Thursday 10 July 2014

Know Your Scams: Mining Operation in WH/Low/High

Setup


The scammer advertises in Local that they are running a Wormhole mining operation, all are invited to come and partake in this fabulous bounty.
WH MINING OP. WE HAVE 2xSCANNER/RAT KILLER/GATE SCOUT AND 2x MINERS! LOOKING FOR MORE MINING SHIPS 5% TAX RATE! Everybody welcome with any kind of mining ship.
A fleet is setup with a few members who are providing support to get people into a WH.

What Happens Now


Anyone who signs up is invited to fleet and asked to move to the assembly system (if it's not where the advertisement is). Once there you warp to the WH and enter, instructed to warp to [person] who is in fleet and then you can start mining.

You didn't want those implants did you?
Only you enter warp and appear at a spot within the WH system with no asteroids to mine, instead you're greeted by several combat ships who immediately tackle and kill you upon exiting warp. Your pod may be ransomed but more likely you'll wake up in a new clone without any implants and without a ship.

Variations


Two other variations known substitute wormhole for either low sec or null sec, with guarantees for safety by including mention of "large defense fleet".

How You Can Protect Yourself


Don't join fleets where you don't know the people involved, especially into places where Player vs. Player combat can occur without penalty and is common.

In the case of WH fleet adverts scanners are mentioned but what happens if you disconnect or leave fleet before you are back in the, relative, safety of high sec? 

Simple. 

You'll lose you ship and pod because you cannot exit a WH without being able to scan the exit down.

Simplest way to avoid this scam is to not join the fleet and certainly not trust someone you do no know to protect you and your ship in space where combat is the norm.

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