Scams

Scamming is the act of stealing money, items, or accounts from another player through deception or trickery.
In Hypixel SkyBlock, there are multiple different types of scams to be wary of. These can be divided into three different categories:
* Types that take advantage of players
* Types that take advantage of gameplay mechanics
* Types related to phishing
There are limited types of scams that take advantage of game mechanics, while scams that take advantage of players are extremely common and have many different methods. Phishing scams are uncommon and may be difficult to detect. Once a scammer has access to the victim's account, they can then steal all the victim's SkyBlock items, wipe progress on the victim's account on all servers, and steal the victim's account itself.
Players can be reported for attempted or successful scamming. However, victims of scams will not have their items returned under any circumstances, even if Hypixel punishes the scammer. Thus, it's best to know how to prevent scams in the first place.
Please note that the prices listed in this page may be outdated. Players should go on Auction House websites to check the real-time prices of a certain item. Prices for items fluctuate greatly and its worth may decrease when a new balance change is announced by Hypixel. Thus, it is recommended to check the Hypixel website once in a while to keep up with the newest balance changes.
== Tips to avoid getting scammed ==
Adhering to the following suggestions makes identifying and avoiding scams significantly easier.
===Basics===
* If a deal seems too good to be true, it is probably a scam.
** There is no such thing as "free coins" or "free items," as the giver would usually not give away these items for free.
*** For example, with the quitting scam, a legitimate player would have simply given their items away rather than ask for bids or co-op invitations.
** Due to the recent ghost item block scam (see Fake Enchanted Diamond Block Scam), it is advised to accept payments in coins only.
*If a player had a legitimate efficient money-making method, they would not need or want to sell the information to other players, as they would have enough money from knowing an efficient method and are smart enough to understand that when it becomes widespread in the community, it generally loses its efficiency. 
**It would also be better for them to re-invest into their method to make it more effective.
* Always carefully check the trade window and/or auction to verify which items are being traded or sold.
** Some items have similar or identical appearances (e.g. , , ), which should be checked by mouseover.
** Using a reputable SkyBlock resource pack such as FurfSky Reborn can help show different items should the scammer try to switch items, as most SkyBlock-only items will have a different texture.
* Gambling is against Hypixel's rules, as gambles ran by players are typically stacked in the host's favor.
* Players should never give more than what they are willing to lose.
** For items one is not willing to lose, it is advised at any point to offer them in trust trades.
*** As of the 0.7.6 update, coins can now be traded directly through the trade window.
=== Auction-related ===
* Before buying an item off BIN, make sure it is the desired item.
* When in doubt, use the search function in the Auction House to check if the items are really being sold by the seller as claimed. If not, it is a scam. See item switching scam below for more details.
* It is likely a scam if someone asks others to bid on something from the auction house, especially if the auctioned item is overpriced.
=== Player-to-Player Trades===
* Never hesitate to cancel the transaction if something is fishy.
* Be careful of Titanium Drill scams and if someone wants you to reforge one, change your GUI to one so you avoid getting scammed/
* Be careful with transactions involving borrowing/loaning items, crafting, and/or collateral as scammers may try to take collateral instead. 
* If the person requires one to give them valuable items while giving one back some other items after the current trade (such as two-time trades), it is probably a scam. A transaction which can be completed in one trade has no reason to be done in two steps. 
* Players who need a service such as getting something crafted or a Dungeon floor carry should either meet the requirements themselves or ask a close friend for help. Meeting the requirements themselves, however, is guaranteed to be safe.
* Always make sure the person to trade with has their API turned on. If they refuse to turn on their API, it's very likely to be a scam.
** A SkyBlock stats viewer website such as sky.shiiyu.moe will show detailed information of a player, allowing checking if they own the target items in the inventory or have the desired requirements unlocked. Some of the information requires the API turned on to be displayed.
*** For crafting/reforging assistance, this will show if they have the desired recipes, provided that their collections API and skills API are enabled.
