This is my rant/viewpoint on the scammers and the victims of these atrocious acts on Bootleggers! I have also tracked down a scammer and confronted him on his actions.
This week I have seen a growing trend of Game Forum topics relating to scammers; from players complaining that they've been scammed to scammers defending their fake pride and even some players making a list of scammers for all the community to see! The first scam discussion that caught my eye was the two players Smoove and TraxX, who is now banned, each accusing each other of scamming. The whole argument was around Smoove kicking TraxX out of the crew Camorra for not paying a 1,000 point tax which they supposedly agreed to before being accepted into the crew. TraxX's argument was that he was never told about this 1,000 point crew tax until he joined the crew and when he refused to pay, Smoove hard kicked him from the crew resulting in TraxX losing some health, money, protection and gun. Smoove's counter argument is that this was a pre-planned agreement and TraxX was not sticking to it. Now most of you are thinking, why the hell is this so popular? Surely, they can kill each other and solve the issue that way, the Bootleggers way. Unforutnately, BSF2000 has not fixed the kill bug so it's been a constant war of words on the game forum gathering over 250 replies on the original topic.
TraxX then decided to make a topic listing all the scammers in Bootleggers. All you had to do was post a screenshot of being scammed and he would add the name to the list. The most popular type of scam people were falling for was the infamous OC scam. This is when players get ready before percentages are set and end up leaving the OC with 0% of the total cash. TraxX kept updating this list until surpisingly, if you agree with that word, he ended up banned himself! Whether it was for scamming or another reason, I do not know but as we are not allowed to discuss bans we won't delve into that, it's just highly ironic a person making a "scam" list ends up banned himself.
Since then I see around two - three new topics each day about players complaining that they have been scammed. In my personal opinion I do not feel sorry for these players. It really isn't hard to NOT get scammed. It just involves using a bit of initiative and common sense. A golden unwritten rule on Bootleggers is NOT to get ready in an OC until the percentages you have agreed on have been set. Also, the escrow scam; where players would put in cash instead of points (E.G $450 instead of 450 points) just involves carefully reading and checking that the offer is correct. If you get scammed, it's most likely your own fault and you should just take it as a learning curve and not to fall for the scam again. If it annoyed you that much, kill the player that scammed you instead of ranting about it on the Game Forum.
I wanted to know why a player would scam and what they thought about it. So off I went, trawling through the Users Online list and the game forum looking for an elusive scammer that I could corner and question before they filter to just plainly ignore me. After hours and hours of hunting I finally confronted a player who admits himself to be an OC scammer. This person goes by the name of THLomax. He shows no remorse for scammers as he shows by saying, " If you are dumb enough to leave me that opportunity then it is your own fault and i will take all the money from the chumps." Fair enough, at least he's being honest and not denying what he does. But is he not worried about his reputation and increasing the possibility of being killed early in the round? Well, I asked him and his response was, "I might be targeted for kills but i think most people agree you have to be an idiot to fall for an OC scam, i have no care for those who get scammed they are just idiot chumps, new players will probably get scammed the most but its part of the game. Even i got scammed when i started so i know how it feels. In the end its a mafia game people are gonna get screwed."
He is totally right when he says this is a Mafia game. Mafioso's were scamming in real life so why shouldn't it be a part of the game? It's all a part of learning in my own opinion. But because I'm so nice, I will share three simple tips on how to avoid simple scams:
OC's - DO NOT get ready or buy equipment until the percentage you agreed on is set. Once it's set you can buy the equipment and get ready. The leader does not have to worry about you buying cheaper equipment as they can quite easily kick you for free from the OC.
Escrow - JUST READ WHAT THE OFFER SHOWS - Make sure if you're buying points, they have put points in and not money. 450 points instead of $450 for example. Simple.
Picture making - Never pay for a picture before it being made. The picture maker can make it and plaster "SAMPLE" right through the middle of it, preventing you from stealing it.
It just takes common sense. Thank you for your time,
AceAdam.
