low level areas give the most bang for their buck as people barely have any silvers and are new to the game and what is going on with those whispers.

You don’t actually have to be level 80 to get there, you can enter any map at any level, the problem is that you wouldn’t survive long on a low level character. But if all they want to do is stand in the Pact camp and spam people as they come through they’d only need to be able to survive the run across Brisban Wildlands which is a level 20ish map.

As for why they do it SW is one of the major farming spots so my guess is they’re hoping to catch people who have been grinding gold for something or other and feeling desperate enough to consider an alternative, even if they know it’s a fantastically stupid one that opens them up to having their account stolen. (Or if they’re lucky just banned.)

Actually, unless they changed it you do need to be 80 to get into the wastes. The gate does not show until then.

In order to farm the SW you need to enter it unless you are lucky enough to catch the part of a train on the way through the fort. Being with the train group in the wastes itself helps your survivability but it is not a guarantee.

Really, I’m pretty sure I took a level 78 there within the last couple of weeks.

I just tested it, here I am in Silverwastes on my level 17 ranger.

And they don’t need to worry about whether they could survive outside the camp, with a group or without one, because they’re just coming in to spam people and leave.