**** If the person is the helper but obviously does not have the recipes unlocked, it is a scam.
**** Similarly, if the person is the requester asking for collateral but already has the recipes unlocked, it is a scam.
*** For dungeon carrying, if the dungeon runner agrees to carry a floor when they do not have the equipment and levels to do so, it is most likely a scam.
* Players can look up another player's name on Hypixel's forums (if there is a thread with their name) or on SkyBlock Discord servers such as SkyBlockZ. Think twice before trading with that player if other people have called the "trader" out before for scamming.
** If possible, check for multiple sources before making a deal. While browsing through SkyBlock Discord servers and the forums may be useful, they may also have new scammers.
=== Account/Profile Safety===
* Players who receive a co-op request from someone asking to join their current profile are advised to ignore the request. The /coopadd command will invite the recipient to join the player's current island, allowing them to steal the player's stored items.
** This can also happen with existing co-op mates suddenly destroying the island, taking valuables, and then transferring them to one of their solo islands. For this reason, it is advised to start a co-op only with people whom the player undoubtedly trusts.
* Never click on any links someone posts, even if the link may look like it leads to a reputable website.
** If clicking a link is required, use online URL scan service like VirusTotal or urlscan.io before click it to reduce the risk.
* Keep account information secure. Account information should be entered only into the official Minecraft website and launcher. Passwords, recovery questions, or email addresses should not be told to anyone else.
* All other mods and programs are used at the user's risk. If one is not sure if a program can steal the user's information, one can decompile it and analyze its code; however, one should be careful not to accidentally run it!
** The ScamProtect mod was specifically designed to prevent trading with known scammers. This can be very helpful in most situations, but make sure to be aware and use common sense, as this will not prevent all dangers. As with all other mods, it is used at one's own risk. As of January 4, 2022 ScamProtect has been retired and is no longer available.
** The SkyBlockAddons mod contains features that can help avoid scams.
== Player Scams ==
=== Price Manipulation ===
Auction house manipulation is controversial and some players do not consider it a scam.
Example:
Scammer: I am selling items on my ah free 750k flip!
Victim: Checks the auction and sees storm the fish, then they check the lowest BIN auction and they see it is 900 thousand coins. They bid 850,000 coins.
After the auction is over, the prices of the usually cosmetic or low demand item have gone down by 33% or more. The scammer keeps the money and the victim loses a varied amount of coins.
Bazaar manipulation is quite an odd way to manipulate items, but usually is done when the lowest sell offer is unnaturally high. One example was when Enchanted Clownfish were going for 19 million coins each on Bazaar and Refraction lost 3 billion coins due to buying multiple stacks. 
=== Unbalanced Trades ===
Although this is not technically a scam, this can still result in high losses. This is a scenario where the scammer attempts to trade oblivious players a less worthy item for something with higher worth, such as asking for a Runaan's Bow and then offering an Ender Bow for it.
It is recommended to carefully check all the details about the item before trading, especially their name and rarity. Players are advised to check the individual page of whichever item is being received first. This is related to the item switching scam.
Example of a transaction (words in parentheses are explanation; these are not said out. Words in italics denote an action):
Scammer sees a victim holding a clean Aspect of the Dragons.
Scammer: I want to buy your Aspect of the Dragons and I'll offer you clean Old Dragon Boots for it. I'm offering more than what your sword is worth. (A clean Aspect of the Dragons is worth about 800k on the Auction House while Old Dragon Boots is worth about 250k.)
Victim: Sure, I'll take the offer.
The scammer and the victim trade.
The victim later finds out that he traded away his sword that's worth 500k when he received an item worth 100k.
More sophisticated variants of this scam include trading for obscure items without a set price. Examples include high level pets (especially if it has candy uses), items with expensive enchants (such as dragon hunter and items with t6-t7 enchants), and rare items. When trading with these items, it is recommended to check the auction house for similar items' prices. Note that this is not necessarily a scam if the victim agrees to the trade and receives exactly what is promised.
