In-Depth Guide to Safe Trading & Middleman Services (PLEASE READ)

* Identity Confirmation *

The first thing you should do when someone contacts you regarding a trade, is to confirm his/her true identity and to make sure the person you're talking with is not an impersonator/imposter. An impersonator is who mimics and claims to be someone else, whom usually is a trustworthy person. You can avoid being scammed by an imposter by following the guidelines mentioned below:

• *Get confirmation through MPGH each time you trade with a person through IM or PM. Get confirmation again even if you have had them added for a long time and gotten it before. This is to ensure safety and security for both parties. To check the profile of the person you are talking to on IM simply click the button displayed in the image below,

Upon viewing their profile, you can verify the user from their visitor messages, date of registration, recent posts, recent threads, reputation etc and easily avoid being scammed by an impersonator.

• Check IM of the person that has added you against the person you've been expecting carefully and keep an eye out for subtle differences like "Reav3R" and "R3av3R" in order to avoid any impostors. Impersonators usually have usernames ending/beginning with ' " , ; : `

• Be very careful of impostors, following screenshot is an example.

• If you encounter an imposter, please report him in the relevant section as a heads up for other traders.

• When you trade, take screenshots of your entire conversation and save the chat-log somewhere safe for future reference.

• Cross reference users if need arises by entering their name on google in order to see if they have any shady feedback to be found, Always check their post history, vouches, reputation etc ON MPGH, Also keep an eye out for scam reports and/or alerts against the user. If there's any report against them, demand an explanation and if they to provide a logical explanation, avoid trading with them.

If you feel that a user is suspicious, you can always create a PRIVATE REPORT




* Receiving PayPal Funds *

PayPal is one of the most used and famous methods of purchasing and selling stuff today, and it's always on the buyer's side. PayPal does not support purchasing of virtual goods and for this reason, it's relatively easy for someone to pay the money and then chargeback the funds, leaving you with funds reduced from your account and even worse, negative balance. Chargeback is unfortunately unavoidable, so deal with PayPal only if you trust the user.

• Always make sure buyer has valid reputation (vouches) about dealing with PayPal and refrain from taking PayPal funds from new users and/or those that have no reputation.

• When you receive PayPal funds, make sure they are being sent to you as Gift (Money to family or friends) with a note stating "I am buying a virtual item and will NEVER dispute" or a similar note. Contrary to popular belief, payments sent as Gift can still be disputed and reversed.

• Trade only with Verified PayPal accounts if possible and avoid taking funds from an unverified account. While having a verified PayPal makes it easier to reverse transactions (chargeback), it lets you know that the buyer has provided PayPal with his information in case you want to follow the case.

• Taking funds directly from PayPal balance is relatively safer than taking from Credit Card or Bank Account. Make sure the buyer sends you the funds directly from his PayPal balance rather than a Bank Account and/or Credit Card if required.

* Western Union Transfer *

Please bear in mind that all transactions done through Western Union are final and impossible to reverse or chargeback. Be more carefully when sending funds through Western Union because if you get scammed, you will have no chance of getting your money back. Also taking funds through Western Union is relatively safer than other means of receiving money.



* Pre-Paid Cards *

Using Pre-Paid cards of various services (i.e. Amazon, iTunes) is another means of trading. When taking such cards, make sure to activate/check immediately after receiving the details and don't keep them for future trades to make sure they're valid and working. If you keep them for future, you risk ending up with a used card or worse. Only keep the cards if the person whom you got them from is reputable and trustworthy.

It is best to use a middleman in trades involving any pre-paid cards that way, the middleman can verify through remote access if the code provided is valid or not firsthand.



* Trading Steam Accounts *

When selling or buying Steam Accounts, make sure you follow to guidelines mentioned below to be safe:

• Steam Accounts can be easily recovered through Steam Support using Valid Proof of Purchase or Original Email Address used to create account. This process can take from a few days to a full week. Keep in mind that only having one of the above (proof or email) is usually enough for a recovery. Make sure you receive full proof of purchase and/or original email of the account you're purchasing, unless the seller is reputable and trustworthy. Do NOT take Steam Accounts without sufficient proof from new users and users with no reputation.

• Avoid taking Steam Account with Alerts from Steam Support (red notice on top) because support can easily trace them back to your main account and suspend you, it's unlikely but might happen. Also avoid taking accounts with Trade Bans or Community Bans. You can check if a Steam Account has any hidden ban using Steam Developer API, or by entering their profile link in Backpack.TF or similar websites which are using the API. Same applies for VAC banned accounts.

