Scamming Using 'Company Ads'

[EMC]

Hey guys, so recently there has been a player using the company ads section, copying identical ads of legitimate companies, and offers to recruit people who respond to the ad for a fee.

 

This is a really well done scam, I was honestly impressed with those doing it, however, they have now been banned, and the player reports about the scams have been concluded due to this, without actually clarifying if the way they conducted the scams was allowed, since they used company ads, and this was why people believed it was legitimate.

 

Are people allowed to use company ads like this? They were not employed within the company either. A few of us are wanting to post refunds if not.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read.

[i dont wanna od in LA]

I think you should just ask the admins who banned that person, because it's possible that they were banned for different reasons than this scam (which de faco does not seem like a rulebreak, at all).

[stringer]

Under section 17 of the rules,

 

Quote

Company ads (/cad) are used by companies to advertise recruitment, events, when the companies are opening their businesses and other things associated with companies. Companies may not advertise selling/buying of the following items: extended clips, narcotic testing kits, bugs/trackers or machetes.

 

The usage of /cad for this purpose is prohibited by the rules, as it many only be used by companies for events, recruitment, etc.

[Aquila]

4 hours ago, i dont wanna od in LA said:

I think you should just ask the admins who banned that person, because it's possible that they were banned for different reasons than this scam (which de faco does not seem like a rulebreak, at all).

 

I presume @EMC is referring to Paul Capuzzi, correct me if i'm wrong. Might also be other instances where something similar happened.

 

Thread below shows scamming using /cad or whatever command was used. This kind of scamming is borderline exploiting/powergaming really.

 

 

Edited July 30, 2021 by Aquila

[EMC]

That's exactly who I'm talking about. 

That's what I was trying to clarify really, when I looked at the rules around scamming and adverts I couldn't explicitly say it was a rule break, so just wanted some opinions. I'll have a chat to the banning admin about my chances if a refund.

 

Thanks guys! 

Edited July 30, 2021 by EMC

[Scorch]

The problem is the realism of it. There is a lot of stuff you need to think about that simply could not be represented in game. 

 

Realistically, it is a very poor way to scam. You are using a most likely, monitored, publicly accessable advertisement system. Meaning that once ads were made, it would likely be pretty damn easy to discover who made the ad. And therefore very easy to track down the scammer. 

 

I think it would fall under RPQM and poor portrayal. 

 

As for using an unlocked HQ you find, that's just idiotic really. People really should be able see why that is terrible RP.

[joshua]

this is really stupid to me. in my view i see the business ad and company ad system as ACTUAL, verified COMPANIES, sending out advertisements under a registered company name. whereas the default /ad is essentially craigslist. it shouldnt be allowed to post company ads under a fake/unregistered company or just literally no company at all.

[Harbinger]

It makes sense to ban these types of scams, the company ads are usually the same as the real ad. You can always spot a fake advertisement in real life if you pay attention, like a fake link that type of stuff. They also usually take advantage of the fact that the company's real owner is not online at that moment. Too many loopholes to make this unrealistic on GTA:W.

[Anubis]

The issue with Paul was not the scamming, but the fact he took an advantage of LLCN's HQ after they accidently left it unlocked, without NPCing any security\CCTVs\FearRP and so on.

 

 

[Sleeper]

On 7/30/2021 at 11:45 PM, root said:

The issue with Paul was not the scamming, but the fact he took an advantage of LLCN's HQ after they accidently left it unlocked, without NPCing any security\CCTVs\FearRP and so on.

 

 

Actually it was, it was the whole roleplay scene. By creating advertisements like this is actually against the rules, read rule 17.

"Illegal advertisements are not allowed even if the intent behind them is hidden or attempted to be hidden IC."

Then he made it even worse by using the LLCN's HQ and the rest.

 

Soo.. I think a refund request should be in place for this, try it at least.