TF2: The Perils of Hats

All Fear Gaben's Hammer

People of the Internet, the world is not comprised of sunshine, unicorns and glitter as you may have fooled yourself to be. Today’s post is brought to you by the depressing part that rests in all of us: greed. To the more innocent/new/non TF2 playing readers, I bring to you today a topic that all of us know happens, but one that most people don’t necessarily think about: scamming. I bring this up because on Monday, someone attempted that very thing to me, but more on that later.

For those following my string of posts about my current dealings in the unusual market know that I am currently in ownership of a Steaming Sola Topi and a Nuts and Bolts One Man Army. I plan on selling these for 3.5 Earbuds or bundling them with a TS Bills I acquired recently for 4 Earbuds, that or taking an unusual offer, pushing me towards my goal of a Sunbeams Hotrod. So, around noon I got a friend request and a guy offered me a Scorching Defiant Spartan. (I apologize to those readers who don’t quite get the vernacular of this post) This is a hat priced in the range of 6 to 8 Earbuds, if handled correctly. Of course, I just about dropped my pants, but I knew that in the unusual market, people weren’t always trustworthy, so I’m going to make this post a guide of tips to help avoid getting scammed.

·         Time Take to initiate trade. Saying this I mean if it takes the guy around 10 minutes to invite you to trade, or he says he’s a bit busy, use this to be wary. This doesn’t mean the guy is going to scam you, but it should be an omen of bad things to come.

·         Trade on TF2. I know that Steam trade is cool and all, but if you start trading in-game it tells you a few things. First you can see the purple border of an unusual if it’s turned on. It also tells you if the item has been re-named or has a new description. Make sure you pay attention to the name, icon, and description of the unusual/ hat at hand.

·         Don’t fall for cute tricks. This guy offered to give me a couple of weapons for being so patient with him. Thing is, he was a fast swapper, he pushed the Spartan out, replacing it with a Purple Confetti one, and added 7 items to cover up his tracks by pushing up the REMOVED DEFIANT SPARTAN text and the ADDED DEFIANT SPARTAN. At the same time, I got an invite to a new steam group which I did look at. This is a bad omen as well.

·         When you click the “Ready to Trade” checkmark, it does not initiate the trade. Take the time to go over and examine every item in the trade, both yours and his. If he changes the trade in anyway, the trade undoes your checkmark.

·         There is no need to be excited when trading. Take your time. It’s not that hard to get caught up in the moment and accept it. If the effect does change don’t let the guy sucker you into saying “Oh TF2’s server is being stupid. Don’t worry about it.” Tell him you’ll trade when it stops, or something else. Nothing is worth loosing that much money in that much time.

·         Report the guy afterwards. Going under their profile after this scumbag tries to steal your livelihood and sending a report to Valve isn’t a bad plan. I personally record every large trade that involves more than an Earbud. I have the guy’s account name, steam URL, what he offered, what I offered, what happened with the trade, and possible course of action.

So, what ended up happening? I looked at the unusual. I saw the effect had changed. I felt sad. That hat really could have pushed me closer to my end goal. So, I told him “Hey, you got some quick fingers, but you seem to have changed effects there.” He knew I caught him, so he instantly disbanded the trade, and removed me from his friends list. I calmly opened up my Steam Overlay, went to his profile, and reported him, and that was the end of that. I never got the unusual, but at least I’m getting closer to my goal. So, stay safe kids, the playground isn’t always full of nice kids.

--Santa

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