I've been playing the game for a couple years now, and have been enjoying the game. Every now and then, particularly on the beginning planets and the Spacedocks, people will repeatedly ask in general chat for someone to use their referral link. They say that if they do so, the people who use it will be paid X amount of Credits as thanks.

I recently allowed myself to be tricked by one such bribery. The person in question used a character with what I should have seen as an obvious throwaway name, this person offered ten million credits to use his referral link. Rather than be properly suspicious of what in hindsight is an obvious ploy, I accepted and went offline to use his referral link. When I returned to the game, I discovered that this person blocked my character to prevent further communication, and to avoid paying what was promised.

My own foolishness aside, I have been hearing about this problem a lot lately from other players, particularly new players. This kind of greedy, malicious behavior only serves to damage trust in the community. Players should not scam each other, but neither should we indulge their actions. I'm writing this post so that others can use my experience as an example, and to let others who have been scammed this way know that they are not alone in the silly mistake.

The only reason this behavior is not actionable, is because there is no negative consequence to the person being tricked. You don't lose credits, items, or anything of value; the only this harmed is that player's ability to trust other players in the game. I hope this thread proves helpful to at least some people out there.

I've no clue how BW would receive this idea...but how about making referrals tradable through the trade window?

Put the referral in the player's collection or another way to generate a token for it. Player A places the token in the trade window, Player B enters the requested amount of credits/gear/whatever and boom, both click trade, fair and fair.

If anything, "every now and then" is a gross understatement. On Harbinger at least, every time I go to a planet from about Nar Shadaa or lower level, there is at least one person (often times more than one) that is spamming chat, no matter what time of day it is. This seems to be the latest scam, most likely because the scammers rarely if ever get punished for it. I don't know that they don't but considering I always see the same people spamming the chat I'm fairly certain nothing ever happens to them.

It sucks what happened, but as was said above you need to remove the name from your post. Naming and shaming will get you punished on the forums, and this topic will be deleted.

You do realise that most of those people are Credit farmers or part of the credit chain... Anyone that offers you credits to click their referral is lying and a scammer.

If people want to click a referral in a forum signature... that’s cool and a nice surprise... but it’s good Bioware don’t allow people to jump on here are solicit it for credits.

First, as others have said, naming and shaming is not allowed. One can agree or disagree with such policy, but those are the rules.

Second, these kind of offers are happening all the time everywhere. They are spammed a lot in starting planets and the fleet, but i've also seen them in planets such as Voss, Corellia or Taris. They are ALL scams, i've never had a doubt about it.

Third, if you want to get into that, ask the scammer to pay up front. If not all, at least half the credits. If he refuses, then dont accept the deal. I've done this several times, and every single time they refuse to pay up front. They want to scam but want to avoid the risk of getting scammed too. Fine, they wont get my cc.

Fourth, you fell to the scam because of your own greed. It's fine if you wanna call them out on that, but dont forget you also tried to take advantage of a game mechanism in order to get credits, hence your own greed drove you into the scam. Therefore, one could say you actually learned a lesson you wont forget.

You do realise that most of those people are Credit farmers or part of the credit chain... Anyone that offers you credits to click their referral is lying and a scammer.

If people want to click a referral in a forum signature... that’s cool and a nice surprise... but it’s good Bioware people don’t allow to jump on here are solicit it for credits.

While I agree with the first part of your post, in that many (but not all) of the scammers are credit sellers, the second part is not true. There are a lot of players who do offer to pay people to click their referral link and then deliver on that promise.

It's partly why the scammers are successful. They're able to hook people probably because some of their marks know that there are legitimate trades for referral link clicks. If no one paid and every Gen Chat ad was a scam, they'd get less takers.

If anyone is considering clicking on a stranger's referral link for credits...

1. Get him or her to agree to half up front. If he or she refuses walk, even if it potentially means losing out on a genuine offer for credits. The risk isn't worthwhile otherwise.

2. Know the going rate for credit referrals. 1 to 3 million is far more typical. If someone is offering a lot more than that it most likely falls into the realm of "too good to be true."

3. View the character before doing the trade. Does it look like a player who has actually been playing the game, or a throwaway character created with a token? If it's the latter, walk.

4. Are the only achievements related to resource gathering and crafting? Red flag for a credit seller. Walk.

5. Know that scams aren't just limited to credit sellers. See point #1. The person buying referral link clinks reaps the biggest rewards, so you should insist on that person taking on the risk.

4. Are the only achievements related to resource gathering and crafting? Red flag for a credit seller. Walk.

Confused. Why would a credit seller, i.e., someone who wants real-world currency on a gold seller web site in return for in-game credits, want to give players in-game credits? Seems counter productive to their purpose. They'd be giving away the commodity they're trying to sell real-world.

Confused. Why would a credit seller, i.e., someone who wants real-world currency on a gold seller web site in return for in-game credits, want to give players in-game credits? Seems counter productive to their purpose. They'd be giving away the commodity they're trying to sell real-world.

