Scams are very common occurrences in any and every game that allows players to exchange items with others. Below are some scams that are common, and some ways to avoid them.
Scammers should not be reported here, but rather to Sonar Studios with valid evidence.
List of Known Scams[]
Dragon-related scams often involve the person you're trading with lying to you by saying that their dragon is rare, pure/solid, or themed, when in reality it isn't.
Scammers may also use hype to their advantage in order to get a better deal from you. They may also tell you that the dragon will never come back.
Hype Scams[]
Hype scams are a type of scam that happen when a new dragon releases, often when it is an event or season dragon.
Scammers use hype to their advantage so they can get other players to overpay for their dragon because it had recently released. Scammers may state that they are "not going first" or that they want to trust-trade their dragon, which are commonly used scam methods.
It is important to know that not all trades done through hype are scams.
One of the best ways to avoid this scam is by waiting for the hype of the dragon to die down.
"Pures/Pitches"[]
A "false pure" is a dragon that looks like a pure, but isn't. You can tell by looking at them for a good amount of time or sometimes by using different camera filters.
An example of an easy way to do this would be a full Neon Pastel Preset. Another easy way to tell is to turn your graphics up and look at the surrounding light of the neon. If it's a different color than what the supposed pure is, then it's probably not pure. Sometimes players will use dragons with colors very close to White such as Mellow. A simple solution is to check the colors before trading/buying.
Pitches are also rather easy to scam with. If you put them up for sale on auction at night, they can seem very close to being a real Pitch. If they have the right materials - neon is often used - then you can see them as Pitch at day. In reality, they most likely have colors like Abyss, Root, or Night instead of what you would expect. A simple solution, again, is to double check their colors before trading/buying.
"This baby is a ____"[]
A player will explain that one of their baby dragons is a "rare dragon", such as a solid, themed, or baby event dragon.
Upon entering your Dragon Lair, you see that one of the colors of the dragon doesn't match up with the other colors, or you see that the species is not what the other player said it was. This scam can be easily avoided by seeing what the baby dragon is in the trade menu.
For solid baby scams, double check the colors in the trade menu before accepting.
"____ is never coming back"[]
This scamming method is much more popular with event and season dragons than world dragons.
It is important to know that some players who use this trick may not know that what they are saying is true or not.
Players who use this trick often try to get others to overpay for their dragon by explaining that it will "never come back". This, however, is untrue, especially for event dragons.[1]
As for season dragons, they were decided to be brought back via the Dragon Pass in October 2022.[2]
"Selling (rare dragon) for cheap" Switch Scam[]
This scam is much more uncommon now due to there being ~3-second long announcements that state if an auction was cancelled or if a dragon was auto-bought.
For this scam, a player will put up a rare dragon for cheap on Auto-Buy and have an alternate account or friend sell a common dragon for the same price on Auto-Buy right after.
Unsuspecting victims may be really excited to grab a rare dragon for cheap, so they keep their finger on the Buy button as the rare dragon approaches. But as the dragon is changing the would-be scammer will either:
- Leave the game.
- Cancel the auction very quickly.
Either way will cancel the rare dragon's auction and will switch it to the cheap dragon, leaving people who are spam-clicking Buy getting a common dragon such as a Rocirus or Saurium.
"I'm new, can I have a dragon " Scam[]
This scam is fairly simple. A player will say something along the lines of "I'm new/I have no dragons, Can I have one?" In an attempt to swindle dragons or items from others. Fortunately, getting caught in this scam will result in minimal loss, because chances are all people are giving to these scammers are World Dragons.
This Scam is decently hard to identify. That's because the player asking for a dragon may actually be a new player who just wants a head start. Some telltale signs of a scammer:
- Them being picky about what they get.
- Them knowing specific species names and abbreviations.
- Their storage being full if you actually try to trade them something.
- They are in a guild.
- They have a backpack other than the default one.
These trades are most common with valuable dragons, and in the past, untradeable dragons such as the Solarizon and the Volkumos.
As for trust-trades, the scammer will depend on the other player's trust in order to scam them. Trust-trade scammers also target more valuable dragons/items.
"Not Going First" Trades[]
"I'm NGF/not going first"[]
A player may want to trade with you and say they "won't go first" and that you have to. After giving your part of the trade, the other player will most likely leave the server with your items.
A solution to this is to avoid doing trust trades, or to only do trust trades with players you know are trustworthy. In the case of using a middleman, make sure they are not entirely biased to the other person and to make sure they are not an alternate account.
While having a middleman can't entirely prevent scamming from happening, it does help to have backup and evidence if you are scammed.