=== Flex Request Scam ===
Similar to Unbalanced Trade Scam, this kind of scam results in a trade for unbalanced "reward coins". The major difference is that the scammer tells the victim to flex their expensive items in trade menu, then trick the player by placing reward coins and complete the trade, distracting the victim from noticing their expensive items are still on the trade.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: Visit me to flex your most expensive items! I will pay you 10% of the item price just to see the flex!
The scammer sends a trade request to the victim, asking the victim for placing their item onto the trade to flex.
The victim places their precious items. The scammer then places the coins worth 10% of the item.
Distracted by the "reward" coins, the victim fails to notice their items are still on the trade and accepts the "reward".
The scammer ran off with the items, leaving the victim behind with only coins 10% worth of their lost items.
=== False Rewards for Auction Winners ===
Players advertise a worthless item on their auction, with the promise that the auction winner would supposedly get a high-tier item. Upon receiving the payment, the scammer takes off with the money.
The quitting scam is another variant of an auction scam. The scammer will claim that they are quitting and the winner of their auction receives the scammer's items. When the victim bids on the scammer's items, the scammer takes off after receiving the payment. This can be avoided by checking the player on SkyCrypt.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: Whoever bids the highest on my Dirt gets a free set of Shadow Assassin Armor!
The victim bids on the item (usually for a price that is millions of times the NPC sale value) and wins the Auction.
The victim tries to find the scammer to "receive" the armor, but the scammer logs off, leaving the victim behind.
Special note: most people that promise such things are scammers. 
=== Overpriced BIN Auction ===
Scammers either falsely claims that they auction an item for a notably low BIN price (e.g. disguised as for ), or pretend that they "accidentally" put something rare for a low price as a BIN and they go around lobbies asking for help. The victim sees that the item is going below market price and decides to buy it by going into the scammer's auctions but realizes only after buying that it's a cheaper item.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: OMG HELP!! I accidentally put superior boots on my AH as BIN for 3 million (under market price); how do I get it back??!?!?!
The victim sees the scammer's message in chat and goes to their auction to buy the item because it's under market value.
The victim realizes that they received strong dragon boots and lost millions of coins.
The scammer takes off with the coins, leaving the victim behind.
Another variant of BIN auction scamming involves the use of Recombobulator 3000s. Common examples of this are talismans (such as a recombobulated Treasure Ring), expensive dungeon armor pieces (such as a recombobulated non-top quality Zombie Knight Chestplate), Griffin Upgrade Stone (recombobulated epic ones don't upgrade the griffin to legendary), and several others. An extremely cheap item, such as a legendary griffin upgrade stone for 30M, is probably recombobulated.
=== Underpriced BIN Auction ===
The scammer finds a victim that has a lot of coins in their purse (or they do the scam by putting items at the lowest auction prices, attaracting a lot of people who check the auction house at the moment) and say that they are going to put items (e.g. God Potion or Kismet Feather) for a very cheap price on their auction. After selling several of them for cheap, the scammer put another one, but for a huge price with first numbers being the same, so the victim doesnt notice anything (the price usually going for tens or hundreds of millions of coins, depending on victim's purse), the victim buys it and the scammer leaves. 
=== Crafting/Reforging Scam ===
CAUTION: A scammer may hide their actual skill levels and collection progresses by disabling API. A player should avoid making/accepting any requests when the API of the other side is disabled.
When a player has the materials to craft (such as a Pigman or Leaping Sword) or reforge stones to put on the items , they usually ask in the lobby if other players have friends or guild members with the recipe or level. This is not recommended especially with items that require other expensive or rare items to craft, as someone can agree to help but steal the materials.
Example of a transaction:
Victim: Hey, I have the materials to craft a Sea Creature Artifact, but I don't have the recipe unlocked. Can someone help?
