Scamming: What to know, What to Avoid, And What to do When You See a Scammer

You are in Jamaa Township. You want to trade your non-rare headdress for a black spike. A simple looking jammer with a few rares says, "If you have a non-rare headdress, my den!" You go to their den. You don't know what scamming is, and they secretly know it. They tell you to use the jam-a-grams to trade. You send the non-rare headdress, they send the rare black spike. But when you send the non-rare headdress, they say they will gift you later. This happened to me with another item. I finally had gotten a designer skirt, sent it to the scammer for a ferret couch, they logged off and never logged on again. It had taken me months to get. I see their account in Jamaa, wearing my orange designer skirt. Here's the difference between scamming and deception. Deception is when a Jammer gives you an item for your item that isn't what they told you it would be. Scamming is when a Jammer wants to get something from you and give nothing back.

• Agreeing (even if accidentally) to a trade through the trade system is not a scam. It's just a bad decision (or an accident).
• If you accept a trade that you thought was a good idea at the time, but now regret, you weren't scammed. That's trader's remorse.
• If something about a specific Jammer's offer or request seems off, don't take them up on it.
  • Exercise caution. Don't trust just anyone in the chat. People can scam you easily if you accept whatever people ask for in the chat. Keep your precious and hard-earned items to yourself.
  • The "Trial Run" Scam is when a Jammer asks if they can try out your item before they decide if they'll trade you for it. Don't fall for it! If they insist, request that they trade you your items first, and if they aren't happy with the trade, you can always trade back. Just be sure you don't turn into the scammer and refuse their trade-back.
  • The "Gift Exchange" Scam is when a Jammer asks that you perform a trade through the mail. That should be a huge red flag to you! Always, always, always use the trading system. It's the safest way to ensure you don't get scammed.
  • The "Birthday" Scam is when a Jammer demands a gift from another because it's supposedly their birthday. While this may not be a complete scam (if you agree, you're accepting that you're giving a gift and probably won't get anything in return), it's annoying and often deceptive, since who knows when their birthday truly is? In this situation, don't report, just ignore unless they begin to harass you.
  • Joining less busy servers increases your chance of avoiding jammers who flash other, because there are not many people there. Definitely do not go on Aldan, that is the over all busiest server.
  • Flashing parties can be hosted by jammers who really do flash jammers. At flashing parties, you are also likely to get scammed since flash trading is a type of scam.
  •  Many jammers (or scammers) know that you cannot say "flash me" because a sign will come up saying about scamming. This caused them to start saying things similar to "flash" (such as "flesh"). However, they realise that they are actually saying "flash me".
  • The accept and decline buttons usually pop up after 5 seconds, and, somehow, there is a rare occurrence for a Jammer to have something called auto accept. Jammers with auto accept "come" when the accept and decline buttons instantly pop up (this happens when the trade starts), but it is very rare.
  •  If you put bad items on trade, (Such as necklaces, leis, or anything that can be bought for very cheap in Jam mart clothing!
    • Add a few Rare Item Mondays to your list. You might get some good trades.
    • Put in a few other things. You'll get more trades. Or, put in your best things for trade. If you like the trade, you can always accept.
    • Put a few betas on your list, such as gecko plushies and maybe a Cami's frog. Even though they are still purchasable, Necklaces and Welcome Mats are also betas because they have been in Animal Jam since the beta stage.
    • If you're not interested in their trade, tell them so. If they continue to harass you, block them. Being rude to them will only get you reported!
    • Don't threaten them. Don't offer second/third/tenth chances. Just silently report them for scamming. It's that easy.
      • Don't ask for items in exchange for not reporting them. That's scamming and being a bully.
      •  If you don't want to hear them, block them. Blocking is one of the easiest ways to avoid Jammers who get on your nerves or make you feel uncomfortable.
      • Don't be rude about it. Tell other people who are thinking about becoming ensnared in a scammer's trap about what they're doing.
      • If you've made them aware of the consequences and they still want to go through with it, back off. You'll only make other people angry and risk being reported yourself.
      • Use only the trading system. It's truly that simple. If you want to ensure you don't get nothing for something, use the provided system.
      • It is easy to know when someone is trying to scam you, so don't do what they want! Use your common sense and you will be fine.
      • Always ignore people who say that its their birthday or something like that.They are most likely trying to scam. If you ever catch this, feel free to report and block the user.
      • If you have no particular reason to, avoid going to super busy worlds, where scammers typically search for "prey".
      • If you feel uncomfortable, just block the person causing you worry and leave. Go to a server with only a few avatars in it.
      • Avoid Fman. Contacting Fman could get you hacked, and the Fman virus. (The Fman virus is not a disease, but can freeze your computer for about a few hours.
      • Avoid people who want to check your account and delete items. This is very rare, but it still can happen. Say: "I am sorry, but my parent/guardian doesn't think it is okay to do what you want to do."
      • When you are trying to scam with this way, that is bad. If someone tells you that you reported them, and then you laugh and say "reporting does nothing ha ha", you will not only get reported for scamming. You will get reported for being a bully as well, so never try this scam. Remember to be a Jammer not a scammer.
    • Do not try and do this technique to scam jammers. This type of scam is very popular and mean and they might tell AJHQ on you.

Phew, that was a long post! But an important thing is TO BE A JAMMER NOT A SCAMMER! And don't forget, USE YOUR COMMON SENSE! Thanks for reading

Awesome TinyPride out.

Today's Post: Will there be more posters on the site? A Q&A I experienced on AJ

Hey jammers!
I recently got a question on AJ from Little ShyCloud: Will you have your friends post here too?

Answer: In the future, probably! It is very important to change your style once in a while to keep people guessing. But, you don't have to when people can have their own style. They can also do their own contests, trading parties, and more!

