Con Artists in SL

Spritely Pixel tells me that the AKK horse ranch has been visited by working cons. The con is simply to offer objects for a low price and not deliver. I wrote biref suggestions as follows:
How to get cheated in Second Life
1. Pay money directly to somebody you don't know. (This works in Times Square, too)
2. Buy from somebody who has been in Second Life only a few days. You can find that info on the person's profile. Don't embarass them by asking how they found such good deals after just a few days inworld.
3. Buy from somebody with no place of business. That way you won't be able to find them again if you are not happy with the deal.

If you want a less interesting buying experience:
1. Buy from a vending machine in an established place of business.
2. Look up the person who owns the vendor in search>people. How long has the person been in SL?
3. Send out an IM to a large group you belong to. Ask for advice about the person and the deal. (If you don't belong to a group, join one. Sledu, eLumenata, and SeconfLife Hobos are open enrollment ands will welcome you.)
4. Offer a friendship link to anyone trying to sell you something. Ask them to TP you to their home for further discussion. If they actually take you some place, check to see that the land belongs to to person you are talking to.

These suggestions are in a note-giver poster at Hobo Infohub in Calleta. The poster is free to copy. anyone is welcome to take the note or the poster and to distribure them freely.
TM

I thought I'd pop in and add to the list...
This thread is great for newbies to learn what NOT to do. I'd also like to note it's bad to give out money period -

1. Don't buy something from an individual that didnt create any of the contents in the object, It could mean they are selling things they got for free
   
2. It's a bad idea to pay for an object lieing on the ground with a 'buy' option in the pie menu, espessially in a public area, not a store.
   
3. As previously said, never give money to someone you don't know, infact its best to not give out money period
   

It's important to know that never buy an object that the seller didn't make anything in or on - thus being it can either be something they, and you could get for free - or something that they cannot give (such as a newbie selling c-tech or something)
**Try to only buy from vendors**

Drifting Volunteer - Joker

Like rl, there have been many cons in online games. One I heard of recently, was 'someone' placed a 100 transparent prim over a vendor (only 1 pixel larger) and when ppls thought they were buying from the vendor, it was redirecting their money to another person other than the vendor, then giving a notecard saying the vendor was offline and their goods will be dispatched very soon.

Some people think their quality of life is measured only by the money they can get.....

Thans, Joker, for the suggestions. I will use the info in a revision of the note.
TM

Also wish to add to this list.

- Be shure not to buy avatars from people who was made by someone else, chances are the avatar was copyed over by a special script.

- Just do all your research...sometimes even big stuff can be worth nothing in the end.

I've run into a few people who have been makeing a scirpt and placeing it into a random object...then placeing it next to another scripted square...
What happens after that is. The scripted box will read out the mesurements and shape of the item (such as a dimond or a furry head) and will then just make an exsact copy of the item, WITH the textures.

Also i've delt with people selling items that look all nice, but are high priced...some didnt even fuction the way they should have.

People are not tied to locations in SL. You can easily find them in search.
I do custom scripts for people, and have no place of business, yet they can still reach me if there is a problem.

It should be noted that checking the creator of an object isn't always reliable. My avatars are all made by me, but the boxes they're packed in use an unpacker script written by someone else, and use a hair given to me for this use by a friend. These multiple creators often cause my boxes to show "nobody" for the creator, but it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the box's contents. I also share many of my scripts with partners, so their objects will also say "nobody" because I was the script's creator.

I recognize that my one page note will be less than a perfect guide. Nothing in the note claims that the advice is always right. This is advice for newcomers. Experienced residents will know better ways to check the credentials of vendors. I will try to take into account the qualifications recently mentioned here in a revised version. But I believe the advice I am giving provides reasonable guidelines for newcomers.
TM