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EVE New Citizens Q&A

 
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is somebody trying to scam me?

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Ishtar Dannah
Doomheim
#1 - 2014-02-12 05:11:36 UTC
this is only my second day... a person has private messaged me named GM ******* (i blocked it in case there are rules against naming). in world of warcraft you know its a safe person because a special text box comes up and the text is blue and there is a blizzard logo. but in this game don't know how to tell if i should be careful with this person and they are trying to impersonate an employee in order to scam me?
Veritaal
Veri-Tech Tax Haven
#2 - 2014-02-12 05:21:36 UTC  |  Edited by: Veritaal
Yep. This is 100% a scam, and you should report this person.

If a CCP employee needs to talk to you, you're probably getting an E-Mail or something. I can't imagine any reason for a GM to send a PM to a 2 day old character.

*edit*

I guess I stand potentially corrected. I didn't know GMs occasionally talked to newbies.

Still though, it's likely that this person isn't legit.
NightCrawler 85
Phoibe Enterprises
#3 - 2014-02-12 05:27:03 UTC  |  Edited by: NightCrawler 85
GM's will occasionally contact new players, welcome them to the game and answer questions, so there is a high chance it was not a scam. And yes they do this by convoing you Big smile

GM's and devs will have a different color on the text when they talk (think it's red in both cases) so if you see that you know it's the real thing.
Also if you are really really paranoid you can check their corporation, which is a specific corp only they can join.
And they don't like it when people try to steal their Corp name or ticker Smile

Phoibe Enterprises

The Eve Reader -  Audio Recordings of Eve Chronicles
Thomas Builder
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2014-02-12 05:29:16 UTC
It is not unheard of for a GM to welcome a new player to the game.
But it is more likely to be a scam. BTW, you seem to be paranoid, welcome to EVE, you'll fit right in Smile

In any case, report the person. While, in general, scams are legal, impersonating a CCP employee is one of the few bannable offenses in EVE.
Weylin Ormand
Malevelon Roe Industries
Convocation of Empyreans
#5 - 2014-02-12 05:37:36 UTC
Yea GMs show up in red, CCP devs show up in blue. GMs have "GM (name)" and CCP devs have "CCP (name)" if their text didn't turn red when they were talking to you, then they're not a GM and need to be reported ASAP.

I mine so you can have the fuel to run your POS.

Have you thanked a miner today?
Ishtar Dannah
Doomheim
#6 - 2014-02-12 05:40:36 UTC
Thomas Builder wrote:
BTW, you seem to be paranoid, welcome to EVE, you'll fit right in Smile


lol thats why i am worried about it, because i read this game encourages people to scam you and if you do let yourself get scammed you are just screwed, there is no help for you from game masters.

in any case the person was probably legitimate, cuz they just ended up asking me if i needed help and then sending me a mail of new player links then said they'd let me get back to playing. the text was yellow though, not red.
ShahFluffers
Ice Fire Warriors
#7 - 2014-02-12 05:44:49 UTC
Another thing to look out for is that all GMs and CCP employees are part of "special" corporations with their own "special" logos. None of them will ever be in a regular NPC corp.

How did you Veterans start?
Ishtar Dannah
Doomheim
#8 - 2014-02-12 05:49:59 UTC
actually the person's text was not red it was yellow. does this mean they are an impersonator? here is a screenshot of their details http://i.imgur.com/WkMvqYy.jpg
Elena Thiesant
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#9 - 2014-02-12 05:55:16 UTC
Ishtar Dannah wrote:
actually the person's text was not red it was yellow. does this mean they are an impersonator? here is a screenshot of their details http://i.imgur.com/WkMvqYy.jpg


No, that's a real GM. They're in the CCP alliance, that's legit. The GMs do contact new players in their first few days to offer help to find out if they're struggling, etc.
Ishtar Dannah
Doomheim
#10 - 2014-02-12 06:09:10 UTC
okay thanks for the help!
Sabriz Adoudel
Move along there is nothing here
#11 - 2014-02-12 06:35:16 UTC
If you aren't sure if it's a scam or not, assume it is. In this case it was not, but you had exactly the right approach.

I support the New Order and CODE. alliance. www.minerbumping.com
Gregor Parud
Imperial Academy
#12 - 2014-02-12 08:22:19 UTC  |  Edited by: Gregor Parud
Players can only type in white text and CCP employees type in coloured text depending on what part of CCP they belong to (not to be confuse with coloured titles).

