WoW Gold Facts

A picture can tell a thousand words, but a screenshot of this addle-brained spam mail from GoldMVP.com conjured a million WTFs.

Two things make this promotion utterly imbecilic. First, the promised 5-10% WoW Gold bonus lasted from July 1 to 30 – a full two weeks AFTER I was given notice. Talk about being useless.

Second, the marketing hook used here is WAY out of context. It took me a while to wrap my brain around it – A “new version” of WoW? Was I too wrapped up in my Firelands raiding to miss this big of a news? – but then I realized that this Chinese seller was referring to the recent launch of Cataclysm in the great farming meccas stretching from Beijing to Shanghai.

What “new version” really means is “new expansion,” and while it was nice of them to offer a bonus to celebrate what I imagine to be a cash cow milestone for their spam-scam-hack operations, the bonus deal was frankly too little, too late.

Because when WoW Gold sellers here in the US are offering bonuses and discounts on ABSOLUTE terms (not at a scandalously high if-you-only-buy 20,000 WoW Gold) then it’s simply a no-contest. I’m sticking to stateside, thank you very much.

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In the first part of my CheapWoWGolds.com review, I dug up the complaints and allegations leveled against this Chinese seller. To add insult to scam injury, the fast-rising scammer has the gall to give itself a pat in the back for delivering sub-standard service.

Delusional, I tell you.

So for this second part, I brave the hyena’s den aka the CheapWoWGolds website. And I discovered that rampant lies and bootlegging are keeping this illegal operation oiled and running.

ZERO SECURITY

At first glance, the homepage looks sleek and functional. But a closer scrutiny shows that it was haphazardly made in the typical fashion of fly-by-night sellers. First, and most indicative, sign is the use of fake verification seals. You’ll see them dangling like copy-pasted images at the bottom of the site.

These seals are fake because they don’t have the proper verification links; click one and they’ll just lead you back to the homepage like some inane loop. So what if they have fake seals? Everyone does them anyway! Yeah, tell that to the hackers who will have a field day with your data.

STOCK IN IMAGINARY SERVER

Risking account and credit card info, I talked to the cute but clueless Lemon who feigned the role of dutiful CS rep.

When I asked him/her if there was stock in Thunder Bluff (US) – a server I just made up on the fly – they quickly said YES.  Hello, you can’t possibly have stock in Thunder Bluff US; that server doesn’t even exist!

Those four lines of “ok I’m checking… checking…” is laughable. If you really were checking, Lemon, you’d know in an instant that Thunder Bluff (US) is as real as ponies.

Yes, it was a little dirty trick. So sue me. But that’s a smaller evil compared to their sacrilegious fraud. No corrections? No “excuse me, but was that Thunderhorn, sir?” They all too readily just so I can start buying and give them my cash.

Well if they can pretend stock, I can pretend order in this review and call it even. Why hasn’t my order been delivered yet!? Where’s my 200,000 WoW Gold for Thunder Bluf (US)!!!

BOOTLEG MERCHANDISE

OK, now that that’s out of my system. I checked out the other quaint services on offer at CheapWoWGolds.com. As a side income presumably for when scams are running low, the Chinese seller also runs a bootleg side business.

Everything from game time to the latest Cataclysm expansion can be bought at just a smidgen lower prices than the real ones sold at the Blizzard store. But like other illegal channels, this comes with a big risk for non-delivery and credit card fraud.

In fact, 17-year-old Josh posted a clear warning that those dipping into these piracy waters will be left high and dry. He told us through a blog comment that he still hasn’t received the CD keys he bought last week.

One would think that one day is more than enough time to send the CD keys – hello, those are just ONE-LINE string of characters that can be typed in less than a minute. Clearly, CheapWoWGolds doesn’t have stock of CD keys or, worse, is selling make-believe merchandise.

Which leads me to a worrying trend. WoW Gold scammers are taking advantage of desperate gamers who might have lost their jobs and are hunting for the cheapest deals online. They project themselves as value stores to hook your attention, blind you with too-good-to-believe offers, then steal what little cash you have left.