Scammer: Sure! Give me the materials and I'll make it! (A Sea Creature Artifact requires 66 Enchanted Sponges and 23 Sponges in total to craft including the costs of the Ring and the Talisman, or 2663 Sponges (41.6 stacks). This current cost is if all the materials are bought through Bazaar.)
The victim gives the materials to the scammer.
The scammer takes off with the materials, leaving the victim behind.
This kind of scam can also go the other way around: the scammer requests for crafting or reforging, as well as asks for collateral to make it look true, however they give the false materials to the victim and take the collateral away. Players should make sure to check the collection,, or Slayer levels of the requester to confirm that they cannot do it themself. 
WARNING: Crafting request of Slayer weapons (e.g. ) or armor pieces (e.g. ) is very likely a scam, as they can just craft the items by themself if they meet the requirement to use!
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: I need help on crafting a , but I need coins for collat. Can someone help?
Victim: Sure! Give me the materials and I'll make it! (A Juju Shortbow includes 32x , 96x , 32x , and 32x . The total material cost on the Bazaar is currently .)
The scammer places materials onto the trade, except that the s are in fact s, only worth about 1/400 of real ones. Without careful checking, the victim receives the materials from the scammer for .
The scammer stakes off with the coins, leaving the victim behind with the false materials.
==== Essence Scam (historical) ====
Prior v0.14, there was another form of Crafting Scam which used Essence. In the past time, the only way to buy or sell them was that the buyer lets the seller to upgrade their item. As Essences are now on Bazaar which can be unlocked at , it is highly recommended to reach the level by self and never trade essence with a player.
=== Borrowing/Loaning Scam ===
A player will ask to borrow an item from another person for a quest but then leave with the item without returning it. Sometimes a player will provide collateral and promise to return the borrowed item, but leave with the item after giving the (less valuable) collateral to the loaner. The reverse can also apply with the loaner scamming the borrower. 
Example 1, with the scammer posing as a borrower:
Victim: Are you sure you will return my Wise Crystal Armor?
Scammer: Yep!
The victim gives the scammer the Crystal Armor. The scammer takes off without returning the armor, leaving the victim behind.
Example 2, with the scammer posing as a loaner:
Scammer: I'm lending my Wise Crystal Armor. Anyone?
Victim: I'll borrow.
Scammer: Sure, I'll give you the armor, but I want 1M coins as collateral.
The victim and the scammer exchange items. The victim returns to the scammer to return the armor, only to find that the scammer has logged off with the victim's coins, leaving the victim behind with the scammer's armor set.
=== Item Switching Scam ===
Related to the unbalanced trade scam, this scam involves having the scammer initially offer to trade a valuable item. However, the scammer will decline the trade and blame it on lag or a misclick before sending another trade request. This time, the scammer will offer a much less valuable but similar-looking item in the trade window, hoping the victim doesn't notice. The victim pays the price of the expensive item for a cheaper item.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: I'm selling a ton of crystal fragments for 100k each!
The victim checks bazaar, sees that catalysts are 140k each, and decides to party the scammer. They trade, and scammer puts in 2 stacks and an additional 2 crystal fragments. The victim puts in the appropriate price. After a while, the scammer cancels the trade.
Scammer: Sorry, lagged there. Let's trade again.
This time, the scammer puts in 2 stacks of enchanted quartz instead of 2 stacks of crystal fragments. The victim, without checking twice, accepts the deal. The scammer runs off with the money.
=== Rank Selling Scam ===
A ranked player will tell unranked players that he/she can give the unranked player (the victim in this case) a free rank if the victim gives them some Skyblock coins.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: Anyone wants a free rank /visit me!
The victim visits the scammer.
Scammer: So you would like a free rank? add me friend on Discord! 
The victim adds the scammer as a friend on Discord.
Scammer: How many coins do you have?
Victim: 1m
The scammer screen shares the Hypixel store.
Scammer: Give me the coins; I'll press enter then.
The victim gives the scammer 1m coins. The scammer takes off with the money, ignores the victim on Hypixel, and blocks them on Discord without buying the rank.
