A common pattern we are seeing now a days here on MC-Market is scam reports dealing with individuals who have encountered Skype 'Impostures' and Skype provided evidence that could possibly be edited / manipulated. A recent suggestion thread was introduced the other day regarding MC-Market and the 'approval of scam reports for transactions made outside of the forums' which sparked interest within me.
First, let me explain to you all my routine when undergoing a sale here on MC-Market. My technique is simple, safe, organized and will help the report staff team save time. In return scam reports can realistically be dealt with easier and faster.
The Routine:
Now, what are the benefits you ask?
I'm not entirely sure how everyone will respond to this idea, but I feel if you are an honest person here on MC-Market and here for the right reasons you will be okay with putting in a little bit more effort to keep EVERYONE secure.
Thanks for reading and love you all!
*Special thanks to bannah for purchasing my account shown in these examples and being a very lovely person.
First, let me explain to you all my routine when undergoing a sale here on MC-Market. My technique is simple, safe, organized and will help the report staff team save time. In return scam reports can realistically be dealt with easier and faster.
The Routine:
- All transactions that I do here on MC-Market are done strictly on the forums PM (private messaging) system. That being said, no communication is ever transferred to an outside source or 'Skype' as many individuals use when doing sales.
- For organization purposes, the PM's title for the transaction taking place would be something a long the lines of "<Username> Sale" or "Regarding the sale of <Username>". This not only saves me time when searching back through messages trying to find specific account transaction, but keeps things highly organized.
- Within the first message that is sent to the buyer, I tend to specific that I am selling said <username> for the amount of <$> <Currency type> and would like the payment to be sent via <bitcoin/paypal/etc>. The next step would be for the seller to provide the terms and conditions that were posted in the account's "for sale" thread and make sure that it is agreed upon by the buyer at some point in the messages before the sale is done.
- Now that you have provided accurate documentation of what you wanted out of this sale and how you wanted it, it can be later accessed if needed for evidence. This process also eliminates most misunderstandings and puts everyone on the same page. By the buyer agreeing to the terms provided, they are now locked in and responsible for abiding by said terms.
- Documentation. THIS. IS. A. MUST. You want to always remember to document your sales for the fullest security. Documentations include but are not limited to: payments sent/received, Mojang account passwords changed / Mojang security questions disabled or enabled / emails changed AND VERIFIED. (Yes, you can stay logged into the account even after information was changed as long as you simply refresh the page. This will allow you to get a screen shot of the buyer verifying and securing the account if they refuse to post documentation themselves). The main thing to remember here is that you want to cover your ass to the best of your ability.
- That's that. Now you have a place to go and look back to if ever needing to review a sale/purchase. Organized in your PM's and titled for efficient searches. Documentation successful with screen shots that you no longer need to try and find / hold on to and are already there to be reviewed if needed. Terms of agreement, purchase amount and type approved and understood by both parties.
Now, what are the benefits you ask?
- No more needing to search for evidence as it is provided at the click of a button in order and ready to be reviewed.
- No more using Skype conversations as evidence. Skype conversations can easily be edited and manipulated, thus hiding important information or even so giving false information that can not be proved elsewhere without the staff actually having access to that Skype account.
- No more Skype impersonators. No more risking users who are unfamiliar with how MC-Market functions. Considering you will be working via PM's one on one with the seller / buyers main MC-Market account, there is no way for you to not know who's behind the computer screen. Thus no more scam reports that in the end waste's time due to it being ruled as an impersonator. Not to mention anyone can create their own impersonator and say it's not them. This can allow them to get away with endless scams and never be punished because it's not the 'main Skype account' that people know them by.
- Easier, more efficient scam reports. No more waiting on buyer and sellers to communicate back and forth to the thread, at least for the first portion of the scam report. Scam report staff will be able to access the private messages where these transactions took place and instantly review everything that was said, agreed upon and acted out. They will then know hands down what actually happened and can piece everything together easier.
- No more misunderstandings. By providing all information that you need via the PM's you will then be obligated to agree upon them. Upon bidding in a forum thread you are usually always made aware of the seller/buyers terms, but now that it will also be posted in the PM, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to be unsure about what they are both agreeing upon.
- Staff being responsible for issues happening outside of their forums / website. This should absolutely never be the case. MC-Market is not Skype and anything happening outside of the forums should not be any part of MC-Markets responsibility. If a user decides to invest into a transaction on Skype without notifying or checking said users MC-Market profile, later being scammed by an 'imposture', that is not MC-Market's problem. If you choose to communicate on Skype and some how can not provide accurate evidence, tampered evidence or claim that you misunderstood what the seller/buyer was saying, that is not MC-Markets responsibility.
- Skype voice chat transactions. Firstly, this is idiotic of anyone to do. I understand that a lot of use are lazy and prefer to use Skype to complete transactions because you can voice chat, however, a lot of important information can be lost via voice chat. A lot of valuable evidence can go missing and then it turns into a "he said, she said" situation which can not be used as evidence. This eliminates this problem completely.
I'm not entirely sure how everyone will respond to this idea, but I feel if you are an honest person here on MC-Market and here for the right reasons you will be okay with putting in a little bit more effort to keep EVERYONE secure.
Thanks for reading and love you all!
*Special thanks to bannah for purchasing my account shown in these examples and being a very lovely person.
- Type
- Suggestion
- Status
- Denied
Banned forever. Reason: Scamming (https://www.mc-market.org/threads/321377)