CCP DEVS type in dark blue
GMs type in red or yellow
there's also player volunteers, the "normal" ones type in light blue and the "higher up's" in green.

So any time someone's text is coloured you can be sure it's legit.
Ralph King-Griffin
New Eden Tech Support
#13 - 2014-02-12 09:08:31 UTC
Gregor Parud wrote:
Players can only type in white text and CCP employees type in coloured text depending on what part of CCP they belong to (not to be confuse with coloured titles).

CCP DEVS type in dark blue
GMs type in red or yellow
there's also player volunteers, the "normal" ones type in light blue and the "higher up's" in green.

So any time someone's text is coloured you can be sure it's legit.

Actually my cat can type in the dev dark blue, no idea what combination of keys he sat on but he managed to say something like "ogjxbdgofj,,,,,,,hcsfkj"""";,,, xd______" in the dev colour (or something a lot like it) ,which roughly translates to " hay you, get off the pc and feed me dame it!"

Murderers of Negotiable Motivations

=]|[=
Yarda Black
The Black Redemption
#14 - 2014-02-12 09:53:23 UTC
You played it safe OP. As said before; your future in EVE is off for a good start :)

Remember this; expecting everything to be a scam may cause others to sigh a bit and explain to you they're not scamming you at all. But in the end they know damn well that paranoia pays off.

oh.. and welcome to EVE :)
J'Poll
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#15 - 2014-02-12 12:13:35 UTC  |  Edited by: J'Poll
Legit. Occasionally GMs contact new players to help them get settled in EVE and ask how they can improve the NPE.

Congrats on having the first person you blocked be a CCP employee.

I believe, but dont take my word for it though, that yellow text is besides red also reserved for CCP GMs and more specifically for Level 2 GMs.


It is actually very simple to see if it is a legit GM or someone breaking the game name rules.
Official CCP employees are all part of the CCP Alliance, if a person is not, he is breaking rules and should be reported for it.

Edit:

Now you made me curious which GM you blocked as you blanked out the name.

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Cara Forelli
State War Academy
Caldari State
#16 - 2014-02-12 13:22:37 UTC  |  Edited by: Cara Forelli
I did something similar when a GM messaged me. Talked to the for a minute and then made an excuse that I was just updating my skill queue and logged out before they could scam me.

However, in retrospect, one thing to keep in mind is that no one can scam you just by talking to you*. Also, as a new player you have very little to lose. So keep your ears open but stay paranoid and not only will you learn stuff, but you'll probably also learn how some of the scams work so you can avoid them in future.


*except maybe Sabriz? I can hear the wheels turning in her head - "challenge accepted!"

Want to talk? Join my channel in game: House Forelli

Titan's Lament
Noxisia Arkana
Deadspace Knights
#17 - 2014-02-12 14:55:43 UTC
Thomas Builder wrote:
It is not unheard of for a GM to welcome a new player to the game.
But it is more likely to be a scam. BTW, you seem to be paranoid, welcome to EVE, you'll fit right in Smile

In any case, report the person. While, in general, scams are legal, impersonating a CCP employee is one of the few bannable offenses in EVE.


Yes, you've donned the tinfoil hat early. Step two, grow a neckbeard. step 3, epic eve-ness.
Shiloh Templeton
Cheyenne HET Co
#18 - 2014-02-12 17:14:29 UTC
Cara Forelli wrote:
one thing to keep in mind is that no one can scam you just by talking to you*.


Plus, you might figure out a way to counter scam them instead!
BeBopAReBop RhubarbPie
University of Caille
Gallente Federation
#19 - 2014-02-12 17:37:29 UTC
Yes someone somewhere in eve is trying to scam you at this very moment. No its probably not this GM.

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ISD LackOfFaith
ISD Community Communications Liaisons
ISD Alliance
#20 - 2014-02-12 20:18:23 UTC
Confirming legitness. It's called "Meet & Greet". The CCP support crew and ISD STAR have been pushing forward a massive effort recently to welcome the influx of new players and to address any problems that crop up. I hope it's going well!

ISD LackOfFaith

Captain

Community Communication Liaisons (CCLs)

Interstellar Services Department

I do not respond to Eve Mail or anything other than the forums.
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