scam

[Annamayst]

Alright, so I've been PM'd by a few people what red-flags to look out for since I have a pretty good track record of spotting scammers.  Sometimes I get it wrong, but better safe than sorry.  Anyway, watch out for the typical behavior from scammers who will usually fit at least two or three (and sometimes even more) of the following characteristics:

0. Newbies, NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH OTHER NEWBIES, EVER. There are plenty of veteran members to do business with and ALWAYS use escrow. If you're a newbie you're doing business with another newbie, there's a 100% chance that you will get scammed (or you're a scammer yourself).
1. New account (usually created within the last 3 months, plus or minus)
2. Low-medium message count with vapid posts of little to no contributory value
3. Use of a seemingly realistic first/last name as their forum account name
4. Signs posts with full name
5. Straight out of Newbie mode right into Lending (requesting a loan of course)
6. Straight out of Newbie mode right into Currency Exchange (PayPal, Liberty Reserve, Western Union)
7. Straight out of Newbie mode and selling gift cards/codes/Steam games of any kind (they'll often be purchased with stolen CC info, leaving you holding the bag later on down the road)
8. Any user blatantly claiming to be female
9. New user trying to sell an Apple iAnything
10. Sob stories asking for handouts
11. Never send to a Bitmerch.com address for escrow!!!

There.  Pretty much in a nutshell how to spot a scammer.  There's still some finesse to spotting a scammer, but these rules will separate most of the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.  Oh, and I guess there's one more rule:

12. NEVER DO BACKROOM DEALS VIA PM WITH NEW USERS. Make sure all deals are negotiated in the open forum for both public record and peer review