Hello, welcome to my guide.

This guide was created because I wanted some way to 'get back' at the scammers, I recently got scammed out of nearly all of my items, some expensive, (an australium scattergun) some sentimental, (a birthday gift from one of my friends).

my biggest regret is not following my gut. during the process of the scam, I had a lingering feeling that something wasn't right and that I should just stop. but I was driven forward by the promise of high-tier unusuals, and for that I regret. I got greedy, and I paid the price.

If you're here, that means one of two things:

1. You recently came into contact with a scammer.

2. You just made a big purchase and want to 'secure' your valuables.

If so, you're in luck.
I will try my best to regularly update this guide, and polish it off.

To join this war against scammers, comment down below with tips that I might have missed, or info on scammers you have encountered.

The reason why I added literally every tag I could, is so that this guide can get out into the public easier, and hopefully save someone from a scam.

I implore you to spread the word and stop the scams.

here are some tips to avoid scams.

1. DO NOT CLICK LINKS

if someone you don't know in real life sends you a link, do not click it.



2. if it seems too good to be true, it is.

if someone sends you a friend request out of the blue and then offers high-priced items, or the "definite" chance to be able to win something, don't trade with them.



3. if they don't get right to the point.

if they ask you to do something else or trade via a different website, then don't continue the conversation.



4. emojis in their name.

no sane person would put emojis in their name, so if you are approached by someone who is, it's most likely a scam.



5. THAT'S NOT THE REAL GUY!!!

impersonation is a serious issue, and it happens more than you might think. if you are messaged by some famous guy, it's not him.



6. what class do you main?

for some reason, all the scammers I have encountered, have asked something along the lines of "what class do you main". I don't really get why, but look out for it.
some scammers might also ask you if you have had any experience with trading before, sharks also do this, so if you're trading with someone and they ask you that. just back away slowly.
it's a major red flag.



7. I don't have much time, can we do this now?

lots of scammers use this tactic, they act like they have something going on soon, and want to do the "trade" quickly, by doing this they may pressure you into rushing through things and not paying enough attention. legitimate traders won't send you a trade request unless they have enough time to go through with it.
if someone is trying to rush through a trade, go as slowly as possible, not only will it probably annoy them to the point of the scam breaking down, but it allows you to investigate what's going on.



8. Backpack.tf

you should always check someone's backpack.tf page. this is useful whenever you are trading or interacting with anyone on steam. it can help you price check to see if they are being truthful, and on backpack.tf it also shows a message if they have been banned for scamming in the past. if someone is reluctant to show you their bp.tf page. thats a red flag.


I will continue to update this guide whenever I find new info.

in this section, i will put down the names of known scammers (mostly ones i have had a run in with)



1. Cosmic ⇄ Trading💎

this guy is the worst. he approached me wanting to trade my auzzie scattergun for an unusual, but before starting the trade made me "verify" my items via marketplace.tf, which is a trustworthy site, BUT he did some trickery behind the scenes and made me trade with a fake bot which took all my items.

tips for dealing with him:

he is forgetful, and i mean REALLY forgetful. he forgot what we were doing 10 minutes ago while "trading" and CONSTANTLY repeated stuff.

he has really broken english.



Best way to deal with him: mess with him.

the best way to get him outta your hair, is to make fun of him and refuse to cooperate.




2. "Jerchaco" (he recently changed his name to Mads Mikkelsen)

this guy is even worse, don't be lulled into a false sense of security by "Jerchaco"

the way he does his deeds is by trying to make you feel like you are becoming friends with him, and then asking you if you could help win a match on some website (for me the website was called dmg.legendcup), if you say no he will ask you if you could help by voting for his team, and to vote for his team you need to enter your steam account details.
yeah. thats how he gets ya.

the best way to deal with him: don't click the link.

just don't, he can't do anything if you don't go onto the website.






3. Funniest Jarate
(contributed by: crab spy)
no other information thus far.
best way to deal with him: tell them they're lying and then block them.




4. Fish
(contributed by: crab spy)
no other information thus far.
best way to deal with him: tell them they're lying and then block them.




5. jil🎓
jil is a special case, she will ask you to put a link to her website in your pfp description ((for me the website was tf2carbon/com) don't go to the website btw) the website describes itself as "the best TF2 roulette" the website appears fishy to begin with, and the way i tested it out, was by typing in the chat box. there is a chat box on the right side of the screen, and if you have logged in on your steam account (don't do this btw) then you can type in chat, unfortunately the people in the chat don't respond. because they're not real. the way the scam happens, is you are meant to put your items into the roulette and have a "100% chance to win" because jil says that she will make you win (she demonstrates this near the start of the convo by asking you to pick one of the "people" in the roulette to win, and whoever you pick will win) but, the catch is... you don't get your items back, or any of the items you are promised.

best way to deal with them: don't enter the roulette.

sure, trolling is fun. but don't get sucked in. if you put an item into the roulette you won't get it back.





i will keep adding to this guide, and if you want to help you can send me some details about scammers you encountered and i'll add them in.

This section is dedicated to trolling scammers, I am going to post screenshots of my conversations with scammers here to show how dumb some scammers are.

And as always, feel free to send me a friend request and send me pics of your own conversations.

(this is only a small section of the conversation. the reason being that jil contacted me again today, and I had this idea.)

have a good day and don't get scammed.