They get monthly cartel coin grants for each click which are in turn used to purchase items or packs from the Cartel Market which are then sold on the GTN for millions. The amount of credits earned from that (whether the buyer is a credit seller or not) is much more than what they pay people to click to their link, which is why some people do it.

Also the credit sellers may not necessarily deliver on the promise to pay. They could very well talk a person into clicking their referral link, and then disappear after. It's quite possible (though not certain, since douchey behavior isn't exlusive to credit sellers) that was who snookered the OP.

They get monthly cartel coin grants for each click which are in turn used to purchase items or packs from the Cartel Market which are then sold on the GTN for millions. The amount of credits earned from that (whether the buyer is a credit seller or not) is much more than what they pay people to click to their link, which is why some people do it.

 

Also the credit sellers may not necessarily deliver on the promise to pay. They could very well talk a person into clicking their referral link, and then disappear after. It's quite possible (though not certain, since douchey behavior isn't exlusive to credit sellers) that was who snookered the OP.

I sort-of understand that, but the real-world money they get from selling the net gain in profits of credits on their gold spam web site would have to cover the cost of them having a subscription to sell their subscriber referral link to players in the first place.

Confused. Why would a credit seller, i.e., someone who wants real-world currency on a gold seller web site in return for in-game credits, want to give players in-game credits? Seems counter productive to their purpose. They'd be giving away the commodity they're trying to sell real-world.

You're way behind on gold seller behaviour. The 3-5 million credits they pay you are peanuts compared to how much they can make by selling stuff on the GTN for high prices...for which you need a whole lot more than 5 million.

Some items like Senya's Lightsaber or pike cost well over 100 milion. The few millions they give you allows them to buy all kinds of stuff and sell them for credits....or sell the items for real money directly. They even sell hypercrates and stuff for real cash.

It's all pretty disgusting but the truth is that the referal system is actually a very useful system for credit sellers and also that handful of people that dominate the cosmetic market on the GTN, but getting rid of the system will also be bad for a lot of honest players who get a little extra in CC that they can spend thanks to it.

It's a tough one really, but with these link things I would never do what they ask unless they pay first. You both take a risk and they want something. So they can pay up and hope I do what they want. Not the other way around.

You're way behind on gold seller behaviour. The 3-5 million credits they pay you are peanuts compared to how much they can make by selling stuff on the GTN for high prices...for which you need a whole lot more than 5 million.

 

Some items like Senya's Lightsaber or pike cost well over 100 milion. The few millions they give you allows them to buy all kinds of stuff and sell them for credits....or sell the items for real money directly. They even sell hypercrates and stuff for real cash.

 

It's all pretty disgusting but the truth is that the referal system is actually a very useful system for credit sellers and also that handful of people that dominate the cosmetic market on the GTN, but getting rid of the system will also be bad for a lot of honest players who get a little extra in CC that they can spend thanks to it.

 

It's a tough one really, but with these link things I would never do what they ask unless they pay first. You both take a risk and they want something. So they can pay up and hope I do what they want. Not the other way around.

I guess I'm behind. I do appreciate the little bit of extra cc I get with my account each month from referral.s I'm on a fixed income and the subscription is about all I can afford each month. This month I splurged an extra $4.99 for 450 extra coins and that about broke the bank.

I sort-of understand that, but the real-world money they get from selling the net gain in profits of credits on their gold spam web site would have to cover the cost of them having a subscription to sell their subscriber referral link to players in the first place.

They do have subscribed accounts so they must be making enough to cover subscriptions. You can sometimes find level 1s for instance spamming general chat on starter worlds with credit-selling ads. F2P has chat restrictions at that level. If you inspect the farm/spam bots achievements you can also often find the one for earning 10 million credits.

Also they wouldn't be able to transfer large amounts of credits without subscriptions. F2P also have trade restrictions (no direct player trades and a 20 or 30 minute mail delay) and have credit limits. F2P is capped at 350,000 credits, if I remember right.

A lot of players buy a lot of credits and it is apparently more than enough to cover subscription overhead.

That credit sellers have subscribed accounts is probably tied to why enforcement against them is so weak in this game.

You do realise that most of those people are Credit farmers or part of the credit chain... Anyone that offers you credits to click their referral is lying and a scammer.

If people want to click a referral in a forum signature... that’s cool and a nice surprise... but it’s good Bioware don’t allow people to jump on here are solicit it for credits.

Speak for yourself. I offered credits to many players for using my link, and i always paid them. Although it's a risk of course to be scammed yet bot everyone is scamming players. Same in real life.

My solution to this issue is that I block those people as soon as I see their adds. If I understand SWTOR's blocking feature correctly I'll never be grouped with that physical person ever regardless of the character that they're on.

Edit: And yes I understand the consequences of it possibly making my queues longer.

Also they wouldn't be able to transfer large amounts of credits without subscriptions. F2P also have trade restrictions (no direct player trades and a 20 or 30 minute mail delay) and have credit limits. F2P is capped at 350,000 credits, if I remember right.

F2P credit cap: 200K

Preferred credit cap: 350K

F2P cannot send items or credits by mail.

