some guy ripping people off at my place

A resident whom I've never met is ripping people off by getting them to try to buy MY house/furnishings. He takes their money $2000L and then they come to my place demanding it, telling me they bought it. This has happened twice. If you look at his profile under "Picks" you'll see my place "Third Wave" listed there. He offers guided tours, no less.

I just found this out today. He doesn't explain himself. I've banned him and told him to change his profile and also reported him.

So my question is, am I at any risk from this guy? Are there "change ownership" hacks I should be worried about? And can I get him to cease and desist? Thanks.

If there were change ownership hacks..they'd be fixed fast i think, since so may real businesses are in SL. No, shouldn't be in danger, only potential customers. Make sure to put up signs warning against him (And any alts he might make for this again)

The first thing is to take the name out of this post, as it's against forum rules. He might be worthy of naming-and-shaming, but you can't do it here.

Oh woah didnt even notice that his name was in there lol.. well yeah... get rid of that =P

I had something sort of similar happen once. I had a guy rent a cottage from me for 10 weeks upfront and then turn around and 'sublet' it to several people, none of them knowing about the others of course. Apparently, he was hanging out at a different rental place, poaching customers from there, and then TPing them directly to my cottage, and offering them an incredible rate. Grrr. I made it right with the people he had scammed and banned and AR'd him.

As to your question, I'm not aware of any exploits that'll let him change ownership of your possessions. Be sure nothing you own that is rezzed is set 'for sale', unless you want it sold and have set a price you are happy with. Same goes for any other permissions like copy.

You can, of course AR the offender in-world, and encourage anyone who has paid him money for your stuff to do the same.

Thanks. I'll remove his name. Can I put his name on a sign at my place that warns about him?

I think so, but not certain.... hrm...

Not sure ... but you can definitely put up signs exhibiting something along the lines of "Beware of scammers! Do not pay any money directly to residents for the houses exhibited here. Only buy from the official vendor boxes."

I'd say yes, with a but... If he then AR's you for the accusation, and you can't back it up, you might be the one punished for griefing.

Since he could always switch to throwaway alts anyway, you need a sign that warns not only against him but "other" scammers as well. Easy enough then to remove his name if you have to - but Your Land, Your Rules, and I'm sure you have a list of dissatisfied customers of his to refer the Lindens to.

Put a note in your store and profile that YOU are the only person responsible for your business dealings. I've had scammers pretending to represent my estate and get my tenants to pay THEM instead of their rent boxes. I now list my Estate Managers on my estate's blog, and sent out a group notice when it happened. All sorts of vermin crawling the grid.

No. The TOS specifically refers to naming names anywhere on Linden-owned servers, which includes inworld.

Besides, there is no point to naming his name because he can just come back and do it with an alt. The advice given above is sound... put messages in your profile and signs around your shop telling people that you don't employ sales staff, and that they should only buy items from your vendors.

Want to back up Ava here as well.

Do NOT place his name in any writing. Not on a texture, a sign, floating text, or a notecard.

You may discuss it in chat and IMs with your friends and aquaintences. Keep the talk civil and factual. ie, as in your OP. Refrain from calling him by any names (I'm sure those of us who know slime like this can supply our own names *smirks*).

You may also want to place up a sign at your store stating that YOU are the only one that sells your products, and that anyone else doing so is a fraud/con-artist. Several of the larger stores have done so, some listing the store managers they do employ.

Sorry for your grief and it sickens me that this happens to the newbies this guy conned.

~Jessy

Thanks, folks. Great advice. Now if my abuse report can force him to change his profile so that he can't announce the fake sale, I'll be satisfied. And yeah, it makes me sick that this guy ripped off newbies.

Have the people he's conned AR him too. A single AR gets ignored. Many filed against the same person get investigated.

Wildefire...I noticed the change in your sig. What happened to the original Desperation Isle?

I wanted to rebuild from scratch so I bought a new island which allowed me to do a whole new build without disrupting my regular guests and mall renters. I shut down old Desperation Isle last week. I just posted a (safe for work) commemorative video for it last night:

http://wildefirewalcott.blogspot.com/

I will be advertising the new island widely soon. =)

EDIT: There's an introduction to the new island (also safe for work) right here: http://desperationisle.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-desperation-isle-is-open-to-public.html

bought a second island....

must be nice, I can not even afford to buy a first island heh


seriously though, to all of you out there, that have purchased an island or islands, I envy you.

someday I will own an island, maybe even more than one


just... not right now