My advice, kiddies, is to inject a large dose of skepticism to your online shopping habit. There are still plenty of websites out there that offer fantastic WoW Gold prices, bonuses, discounts – the whole kit and caboodle for your undergeared toon. But websites that stupidly pluralize Gold as GOLDS aren’t one of them. Be warned!

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Blizzard flexed its marketing muscles this week in Gamescom, wowing the world’s most attended games trade fair with promises of Void Storage, armor Trasmogrification, new five-mans, and the final expansion raid against Deathwing – all in WoW Patch 4.3.

Needless to say, this next and confirmed to be final Cataclysm patch is all everyone’s talking about.

But while fan sites are busy combing through every Ghostcrawler blog post and developer interview – here’s the Patch 4.3 spoiler recap from MMO-Champion to get you up to speed – I’m more interested in how these new features will affect the WoW Gold market.

WoW Gold Surge

Without a doubt, WoW Gold will be in huge demand in Patch 4.3 as people begin collecting armor sets, including expensive low-drop Tier pieces, for armor Transmogrification.

Void Storage – the new service that allows players to store up to 80 items, including soulbound items and Battle.net Account Bound items – will also provide a huge Gold sink. Its unlock cost could range the thousands with a kicker fee per deposit and withdrawal of an item.

This flood of wealth will also attract that most horrendous species: The Gold Scammer. What new dastardly schemes is he plotting? I may not have access to a shining crystal ball, but the emerging scams in Patch 4.3 are clear as day.

Scam 1: Void Storage Loans

It’s perfectly fine, even chivalrous, to lend out WoW Gold so friends can purchase Void Storage.  But keep your generosity in check with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Not every sob story that comes to you deserves your Gold. Word gets around that you’re a sucker for scams, and before you know it, you’ll have lost tens of thousands of WoW Gold with your dignity in tatters.

Accept only IOUs from your tight circle of friends, and still then, impose loan safeguards because some buddies may turn greedy if they can get away with it. Refer to my recent guide on how to become a smart loan shark and protect your credit.

Scam 2: WoW Gold Offers

With new Ragnaros raids on one hand and an armor collection hobby on the other, even the richest WoW Gold barons will feel the pinch come Patch 4.3.

That Gold pinch becomes a gut punch if you’re just a normal bloke with no AH empire or spare time for farming. Of course, there’s no need for you to suffer the poorhouse. There are dozens of reputable WoW Gold sellers out there who can provide you with a lovely supply of spending currency for Patch 4.3.

The trick is to choose wisely. Follow the 3S standard – it never fails me. 3S means Site, Service and Spam. If a WoW Gold store has a well-written, secure site; a fast and responsive service; and no-spam policy when it comes to your e-mail and particulars, well then you’ve hit the jackpot.

Scam 3: PUG Raid Ninjas

As the Raid Finder receives a revamp and becomes functionally like the auto-grouping Dungeon Finder, there will be marked increase in PUG raids.

And as with PUG dungeon runs, there is the clear danger of ninja members out to steal drops from under the group. This can all be prevented by setting up the right loot management systems. But what if the designated loot master is part of the scam? Then you’re, for the lack of a better term, monumentally screwed.

Before signing up for PUG raids, swing by your realm’s official forums where there will always be a ninja warning thread that lists the known thieves populating your server.

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Ponies are magical creatures supposedly made out of fairy dust, children’s laughter and pure love. In short, they don’t exist. Just like the Gold prices being concocted by our resident mad child G4PGOLDS.com.

Compare the prices posted in this spam mail (left) with the actual prices listed on the G4PGOLDS store website (right). Uh-huh, someone made a fantastic boo-boo.

Well, not really fantastic if the real goal is bait-and-switch, that is to shock with super low promo prices in order to encourage clicks to the website. But even that theory is shot down since the “VIP fast link” (a laughable play-up to the word “homepage”) is not even working.

Suppose they expect us to copy, paste and supply the missing dots on that URL. And swap out missing a’s and omit extra s’s in that terrible e-mail while we’re at it. Yeah that’ll so happen.

