Despite our warnings about the scams that have been terrorizing our little town of Yoville, it seems that a lot still remain to fall victim to other players’ devious ways. We have been compiling a list of the newest and most common scams. Please read them and do not forget to share them with your friends. Being aware of these scams is the first step to protecting yourselves. Keep reading to become your very own scam radar!
- The most important thing you should remember: NEVER give out your email address and/or password to anyone! Make sure that you change the Privacy Settings of your Facebook profile so that people cannot view your email address. There’s a reason why hackers are called hackers. They are very good at what they do. All they need is a few information from you to get to your account. So do NOT give them out.
- “I can double your coins”. This scam is so 2 years ago, but apparently people still get victimized by it. Do not believe people who say they can double your coins. They will start by saying “okay give me 100 coins first”. Then they return to you 200 coins. But once you believe them already and give them a higher amount, they will kick you straight to Alton’s. So do not ever fall for this scam.
- Visit this website (insert weird website URL here) and get Free Yoville Costumes, Gifts, Coins, and Yocash. Do not ever believe this. There are no sites that give away free Yoville items, coins, Yocash without you haveing to work for them (even YoRehab gives you crazy headaches counting items before you can win). Second, these sites are PHISHING SITES most if not all the time. These sites normally would ask you to put your email address and password. DO NOT DO IT. They will steal this and eventually steal your account. You will wake up the next day to a horrible sight wherein all your items, costumes, coins, and yocash are all gone from your account.
- “I am a secret Yoville employee/ex-employee and I know how to get free gifts/help you earn more coins blah blah blah” Scam.scam.scam. The only moderators/administrators are: Whitegold Ninja, Green Ninja, Crimson Ninja, Pink Ninja, Platinum Ninja, Purple Ninja, Electric Blue Ninja. Keep in mind that a lot of people try to impersonate them. They should have a Gold Administrator Badge, or a Blue/Brown Badge for Moderators and Developers. Here are the links to their Yoville profiles:
- “I am a YoRehab agent. Give me donations. Give me coins. Give me items for contests.” SCAM. I repeat, SCAM. The agents do NOT solicit/ask for donations. The agents do NOT ask for coins, rares, costume, collectibles, or any other item. The agents do NOT borrow money. We only accept donations when a player insists, and the ONLY agents authorized to receive them are Agent N and M. Here are their Facebook profiles:
Agent N- http://www.facebook.com/agentnyorehab
Agent M- http://www.facebook.com/agentnyorehab#!/profile.php?id=100001224371370&ref=sgm
- From Zynga: Any trade that causes the red message to pop up saying that this trade looks like a scam – This is a message from YoVille added for your protection. The good old pop up is there for a reason. So do not ignore it.
- “I have a VIP pass”. There are no VIP passes. And the Ninjas already said, they have no plans on coming out with the VIP.
- “Best gift wins a….”. One of the most ancient scams. Do not gift the person. He/She will just kick you right to Alton’s after you give your gift.
- Pet Daycare Scam: They ask you to drop off your pets and they will take care of them while you are gone. DO NOT fall for this because once you drop off your pets, you will not see them again.
- “My trade is not working. Why don’t you gift me the item first then I will pay you.” First of all,if his trade is broken then he will not be able to pay you. Second, don’t gift the item because he will just run away and not pay.
- “Giving away Free coins Read Message Box”. This is too good to be true. Anything too good to be true in Yoville is most probably too good to be true. Do NOT fall for it. It is most often than not a message that will make you go to a Phishing Site again.
- “Can I clone your item?” NEVER allow anyone to “clone your item”. They most probably will not return it. Do not open a window of opportunity for people to scam you.
- Accounts for Sale. SCAM. You will never get your account. They will just run off with your coins.
- “Selling Yoville Game Cards for coins”: First of all, selling game cards is not allowed. Second, most often than not, the seller would make you pay first or pay half then he will give you the “pincode” for the card. Most if not all the time, he will kick you or disappear right after you give him the coins, and you will never get the pin code, and other times he will give you a pin code, but when you try it, it’s invalid.
- Beauty Pageants with an entrance fee. SCAM.
- Hacked/Unreleased items. Be very careful with these. Ask advice from the ninjas in the forums first before you purchase any unreleased item.
- St. Patty’s Handheld Drink Scam. What they put in the trade boxis a decorative Green Drink. The Handheld Soda was 7 yocash in store. the decorative green drink was not even 1000 coins in store. You do the math.Again, be very careful. Hover around the item with your cursor first.