Preferred can send at most ONE item per mail and not credits.

It's the ones that use the personal touch I find most aggravating. Sidling up to you appearing quite affable then the immortal words "are you a subscriber?" appear in the whisper. Ignore.

It's not like I can click a referral again anyway.

Speak for yourself. I offered credits to many players for using my link, and i always paid them. Although it's a risk of course to be scammed yet bot everyone is scamming players. Same in real life.

I retract the “all” part of my statement... let’s just say there are more than a few who are scammers... so it’s better to play it safe and consider them all scammers so you don’t get caught out.

That doesn’t mean I think you are a scammer... but how can you really tell the difference while in the game?... these scammers aren’t dumb and know how to groom players to scam them

It’s really a buyer beware situation... if something sounds too good to be true and you’ve got no surety... then it’s probably a scam...

aka : you’ve won a lottery in another country that you’ve never been too... but they’ll give you $10 mil if you pay the $1000 of legal and administrative costs so they can send you the money

If someone is willing to give you half upfront or something... they are probably ledgit.

I guess you could just think of it as another part of the RNG in this game

Youre only blocking that one character name...which has been a bullet point in Ignore List reform for a while now. Ignore also doesnt stop you from seeing /emotes.

i stopped trying to explain to folks in chat that the reason they only want current subs is because they are guaranteed 500+100/month in CC. they dont want FtP players or even Preferred because they only get CC if that person subs. The benefits for a Premium account are, really, negligible; and pretty soon the free transfer will be moot.

so, as a recap: someone offers you 5 million to click their link ONLY if you are a subscriber (premium) member. You get 5 million credits; a preferred bundle that includes items that you already have access to as a subscriber; and a free character transfer. They get 500+100/m CC and a loss of 5 million(if they actually paid you) and the potential to gain nth times the amount they gave you. Its a gamble, of course, but seeing how direct sale items go for 5-30+million per piece all you need to do is get 5 people to click your link, buy a direct sale, and then list each piece for 10 million and you gain a massive profit. Additional icing: since they were a current sub then chances are they will remain a sub and you can get 500 more next month then 500 more the month after that and so on and so on.

to add: i keep seeing folks stating that they only want people who havent clicked before so that tells me that there is yet another catch for CC for them. Also, i have heard that the clickee also has to remain active regardless of click or you stop getting CC. tbh, i have never really looked into this at all. I think i have had 6-10 people click since the start of the whole thing and I have long since stopped getting CC, but have the pets and mount so Im good.

i would love the additional CC, but I hardly have the time to play let alone time to spend convincing folks to click a link.

to the OP: sorry you got had. You were not being "greedy" as alluded to by another poster. What you saw was something no different than listing an item on the GTN for 5 million. however, in this type of transaction you have to rely on the honesty of the person making the offer and, in this case, this person was dishonest.

On a side note, you can contact customer service and, if the person did offer credits for clicks (give them date, time, location, character name so they can check logs) and if they did not pay, they can remove you from that persons list so they get nothing. which is the exact same thing you got for your troubles. granted, you have to get a nice CS rep, but i hear they do have some.

good luck, sir/maam.

My solution to this issue is that I block those people as soon as I see their adds. If I understand SWTOR's blocking feature correctly I'll never be grouped with that physical person ever regardless of the character that they're on.

 

Edit: And yes I understand the consequences of it possibly making my queues longer.

Sadly that’s not the case

You can still get grouped with people in pvp and GSF that you have blocked

Blocking a character does not block the account... so if they change characters... you will see them and get grouped with them... there is no block account feature in this game

The only reason this behavior is not actionable, is because there is no negative consequence to the person being tricked. You don't lose credits, items, or anything of value; the only this harmed is that player's ability to trust other players in the game. I hope this thread proves helpful to at least some people out there.

Before an additional confirmation box was implemented in the process of using a referral link, referral link scams were rampant on the forums. At that time, a player could contact CS and get extricated from being linked via referral to another's account. CS may still be able to get you unlinked from a friend referral so that the other person doesn't get the additional monthly Cartel Coins. And, maybe not since the situation involves one player knowingly using a referral link for the promise (sometimes delivered, sometimes not) of in game credits. You can try.

BW itself is shady about describing one aspect of friend referral links, which doesn't help. On their Friends of SWTOR page, in bold letters, "Referred friends who are new to SWTOR can play up to Level 50 free with no time limit as a Free-to-Play player ... " An accurate, but sketchy, statement. F2P: never subbed or made at least a $5 SWTOR store purchase. Using a referral link isn't required to stay F2P with no time limit, but that line implies it is.

It's the ones that use the personal touch I find most aggravating. Sidling up to you appearing quite affable then the immortal words "are you a subscriber?" appear in the whisper.

No, don't ignore. Reply this instead:

"Well yes, I am a subscriber. Good that you ask. I am looking for people who use my referral link. <Insert link.> You get free perks, if you click it. What say you?"

And if you don't get a reply, whisper once or twice to ask if he got your message about clicking your referral link. You would really appreciate it if he did.