Another question, this time from Princess VonVine:  How often do you post? I want to know before I go on. I don't want to get bored!

Answer: Every day! Apart from my hiatus, the death of a pet, I will now post everyday. I'm home schooled, so there is more time in the day. Blogging can count as schoolwork!

The final question: Mister StrongPaw asked if I will host parties!
The answer: I will in the near future. My blog needs time to grow, like a plant. I have enlisted help to get people to look at it, and hopefully get drawn into it, so I get more page views. When we reach 5,000, I'll host the first trading party. By then, I will have some rares of my own and I will probably be making videos too. It depends on when I can release videos though, how fast I can become famous. Between videos and blogging, and when I post videos, I'll tell you, and the posts that are relevant to the videos will be in the descriptions. Make sure to subscribe! And tell everyone about this blog. It's so helpful, you can't imagine it.
Anyways, listen up. I reached 1000 page views today. That is awesome! Thank you. and today, I will have a panda outfit coming straight from Sarepia Forest ready for you from polyvore. Remember, my most loyal fans can buddy me! My username is Donteventryit , and my animal is a wolf with dark markings. Also, my email is minerva.gonagallTheRealMe@gmail.com -Awesome TinyPride out.
 The face of awesomeness.

Sorry For My Hiatus: Catching Up With EVERYTHING!!

Dear Jammers,
I see you there! Yet you haven't seen me for a long time. Well I'm back. Anyways, I have to catch up with everything in Jamaa!
The Lemur Heartstone
Guess what guys! The Alphas have found yet another heartstone. This is awesome! Here's a picture of the announcement:

 This is officially AWESOME! I know, this is the first one, but we all know now the animal. I personally wanted to go to Appondale and pretend to be a Madagascar animal. Lord, make this NM for all of us out here! I know you're there. Also, another heartstone! Woot woot! Falcons in da HOUSE! Here's another picture: 

Is this not awesome! Now members have THREE different options to choose from. I personally want a non-member bird. And yes, we have penguins. We meant a FLYING bird. That can't be that hard! Also, we have the.. Seashell Bracelet. I consider this a staple for nm and member guys and girls. Get yourself one for 450 gems! This is only the pink one. There's also a blue one, a green one, a purple one, a red one, an orange one, a black one, and a yellow one. In fact, there is 8 different colors! Wow! Also, backpacks are back! In their original colors. That's plain awesome. Also members get more items for their inventories. AJ, Y U DO THIS? WHY? But that's just my opinion. Smiley Glasses. Those are pretty awesome too. Those are the original ones. Check out the variations! Don't forget the Sunshine Galoshes, with all their glory:  My favorite variation, and color overall, is the light pink one. Check it out, members! And don't forget, the second non-member land pet, and the fourth nm pet overall pet is back! Honeybees, darling! Take a look at these little buggers, or should we say buzzers:  Imagine all those combinations! This is awesome! We also have the new members-only Adventure Command Post, which is also wolves only.  That was a picture of the entrance in Sarepia Forest. Also, let us not forget..
AJ'S SIXTH BIRTHDAY!!!!!
There's a birthday party you should totally check out, with some cool Alpha balloons. Also, there's the code we all want to know.. I think it's AJBDAY6 .
Enter that! I recycled mine so I can have the tenth one in 2020. Come on, it'd be awesome! I couldn't find a picture, sorry. See you tomorrow!

Response To Racist AJ User

Free-chat can make me mad. Here's why. So I was on Animal Jam, with my new friend who had just joined, and she was my new friend in real life. She was black. She mentioned it, and lo behold, some presumably snobby member walked up to us in the pillow room and said, "You know your kind is worse than my kind, right?" When my friend asked what was "her kind", (the member's) the member answered with, "I'm white, of course!" Then I reported her for bullying. Turns out she got banned! Also, racism is never ok. People always think about the extremes and in this case, the member was an extremist. Even if you make a snide comment about how the color of someone's skin makes them act, look, feel, etc. etc., it's still racism! I'm sure we can all agree on that. Along with this, here are some tips to be a decent person on Animal Jam.

1. No bragging about anything. No one really cares about how many rares you have, your awesome new membership, or all your achievements. Ok, brag about one of your achievements to your friends once in a while. But if someone sees your achievements, and they give a compliment, say thanks. You don't need to fish for compliments.
2. Don't scam, hack, flash trade, or any of that. That's bad, you'll get banned, and you'll hurt another person's feelings. You know I got hacked and I lost all of my NM rares. They took me years on my very first account to get, and when I got hacked, I lost all of them. I disabled that account and can't even bring myself to use it. It might seem fun, but there are consequences. 
3. Don't put items on your trade and say, "It's only for show." Well wear it! The trade list is supposed to only be for trading. You should put good items, but that means you would like another item for them. Read up on the values of rares for better information. Use the AJ wiki. It will soon become your best friend.
4. Don't create drama! There is nothing more annoying than having to listen to the nearest arctic wolf beg for a [Insert Item]. It just creates drama. This is a game, not a soap opera. Please keep it that way. To avoid drama, stick to less populated servers, do your best to stay out of Sarepia Forest, a.k.a Drama Forest, and generally, if it starts to brew, leave. That's all you have to do. Don't stick around and tell them, "Stop! That's so dramatic!" It will only encourage them. Leave, soon they will be all alone. Get on with your life.
5. Don't beg for items. It feels so good to have worked hard to get your dream item. Why beg for it? If it's something you want to buy, then save up your gems. Save everyone there patience and don't beg for items.
6. In general, just follow the AJ rules. This couldn't be simpler. 

These are some of the easiest rules in the world. Follow the golden rule-Treat others as YOU want to be treated. Awesome TinyPride here, you know what to do. Add me to your bookmarks bar and check daily for the updates. Out.