- Cleaning Service Scam:
Seller sells his/her costume/rare/collectible in the game. Scammer goes to seller’s event and asks if he/she is willing to accept trades. If seller says that he/she does, scammer would then say that she would like to trade 08 maid costume for the seller’s item/costume. Scammer would then ask the seller how much her maid costume goes for, and would continue to say that she has not been online in along time, and has no clue how much it is worth. Seeing that it is a very good trade, seller would now be so tempted and excited about the seemingly very good deal. Once seller agrees to do the trade, and puts her item in the trade box, the scammer will then put in her “maid costume” and quickly click agree. BUT BEWARE! Because this is not the 08 maid costume. What the scammer puts in the trade box is this:
Always be cautious and keep your guard up. Don’t get too excited for too good to be true deals because when something is too good to be true in Yoville,in most probably is. Second, make sure you use your cursor and hover around the item first to make sure it really is the item. Only click agree once you see that the item is there, and once you have proven that it really is the item after you hover around it. Here is a comparison of the two:
- Beauty Mark Scam:
Buyer goes to an event where the scammer is supposedly selling the “Movie Star hair” (short, platinum blonde wavy hair, which was available on a Weekend Special Sale for a price tag of 14 yocash). The movie star hair is not anymore available in store. Once the buyer agrees to buy the “Movie Star hair”, the scammer then quickly trades the buyer. But instead of putting the Movie Star hair, the scammer places a different item (see pic below) in the trade box:
The scammer puts the “Movie Star Beauty Mark” item in the trade box. It may seem like it’s impossible for anyone to for fall for this scam, but apparently, a lot of players have been victimized already simply because these two items look strikingly similar. So please be sure to look at the trade box carefully when you are buying/selling an item. Upon buying, make sure to move your cursor around the item. Doing this will show the label/name of the item in the trade box. Be sure to focus on the trade and not anything else. Here’s a comparison of the two:
- Zen Garden Scam:
Instead of putting the collectible Zen Garden, the scammer puts in a Zen Rug (way cheaper). Here’s a comparison:
- Animated Pool table scam:
Instead of putting the Animated Pool Table collectible, the scammer puts the normal Green Pool table, which can be found in the Gift Shop. Do not be confused with the two. The table to the left is the old pool table that can be bought in store still. The table to the right is the animated one that was only available for purchase in the Weekend Collectible Sale.
- Whiteboard Scam: Lately, many scams with whiteboards have been reported. How could somebody scam you like this? Easy: if you go to an event where pro-art is sold, you could buy one.. The scammer picks up the pro art, and trades you a whiteboard. However, you can’t see what’s painted on it in trade: you could even receive a plain whiteboard with not even a black X on it! So pay attention: buy whiteboards only from people who have good feedbacks, or people you trust.
- Moroccan Flying Carpet scam: One more very bad scam is the Moroccan Flying Carpet one. Sometimes you see people selling it for 20000 coins and think it’s a bargain but take your time before accepting the trade. Look at the item that the person puts into the tab: don’t just tick the box because you see a carpet. It must say it’s the flying one. Many people, tempted by the good deal, received a simple moroccan rug (costing 1000 coins in stores) for 20000 coins. As always, check well what you are going to buy!
- Magnifying Glass scam: This one is a very tricky one, Yorehabians. Among the labor day items, a handheld Magnifying Glass has been released for the detective suit.. But it has the same name of the “job rare” you get from the Police job! It is very easy to get confused and pay even 10000 coins for a freebie, so watch out and hover VERY CAREFULLY over the image. The magnifying handheld glass has a slight different design, with two black circles on the hilt. Check the two different images
- Blue Retros Scam: The Blue Retros and the Blue Sunglasses do somehow look alike. Because of this, more dishonest players use them to scam other players. Here’s a picture of the two:
To summarize it all, do NOT go into a sale or hold a sale unprepared. Know your prices. DO NOT ever give email, password, URL, or any other Personal information that can be used against you, or that can be put together to be able to figure out your password etc. When something is too good to be true, IT IS. Always be 100 % sure before you click agree–triple check before clicking the check box. And if you are not sure of something, DO NOT DO IT. Ask first. There is no harm in asking first. Go to the Yoville Forums and ask the Ninjas, or ask a lot of people, or check back at YoRehab. That being said, please keep all these in mind, and you’ll be sure to have a fun Yoville experience! Do NOT forget to let your friends know about the scams that are victimizing a lot of players.
If you are ANTI-SCAMS, hit the “LIKE“, “SHARE“, and “TWEET” buttons! If you’ve had a scam experience, share them with us! And if you think there are scams that we forgot to add, please tell us in the comment section below! Stay safe, guys! 
Compiled by: Agent N and Agent Sono
sources: zynga.com
