If you have been around in SWCT since the beginning you are likely aware of the way some of the people in the app function. They dont really care about their reputation, and they definitely have no regards for the decorum that should be enlisted for all trades. All they care about is getting their grubby little paws on as many nice cards as they can, and will do it by any means necessary.

Because I realize its been a long time since I have discussed the trade scams out there, I feel like its worth an update or two. I realize I might be cluing in some people on how to run these scams, but education is the only weapon we have to prevent them.

SCAM 1 – Hide the Parallel in a Bunch of Commons

Before we go on here, there is one thing that EVERYONE should practice with EVERY trade offer: REVIEW EACH AND EVERY TRADE OFFER CAREFULLY. 

The reason this is so important is because once a trade is accepted, there is nothing that can be done to reverse it. Sure, the scammer can be banned or be suspended, but that will not get you your cards back. Look at every card before hitting that accept button.

What they will do is offer you a trade with you giving 9 cards. Their card will seem to have some value compared to the 9 cards they are offering. If you look closely enough, your cards will have 8 base cards and 1 more valuable card that looks very similar to the other 8. This could be them offering a yellow for 8 commons and 1 gold, or a yellow for 8 blues and a teal. People have gotten really good at disguising things. You have to be REALLY careful.

They want you to hit accept before thinking about it. They want you to freak out about how good the offer is before checking your cards.

BEST WAY TO AVOID: Look for the counts on the card – if its a common base that they are using, it will have a high count. Your nice card should be a single and have a little x1 by it.

SCAM 2 – Cross Trade Offers That Never Follow Through

I hate cross trading across the different apps, but at the same time I realize there are a lot of reasons why its probably a great idea. The only time I really will cross trade is if I am familiar with that person on Twitter or in the game, and I know they have a lot to lose if they pull a scam.

What they will do is offer you a cross trade, where you give something from one app, and they give you something for another. If you accept first, they dont accept their side of the trade, and walk away with your cards.

I have seen people lose some crazy cards like this, so watch out.

BEST WAY TO AVOID: Dont cross trade. But seriously, if you work out a deal you cant pass up, and you have a good enough reputation, they should have to accept first.  You can also use a trustworthy escrow user who will collect the cards from both sides and deliver them out to the respective parties after.

SCAM 3 – Offering Gift Card Codes That Arent Valid

Selling cards is technically against TOS, but it happens frequently. One way that I have seen scams be run is offering to pay in iTunes gift card codes that arent valid.

Basically, you give them your cards and they give you the code. The code is bogus and you lose your goods. Pretty simple, and very similar to the cross trade scam.

BEST WAY TO AVOID: The accept second strategy works here too, but this is just a shady business either way. I would just avoid all together.

In all honesty, most of these scams prey on the uniformed. Its pretty simple to think that the users who dont really get the game are the ones that will be had the most. As long as you dont take any chances, you wont get burned.

Most importantly, remember the one thing that has kept me safe all these years:

If its too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.