How do I not get scammed?

[Quintellium]

I'm new to this site, and before I invest any money into accounts I want to be sure I won't be scammed. When I'm buying, what should I require the account to have? I've seen terms like "GDE" and "TID," but I'm not sure what their importance is in buying an account. If someone could give me a quick guide on how to safely buy minecraft accounts it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Akiko]

Don't be stupid, pretty obvious.

 

[THKlasen]

Firstly I want to point out that I have never bought or sold MC accounts on this so my advice is based on my common sense.

Evaluating people

If you are looking to buy accounts in general take a look at people who respond trying to sell you accounts. Look at them and their activity closely.

- Are they new to the forums? If so deal with caution as these could easily be throw away accounts. But balance it with a pinch of good faith too.
- What does their rep look like? Take the time to read through all their reps. I've dealt with someone who made giving a pos rep a secret condition of dealing with them so don't be too fooled by loads of pos reps. Rather look at the words in these reps. If the guy is quite well reputable then people will tend to be more wordy in their pos reps. No always but the more wordy the more believable I personally would find their rep.
- Has the person had any scam reports opened up against them, both past and present? How did those end? How many do they have. The more they have, the more probable the possibility that they are shady, even if they escaped punishment.
- Do they have a rank on here? I am not trying to throw a divide between paid and unpaid people here but (to me) people who have a rank on here, especially a high level one, out put a "I mean business and am hear to stay" and "I don't intend to mess myself up here" vibes. I am not trying to say that you could not trust people with no ranks or you should trust people with them, but I feel like people with ranks have a slight unspoken edge in the trust game, reps aside.


Buying accounts

Buying accounts is probably a bit more risky than selling them i think. Because they can easily dispute the email change if they changed emails or just change their password if it came with the email. And because buying/selling is against Mojang's terms I do not know how well a dispute taken up against a scammer with them will work.
After you do your evaluation of the person and feel safe enough to continue I'd suggest not going first if you can help it. It is a lot easier to recover a Minecraft account than it is to recover funds, especially if paid through Paypal's F&F. I only use PayPal so I cannot speak for any other services.
Which brings me to my next point. Don't pay through F&F if you can help it. While it is a good way to hinder buyers scamming sellers, the flip side is that its excellent for when sellers scam buyers because there is NO seller protection when using F&F. The only way to get it back is to blatantly lie to PayPal saying it was unauthorized (something the seller can prove wrong if you discussed the sail beforehand) or through filing dispute with your fund's provider, namely your bank or credit company and that is a lengthy and problem-filled route. If you really must pay through F&F then collect the paper trail as you go for less problems later.
Use a middleman if you are not 100% convinced that someone will follow through. There are plenty of reputable people on here and a lot of them will do the middlemanning for free. Just look around and evaluate a few then inquire whether they are up to helping you out. If a person refuses to use a middleman thats a huge orange flag right there.


Selling accounts

Selling accounts is a lot better (once you have a buyer) as Mojang will help you get your account back if things go south. So don't be toooo afraid to go first but probably don't if you don't want the hassle of dealing with all that.
Do your pre-sale evaluations before agreeing to a sale. Use a middleman if you are unsure.
When using PayPal, use F&F if you like. Its tough for them to charge that back but if they do you can dispute your account then file a scam report.


Paying it forward

When you finish a transaction with someone, leave a rep for them based on how it went. If it went well they will be less likely to fork you over if you do that. And definitely leave a neg review if they scam or try to scam you. This way people who look to deal with them in the future will have forewarning.

 

[oh true]

- Use a trusted middleman wherever possible
- If it seems too good to be true, it most likely is
- It's better to let a deal pass if they are acting suspicious

 

[sentosa]

always use a mm, deal onsite, confirm identities if dealing offsite

 

[JifPom]

use a seller with good reps

 

[knat]

good tip is to always read 2x, if things dont add up or don't make sense, dont do it.

 

[UnknownT]

TID - this is the transaction Id which would have been emailed to the account owner when they purchased the account, this is where the account can be disputed so this is why it’s very important.
Sorry I don’t know what a GDE is but I’m sure somebody else here can help you.
And as the others said be careful who you deal with and be sure to use a middle man