Right, I am sorry good sir. Though I was lucky, it's a good thing I checked this thread, as I was just about to ship out my items to him the day this thread was posted. So I still have my figures to trade with someone else.

Also, this person probably hasn't returned people's figures, and who knows if anyone will get them back. This person most likely hasn't reformed; it's a shame...

Just a few ideas.

Have all trades go through a moderator. Not a 3rd party trade but a simple address check by a mod. I know this seems like a lot of work but for years we have had two guys jipping most of the community on this site. It is easy to get past a ip ban. No effort needed. Just google how to do it and there you are.

Or something like this. When setting up an account you put your address into a database that will then be cross checked for bad trader address's. Any address that are on the bad trader files will get automatically flagged that there is something wrong here. If the other trader still does the trade then it is their fault if they happen to get screwed over. I know this could take a little money and time for programming but people need to be secure and what has been the status quote isn't working. I almost got caught by the new york guy before I found out some stuff here. Its nothing against the mods and admis but this is a horrible track record for you guys. There are alot of different collectible game trading sites and Hcrealms probably has the worst track record of them all.

Oh and no p.o. boxes allowed!

If you take any ideas then I want some money or clixs. lol

The thing is, these guys are scamming us true, but perhaps we can just let people know what addresses are the bad ones. Like a banner saying, beware trading to MI and NY, then if you are going to trade there you go talk to an admin. I think it is equally upon the members and the rest of the community to help each other out. I prevented getting scammed by doing some research on the site. I think it's unfair to throw blame at any single individuals. If I did it then people in the future can do it.

Can we just stickie this?

There should be a stickie that lists the addresses and names of known scammers.

Unfortunately we can get in trouble for posting things like that.
I know phantalien has a list of suspicious adresses though... He's more than happy to check if the adress you got is on there.

I understand that, but it's frustrating because new traders are the ones who are the primary target of these scum bags. Most of them are young or new to the site and don't know to contact someone like phantalien before they go ahead with a trade. I understand the law, but a sticky about these D bags would go a long way to preventing people from getting ripped off here. I think it is highly unlikely and would take a lot of balls for someone to try and file a lawsuit against the realms after stealing from people.

We already have a sticky with tips about how to avoid getting scammed... If the new traders do not read that, what makes you think they'll read another sticky thread?

Just questions and suggestions. No disrespect intended. I know you guys are low on manpower right now.I'm confused. So are you saying you're doing that and you're warning us that they can get around it or are you saying you stopped doing it since people got around it? An announcement named "announcement" doesn't really sound like it could have important information in it. Try a sticky named "RIPPER ALERT!" and watch the views skyrocket. But the sticky is in the trading GD and not in the actual trading forum. Very few new people are going to come here first.

Anyway, like I suggested, make a sticky that will get attention. Like this

That, my friends, is going to get everyones attention. Then the thread can start like this...You can even put links to the trading GD stickies at the bottom.

When banning an IP number is an option, we do use it. It is not always an option though.
I think this can be chalked up to inexperience. The announcement system is a bit counter-intuitive - in fact I haven't gotten around to figuring out how it works yt myself.
Yup, definitely part of the problem. The trading forum rules is required reading before you start to trade though, and they do state that
a) you shouldn't go through with trades that make you feel uncomfortable and
b) you are always welcome to contact the trading forum mods for advice - we can always point them in the right direction.
Main problem there is that it puts a stain on the community as a whole - for example I know of a few Realms members who live in the same city as popinjay, and who are good members of this community. Putting up a red flag for that entire city would mean they get suspected as well even though they have done nothing wrong. Same could be said about lojo, but to an even greater degree...

I appreciate the comments though, and we are trying to find ways to improve safety - it's not like we're sticking our heads in the sand.

I have a nice list of people who are banned due to bad trading practices.


Don't be afraid to ask.

Perhaps we can have an itrader limit in the trading forum? Kind of like how the mods have the 25 rule in the sale forums. Except it could apply to what new guys can list in their trade lists. Basically something like, no listing high-end figures if you have under X feedback.

Because a lot of these guys do the same thing. They create a few new accounts, rep themselves, rip a new guy by trading for/away a high-end fig and having the new guy ship first.

Anyway, I'm going to keep brainstorming while I'm stuck in work.