Top 5 EVE scams

Sup doods!

EVE is $5 on steam, so I figured I'd blog about my top 5 favorite EVE scams. These aren't the biggest EVE scams ever, but they are funny and for new players to the game, they are something to look out for or to run yourself.

Number 5: The reverse "double your money" scam

Experience needed: Low

Payout: Low

How it works:

One of the most common scams in EVE involves a person saying "I'm leaving EVE, if you send me money, I will send you double back!" Sometimes to draw you in, they will double your first few payments to build confidence then keep your credits when you send a larger amount. For the reverse version of this scam, send a small initial amount, then only send as much as he sends you. You will only ever lose your initial amount this way and will figure out at which point he decides to take your money. With this knowledge you can use your character and alts to reverse scam the guy repeatedly over the course of days and weeks. The payout for this is low, but when you multiply it by the number of people running this scam it can be decent.

Number 4: The Goon Scam

Experience needed: Medium

Payout: Medium

How it works:

If you are familiar with the SomethingAwful goons, you know they love griefing, so EVE is their perfect habitat. This scam made the list because it is by far the most fallen for. In this scam, a member of goonswarm recruits a player and then requests they pay a security deposit which will be refunded in 2 weeks. Obviously, this refund never happens. In addition they may offer to carry your items to their headquarters, which is pretty much the EVE equivalent of "wallet inspector." The reason this scam makes the list is because of the number of people who still fall for this despite the fact that their corporation note and website all say that if you are paying to get in, you are getting scammed.

Number 3 : Wreck Bait

Experience needed: Medium

Payout: Medium

How it works:

In EVE, if a player steals your loot, you have the option of attacking their ship. You can take advantage of this by filling a cheap transport ship with large containers named "30 Day Pilot's Licence Extension" or "BPOs" and then self destructing your ship in a well traveled area. You can even rename your ship to make it more convincing. Then switch to a combat ship and return to the area. When someone tries to scoop loot from your wreck, you can shoot them. Make sure they are flying something you can easily take out and be careful if they return for vengeance.

Number 2: Reverse Courier Scam

Experience needed: High

Payout: Medium

How it works:

Another common scam is to create a courier contract with either an impossible or dangerous destination. If someone accepts the contract and is unable to complete it, you get to keep the collateral and they get to keep the worthless metal scraps you shipped. One player found a clever way to reverse this scam. First he built a space station and renamed it to sound like an easily accessible NPC location when in reality, it would deny all docking requests making deliveries impossible. Next he convinced people on the forums to use his station for their own courier scams and to make sure to include a nice juicy reward. Now all he had to do was deliver them himself (which only he could do) and collect the rewards.

Number 1: Scamming Yourself

Experience needed: High

Payout: High

How it works:

If you want to run a really obvious ponzi scheme, you are gonna need some credibility. One way to do this is to scam yourself. By running a loan business in parallel with your investment scheme, you can pretend to help out other players running a fake investment business. If you make a loan to your alt, then don't pay it back, it can improve your credibility and even if you make a bunch of small loans to other players it won't cost you much. Other types of legitimate business would probably also work to distract people from the obvious ponzi scheme. This type of scam definitely takes patience, but the payout can be huge.

There are tons of other scams in EVE and even more waiting to be discovered.