=== Dungeon Carry Scam ===
A low level player may request higher leveled players for a carry in a Dungeon run. The payer promises to pay after the run; however, when the run completes, the scammer takes off without paying.
This can also go the other way around, with the carrier requesting the money before the run and then running off without doing the carry. Higher level, especially F7, is more likely to have this kind of scams because of the mass demand of meeting requirements for using stronger gears (e.g. F5 for Shadow Assassin Armor and Livid Dagger, F6 for Giant's Sword and Flower of Truth(fot), F7 for Necron's Armor). The only way to prevent this is to avoid buying carries on party finder and find a trustworthy dungeoneering group on external websites.
=== Mini-games ===
A scammer may challenge another player for coins or other rewards in a game of Tic Tac Toe, Four in a Row, or other, and they will not award the winner. Even if they fulfill their promise, it will count as gambling and as such be against rules.
=== Fake Enchanted Diamond Block Scam ===
The scammer will offer to buy an item from a victim for what appears to be at least a stack of Enchanted Diamond Blocks or similar. To make this scam more convincing, the scammer may pay much more than the market or street price. To start, the scammer will show stacks of enchanted blocks; however, when the trade is completed, only one block per "stack" is given instead of a whole stack.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: I'll give you 1 stack of enchanted diamond blocks for your Flower Minion. (This stack of enchanted blocks is fake; only one item is real while the other 63 are ghost items.)
Victim: Sure.
The scammer and the victim trade. The scammer shows one apparent stack of enchanted diamond blocks in the trade window. The victim puts up his Flower Minion.
The trade resolves. The scammer receives a Flower Minion and the victim receives only one enchanted diamond block instead of a full stack. Scammer takes off, leaving the victim behind.
=== Get-Rich-Quick Scam ===
The scammer will claim to know an efficient/meta money method, and will try to sell the information on how to perform said method to unsuspecting players; however, when they receive the money, they block the buyer or come up with something fake or inefficient.
Example of a transaction: 
Scammer: New money making method! 50m an hour! Visit my island to find out how!
Victim visits scammers island.
Scammer: I’ll sell the info on how to do it for 5m!
Victim pays the scammer 5 Million coins.
Scammer either takes off and leaves the victim behind, or gives them something fake.
== Scams abusing game mechanics ==
=== Island Stealing (Co-op Insiding) ===
player may ask to join or offer items in exchange for joining someone's co-op island, only to grief it by stealing items or destroying the island.
A more cruel way is that two new players join a co-op and then vote out the original owner, deleting the owner's profile and taking over the entire island.
The fact is that adding the giver to co-op can add more difficulties instead of making transferring easier, as the giver can no longer enter the receiver's island with the old profile. This fact can help identify the scam.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: I'm quitting SkyBlock! /coopadd [scammer's name] to receive all my goodies including my Superior Dragon Armor set!
The victim /coopadds the scammer. There are two ways this will go down.
Scenario 1:
The scammer joins the victim's island, stealing all their valuable items, and leaves the victim with no items.
Scenario 2:
Scammer: Thanks! Can you also add my friend to the co-op?
Victim: Yes.
The victim adds in the scammer's friend or alt. The scammer then starts a vote to /coopkick the victim, and the friend or alt agrees to kick out the victim. This ends similarly to Scenario 1, except the victim has to start all over.
Other than the claim of offering items, some scammers can falsely claim that they accidentally invited the victim to a co-op and ask for executing a command to "reject" the invitation. The command may look like "/coopadd Scammer RejectInvite", where "RejectInvite" part is actually another player with the name of similar meanings.https://hypixel.net/threads/a-list-of-all-common-scams.5418035/ Doing this causes said two players get invited to the victim's co-op and results in profile deletion and island takeover.
Note that a player can check the invitations by "/coop" without arguments, as well as "/coopadd" CANNOT be used in co-op management.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: Victim, I just invited you into co-op by mistake, can you type /coopadd Scammer DenyCoop for me to clear it out?