Trust-Trades[]
"Buy this and I'll give you this"[]
A common example would be a player putting up something on the Player Market worth very little such as Leaves or Apples for a very high price. After putting the item up, they may say something along the lines' of "I'll give you a dragon if you buy this".
There is no way to prove this, and if the player really wanted to give you a dragon, they would simply put it up on the auction queue or trade it.
A couple of variations of this are:
- Players stating they will fetch items or dragons once you give them what they want, and then leaving afterwards.
- "Buy this dragon/item and I'll give you these potions/items/dragons". Normally, players will tell you to give them/buy their stuff then they'll give you something for doing so. However, they rarely do - if they do, then this still isn't good as this is a scam method and shouldn't be used regardless.
"Can I ride this?"[]
A trusted "friend" will ask if they can ride one of your dragons (these dragons are usually more valuable).
Once the trade has been completed and the "friend" has obtained your dragon, they may unfriend you and leave the server.
This was one of the most common ways to scam. This can be best avoided by not ever trusting anybody with your dragons. If a player insists that they want to ride on your dragon, they can do so by clicking "Ride" if your riding requests aren't disabled.
"Lagging"[]
A player will say they put in a dragon/item in the trading menu. They will explain you may be unable to see the desired items because they are lagging. Upon pressing accept, you realize they took your part of the trade, and you didn't get theirs. Once this happens, the scammer will likely have left the server already.
In reality, the items would be able to be seen on both screens. If any player says they're "lagging", simply don't believe them and patiently wait out the "lag".
"Let me fix this"[]
A close "friend" may offer to shuffle one of your dragons you consider ugly (this dragon is usually more valuable).
They will stay in the server for a few minutes before unfriending you and leaving. This scam is in the same category as "Can I ride this?" due to the fact that it's your friend taking your dragons by lying.
Untradeable Dragon Trust-Trades[]
While the Solarizon and the Volkumos are tradeable now, this scam will stay listed in order to raise awareness.
"I'll give you ____ for a Volkumos"[]
This scam is not as popular as it once was as the Volkumos is now tradeable. This scam technique was also popular when the Solarizon was untradeable.
This scam works similarly to a trust trade, in which the player offering for the Volkumos will likely only offer dragons and items and not coins.
What makes this trade riskier is that the Volkumos would need to be auctioned as it wasn't able to be traded prior to January 5th, 2022.
If you had given them your Volkumos, it is likely the other player would have left with it, resulting in them scamming you.
Another variant of this trade involves the other player "not going first", making you give them your side of the trade first and them most likely leaving with it.
Most if not all duplication tricks are fake and should be avoided as they are often used to trick players into giving the "duplicator" the desired items, which results in said duplicator scamming you.
"I can duplicate your ____ if you give it to me"[]
For this scam, the player asks if you want your dragon to be duped. They will than tell you to give them your dragon so they can "dupe" it. After they receive the dragon, they'll leave with it.
To avoid this, just say "No" to their offer on "duping your dragons". Most if not all of the time it's a scam, and even if it isn't, there is a pretty good chance the game will notice at some point and delete the dragon or item.
This scamming method can also apply to valuable items such as Legendary Color or Legendary Pupil potions.
Discord and other social-media-related scams tend to be much more harmful than other scams. In serious cases, they could result in the player being hacked or by having their private information breached.
GFX Hack[]
This scam happens outside of Dragon Adventures as well, although it has been put here to raise awareness.
For this awful scam, a player will come up to you and give you some sort of compliment on either your avatar or something else you own, like a dragon. But after that they may ask if they can make a GFX out of whatever they complimented on. By GFX, or graphics, the person likely means an animated 3D gif.
If you respond with yes, they will ask if they could get in touch with you so they can send it to you once it has been finished. Examples of places they can get in touch with you are Discord, Instagram, or other social media apps. After you are able to get in touch with them, they will ask you for something called a HAR file. A HAR file (HTTP Archive) is a file that contains your cookies. Sending them your HAR file is not required at all, however they ask you this information anyways so they can get into your account.
If the HAR file is sent, the person will then be able to get into your account and will most likely send all of your items to their account.
One way to prevent this is by not sharing any private information with random players.
Giveaway Scam[]
For this scam, a player will announce in-game that they are giving away a dragon (this dragon is usually valuable).
If you are to "join" their giveaway, they may ask for your Discord. After friending them, they may say that no one else joined due to not knowing what Discord is.
They will than send you a link, which is most likely used to retrieve private information. This link should not be clicked on.
Instigating with the other player to see if you can meet them in-game in any other way will likely result in them blocking and unfriending you.References[]
Please refrain from posting your trading offers on this page!
Instead, post them to our discussions section under the correct category.
A list of our categories and what they're used for can be found on the Wiki Rules and Guidelines page.