Let it be lesson to you kiddies: When Gold prices seem to be too good to be true, never go on an auto-buy binge. Because by the time you zip through to the checkout page and realize that you’ve been monumentally screwed with fake prices, you’ll be scampering for a refund that, as you all know, will never ever come.

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One of the most frequently asked questions sent to my inbox is one borne out of legitimate fear: “Will I get banned for buying WoW Gold?”

My reply isn’t a straight yes or no, but another question: “Well, who are you buying from?”

From my experience, a ban-free purchase comes right down to subtlety. US-based sellers are generally safer because frankly they employ a lot more finesse with their deliveries. They know how to fly under the radar, don’t linger in trade spots, and never use delivery toons for spamming.

In short, they don’t trigger what we in the business imagine as a set of Blizzard gotcha sensors. The catch? You’ll have to pony up a few more dollars for the premium service.

Meanwhile, Chinese spam sites have all the grace of a howler monkey in heat. Their toons are known to call attention to transactions by shouting "Where you [INSERT TOON NAME]!" and I often get a lovely e-mail Warning, the entry-level offense in the Penalty Volcano below, from Blizzard.

Blizzard uses this Penalty Volcano to mete out so-called in-game justice. Going on an expletive rampage on trade chat, for example, after previous reprimands might score you one of the mid-level suspensions.

But Account Closure? It’s a hellish punishment reserved for the worst sinners. Blizzard will only slam the banhammer when it would rather lose your subscription dollars than deal with your shenanigans.

“Account Closures are rare and represent a player who is unable to abide by our rules and insists on negatively affecting other players’ enjoyment of the game or harming the service itself ,” says Blizzard.

I’ve bolded the most crucial words. Ask yourself: When buying WoW Gold, whose game are you ruining? If you think, well no one directly, you got that right. Hence the low ban rates for WoW Gold buyers.

But what if I told you that during your transaction, a player recognized a spammer doing a trade with you at the bank? What if that player sends a ticket reporting you for suspicion on Gold buying? Then Blizzard would be compelled to act on the tattletale complaint at the risk of losing that other player’s subscription dollars. Add another complaint to you and you’ll be a goner.

Of course, there will be people who like living on the edge of cheaper prices but riskier transactions. That’s perfectly reasonable. Just don’t QQ once the Penalty Volcano blows and burns your precious account into ashes.

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I’m a sucker for rags-to-riches stories. To become somebody from a nobody, to push through bad luck and turn into a bona fide success – that’s the American Dream right there.

But when CheapWoWGolds.com uses it as a schtick to lure unsuspecting gamers, that’s when I draw the line.

“We have made tremendous achievements and become the largest supplier of Cheapest WoW Gold around the world after years of struggle,” the China-based store boasts in its homepage. Don’t fall for the persevering, poor boy act. The only self-made achievements this scammer has is hiding its incompetence.

Luckily, we have Google to uncover all that.

One-Star Failing Grade
A quick Google search turned up two negative reviews for CheapWoWGolds at trusted consumer protection org SiteJabber.

One complaint said it took CheapWoWGolds more than 48 hours to deliver an order when it coincided with the “Spring Festival” aka the Chinese New Year – a known slacker time for the Gold farmers in panda land.

The other complaint told of an outright scam, claiming that CheapWoWGolds sent this e-mail:

"We recently received a report from another player that their account had been compromised. During the course of our investigation, we discovered that one of your characters had received goods from this player. Unfortunately, we have removed those goods to reimburse the owner."

It boggles my mind why a paying customer has to “reimburse” the hacked account owner. The explanation doesn’t make any sense, and sounds like a baloney excuse NOT to deliver 10,000 Gold. Easy $20 right there for CheapWoWGolds while washing their hands of any fault. Real smooth, guys.

Pathetic 92% Positive Feedback
And if you think these are isolated cases, no less than CheapWoWGolds admits that its customer service is dismal.

“92% feedback from our customer is positive,” it says on its contact page. Which leads me to ask: So I guess it’s industry standard for a whopping 8% of your customers to give not-so-positive feedback? Do these 8% wait a week for their Gold, if at all receive what they paid for?