The victim sends command /coopadd Scammer DenyCoop, which does nothing but invites the scammer and their accomplice named "DenyCoop" into the victim's co-op.
The scammer and their accomplice join the victim's island and start a vote to /coopkick the victim, and both agree the kick, causing the victim lose the profile and taking over the island.
== Scams related to phishing ==
=== Trojans ===
Some programs may appear to offer certain features like other legitimate programs or mods; however, this program contains hidden malware. When the user runs the program, the program can then steal the user's account information. An example of this is a session stealer disguised as a mod that steals the user's session ID for the hacker to later access the victim's account. 
Example of hidden malware: 
The victim finds a mod on a website that proposes itself as a SkyBlock (or generic) mod on a website. 
After downloading the mod, the victim runs the mod. At this point, the mod then obtains all the victim's accounts' session IDs. (A portion of the code shows that it goes through every account that has been stored.) The mod then relays this information back to the hacker to use. 
Some time later, the hacker uses the victim's session ID(s). The hacker then logs on the victim's account(s) using the stolen session ID(s), possibly using the account(s) for malicious purposes. 
=== Phishing Site scam ===
There are multiple forms of the phishing site scam. All of them involve the scammer attempting to get the victim to enter their Minecraft account's login details into their website, which may or may not resemble the official Minecraft website. The scammer then logs into the victim's account and takes all their items. Even though some phishing websites may appear to do nothing, the victim may actually download malware unknowingly.
Scammers will often offer victims incentives to log into a fake website in order to receive the "free" items, usually in private or party chat. Some scammers will also pose as Hypixel staff or notable players such as YouTubers and tell their victims privately that they can receive free items. Hypixel staff will never start a private conversation with players in-game, and will instead use the forums or wait for players to talk to staff first.
Example of a transaction:
Scammer: Do /p scammer to receive 5 million free coins!
The victim adds the scammer to party.
Scammer: Hey, go to [Insert Scam Website Here] to receive your coins!
The victim goes to the website and inputs their email address and password in. The scammer then receives the email address and password to then log into minecraft.net to reset the victim's password. The victim gets logged out of Minecraft and the scammer then uses the hacked account to transfer the victim's items to the scammer. The victim not only loses his items but also loses his Minecraft Account, the latter which could be used in many malicious ways such as being used as a "burner" account for running a hacked client.
=== Real-World Trading ===
Aside from violating Hypixel's rules and risking a ban, players who engage in real-world trading may find themselves at risk of having their accounts compromised. A real-world trading website or Discord server may request the victim's email address in order to verify the transaction. Using the email address, the attacker will then attempt to crack the victim's password, match the password up to details in a data breach, and then crack recovery questions by doing research in order to take all the victim's items.
=== YouTube Phishing ===
Some scammers will claim that, if players search YouTube for a specific phrase or channel name, they can watch videos that teach them how to easily make money or promise a giveaway of items. Instead, these videos attempt to phish victims' login details by telling them to log into a third-party website controlled by the scammers or find the username's details and use a password cracker to compromise the account. These third-party sites may resemble a site controlled by Mojang. For example, the scammer may provide a link to a "post on the Hypixel/Minecraft forums" which is actually a third-party site disguised as the forums which then prompts the victim for a password. After the victim logs into the third-party website, the account will be compromised and the scammer will log in to steal all the player's items.
=== Password Phishing ===
A scammer will attempt to get a victim to say their password aloud. One possible way to do this is to say "Look, Hypixel changed it to where you can't say your password backward anymore! See, mine is ********." However, the asterisks are actual asterisks - it will not censor passwords and variations of passwords, such as passwords said backward. The scammer will then log into the victim's account and take all their items.
Another variant of this scam is to tell players to change their password to something specific, then log out in order to receive free items. This will simply result in the scammer logging into the victim's account and stealing their valuables.
== History ==
ko:사기zh:詐騙行為
Category:Mechanics
Category:Scam-Prone Items