• Always check the steam profile your buying against Steamrep Database which is a database of all known scammer accounts, be sure to also check the pending reports.

• If you're selling your Steam Account, avoid posting the profile link, profile name or username publicly; this includes the screenshots of the account that you may post. It's unlikely but you might be suspended for selling your account if Valve somehow notices.

• When trading steam account, be sure to have Steam Guard disabled before the trade. Email address is the first thing that must be changed after receiving a Steam Account.

• Old Steam Accounts with low SteamID digits, often have email addresses as their username which is the Original Email Address so make sure you get access to that email address when you buy those.

I felt like many new traders wouldn't know this so I decided to post this information on marketplace. Steam Accounts can NOT be recovered/reset through Steam Support infinite times.

If an Steam Account is already flagged and suspended for being traded, steam support will refuse to reset it even if valid proof of purchase is provided. Furthermore, if an Steam Account is reset or recovered more than one time in a short period, it will be flagged for suspension on 3rd attempt which means it will be permanently suspended when a 3rd attempt to recover/rest is performed. Note that the (suspended) account WILL be provided to the person who performs the 3rd attempt to recover and all further attempts will result in failure.

A suspended account will have all features restricted (including but not limited to profile/community, trading, marketing, activating cd-keys and gifting) except games which will be playable.

Please keep this in mind while trading Steam Accounts. Having full proof of purchase plus original email access DOES NOT guarantee account security.



* Trading Origin Accounts *


When selling or buying Origin Accounts, make sure you follow to guidelines mentioned below to be safe:

• Origin Accounts can only be recovered through Origin Phone Support using valid proof of purchase which usually is a picture of a disk (cd-key) activated or account or means of purchasing games. Bear in mind that Date of Birth used to be the only proof of ownership but it is no longer true, and you no longer need to confirm correct Date of Birth in order to recover an Origin Account. Make sure you receive the following information when purchasing an Origin Account: Username, Email, Password, Security Answer(s), Date of Birth, Proof of Purchase

• Bear in mind that an Origin Account can easily be reset back to the previous email address after it's been changed. Do not take Origin accounts from new users and those with no reputation because they can instantly reset the account they've sold you back to their own email even without proof of purchase. Read this for more information.

• Never take an Origin account without Security Answer(s) as they are the only means of changing account information.

• After taking an Origin account with proof of purchase, immediately contact EA Chat Suppot and verify that you have received the correct information.

* Trading uPlay Accounts *


When selling or buying uPlay, make sure you follow to guidelines mentioned below to be safe:

• Bear in mind that you need access to the current email address of the account in order to change mail and/or password, without email access you are not able to change any information on the account. Make sure you receive current email and proof of purchase when buying uPlay accounts and avoid taking account without email access, unless the user is reputable and trustworthy.

• You can only change the information of uPlay accounts using the website, no need to install the client.

* General Suggestions *

Please keep the following suggestions in mind when trading to avoid getting scammed:

• Do NOT go first under any circumstances (except when the other guy has a LOT of vouches and reputation, even then if you feel suspicious, always use an MM), if the person you're trading with refuses to go first, use a free Middleman

• When selling an account on which you have proof of purchase, only give the proof after 45 days if you're receiving PayPal funds in exchange. Transactions can NOT be disputed after 45 days period has passed. If the buyer needs to recover the account, do it for him yourself using your proof. Provide the proof after 45 days unless the user is highly reputable and trustworthy. (This is in the event of use PayPal alone and a precaution to avoid chargebacks)

• Cryptocurrency is always safer than PayPal as Cryptocurrency can not be chargedback, this however means you must take caution before sending it to someone, verify you are sending it to the right person and not an impersonator. You can use a Middleman to hold funds and secure a trade.

• Always screenshot your entire conversation and save the chat-log of the trade for future reference.

• If you get scammed, make sure to report the scammer in the relevant section and also to relevant parties. For example, if your Steam Account is scammed and you don't have enough proof to recover, make sure to report to Steam Support so it ends up suspended and useless for the scammer.

* Middleman Services *

We offer middleman services to members who wishes to use the service. Using a middleman is the best way to secure your trades, you can ask for a middleman either in private or make a thread in MM Lounge. You can learn how to request a middleman by clicking the image or link below.

CLICK ON ME TO KNOW HOW TO REQUEST A MIDDLEMAN



* Closing Words *


Thank you for reading Reav3R's In-Depth Guide to Safe Trading, if you have found this guide useful, please care to give me Thanks & +REP. If you follow the guidelines I've outlined, you will have reduced the chance of getting scammed.