CheapWoWGolds is delusional if it thinks getting it wrong for one-in-twelve customers is a “tremendous achievement.” Please. It’s a pitiable track record, and leagues away from the 98% satisfaction rate that a decent Gold seller should have.

Web of Affiliates
What’s more alarming is that CheapWoWGolds is part of a bigger network. Imagine its poor piss standards being duplicated in at least four other sister sellers. Yeah, I’m aching for some Advil too.

Here are the known CheapWoWGolds affiliates based on the scan of their Twitter account :

• WowGoldStudio (http://www.wowgoldstudio.com/)
• WowGoldFirm (http://www.wowgoldfirm.com/)
• Wow-Gold-Store (http://www.wow-gold-store.com/)
• Wow-GoldStore (http://www.wow-goldstore.com/)

By mere affiliation, the ENTIRE network of CheapWoWGolds should be scrutinized. Why? All these websites are prime breeding ground for hacking and phishing attempts (My anti-virus was ringing off the hook with each page click).

Plus I want to spare the WoW community from the god awful “articles” and “tips” foisted upon us at every turn.

Next installment, I probe deeper into the unethical selling strategies of CheapWoWGolds and, your favorite part, a grilling of their live chat personnel. Get your muzzle ready; this top dog scammer has one mean bite.

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Have a surplus of WoW Gold? Thinking of loaning it out and maybe earning some easy side profit?

Before becoming a full-fledged loan shark, learn the tips of trade first because lending Gold is one of the fastest ways to get scammed – and Blizz won’t lift a finger to help you get a single copper back!

Put in place these safety nets, and you’ll be sure to maximize profit and minimize fraud.
 

1. Get Collateral

Since World of Warcraft has no enforceable law to punish non-payers, you need to ask for collateral, or an item that becomes your property should the borrower fail to pay you back.

Ideally, you should ask for collateral that has equal or greater value than your loaned amount. For example, a hard-to-sell BoE gear that goes for 10,000 Gold at the auction house is great collateral for a 10,000 or less loan amount.

Other acceptable collateral are rare trinkets, gems, enchants, and stacks of crafted and raw materials. Do your research before agreeing on collateral since prices of these goods might depreciate over time, or maybe even become worthless after a particular patch.
 

2. Find a Trusted Backer

A trusted backer is a friend or guildmate who can guarantee the loan, so that when the person who borrowed the money suddenly vanishes, you have recourse other than bonking your head for being so gullible.

When looking for a qualified backer, make sure he or she is trustworthy and is a person you’ve known for a long time. This lowers the chances that the backer and borrower will work together to scam you out of Gold.

It also helps if the backer is a person you know in real-life, because they would be too ashamed to run away from the debt, in case you start badmouthing him or her to common friends.
 

3. Gather Witnesses and Take Screenshots

Imagine this scenario: A guildmate borrows money, but then denies ever receiving money from you. What proof do you have that there was a “gentleman’s agreement”?

While witnesses and screenshots won’t get you your money back (or validate your case to Blizzard, who does not meddle in loan transactions), you can go on a shame campaign to force the borrower to pay up.

More often than not, a player will rather settle the debt than be burdened with the stigma of being a cheat. Remember though that becomes less and less likely as the amount of money involved balloons. (Some people will gladly be banned from all guilds in a server for 200,000 WoW Gold, for example.)
 

4. Never Think that Blizzard Will Save The Day

Back in early WoW, when there weren’t gazillion players requesting gazillion things from GMs, Blizzard was said to supported loan claims. Now they’re completely hands-off with all kinds of loan transactions.
This means they won’t have your back when these loans turn south. To be clear, this is entirely different from when a crafter gets all the mats to make a Mechano-Hog, for example, and keeps the crafted mount for himself – which Blizzard supports.

Which brings us to a very important lesson: Lend out Gold you can afford to lose. No matter how many safety nets you put in place, there will always be the risk that you will be duped or get only a fraction of what you lent out.

Personally, I think of loans as charity donations, and just feel pleasantly surprised when it comes back to me with interest. Much less disappointment that way.

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