IMPORTANT: Scamming and reporting bad trades (UPDATED: Back-up System)

UPDATE BELOW regarding backing up of game saves.

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Dear GTP-ers,

It has been brought to the attention of the moderators that there are some people out there who are not making good on their promises of trading and have taken to stealing cars from other users. The moderators are not interested in naming names; for now, all we are interested in is seeing that the practice stops. To this end, the Marketplace subforum is going to be tightened up in the very immediate future, but for now, I would like to post the following message to all members:

If you are caught scamming another player, you will receive a permanent ban from the forums and your PSN account will be reported to Sony - and in all probability, you will be suspended (if not banned outright) from playing online.

If you suspect that you have been a victim of scamming, please take note of the following:

• Do collate as much information about the planned trade as possible (see below.)
  
  
  [*]Do use the Private Messaging system here on GTP to attempt to resolve the dispute with the other party (this will allow the moderating staff to assess how the other party is dealing with the dispute).
  
  
  [*]If all else fails, contact a moderator. The moderation team will deal with it accordingly. Please note, however, that we accept no responsibility for any trades and do not guarantee to resolve any disputes.
  
  
  [*]Do not create a thread in the subforum (or anywhere else on the forums, for that matter).
  
  
  [*]Do not report any trades that involve non-GTP registered members.
  
  
  [*]Do not make any posts accusing someone of scamming. They will be deleted on sight and further moderator action may be necessary.
  
  
  [*]Do not use the chat room to discuss users that have you believe to be scammers -- especially if that user is present in the chat room. Contact a moderator privately (you can do this by double-clicking on the name of the person you want to talk to in the list of usernames to the right of the main chat window; moderator names appear in bold).
  
  
  [*]We recommend that you give atleast 24 hours from after the agreed trade period has elapsed before reporting a suspicious trade.

Please be aware that the responsibility for trades lies squarely with the traders and not with the GT Planet staff or the forums. While the moderation team can take action against any misbehaviour on the forums, we cannot take any responsibility for what happens outside the forums, including the trades themselves. This is all we can possibly do.

Cash trading

Some people are offering money in exchange for cars, or are willing to sell their own garage. In response to this, we would like to add:

We strongly encourage all users not to trade cars for cash or the promise of cash, and not to offer cash for cars. We also strongly recommend that you do not share your PSN account details (log in etc.) with anyone. Please report any posts or Private Messages received on the forums offering or asking for money immediately.

Regarding all trades: GTPlanet is not responsible for the consequences of any trading interactions. Members engage in trading at their own risk.

Thank you,

The moderation team

Okay, I've received a couple of private messages from people enquiring what should be done about bad trades. Through a little bit of trial and error, I've come up with a list of things that you should include in a report to a moderator if you suspect someone is cheating or trying to cheat you out of a car. Rather than edit it into the above post, I'm going to make it a separate post so that people can see for themselves what needs to be done.

If a trade does not go according to the script, this is what you need to include in your report to a moderator:

• The usernames of both people involved in the trade.
• The details of the trade that you agreed upon (which cars are to be traded, the time and date the trade is to take place by).
• The PSN ID that you sent a car to and/or received a car from.
• A link to the thread where the trade was initially arranged.
• A copy of any correspondance between yourself and the person you traded with in the form of private messages, visitor messages or any in-thread discussions. These must be complete and un-edited. These should be in the order they were sent and received (your inbox arranges PMs and VMs in order of the most recent received). Any messages sent after a bad trade should also be included.
• If you agreed to a trade in the forum chat room, make sure you copy and paste the relevant sections (from the time a trade was suggested to the time it was agreed; there is a function that allows you to display the time a post was made in the chat room - this will help infinitely).
• If you are trading with a person you do not trust implicitly, or with someone how has a poor reputation, you may wish to take photographic evidence of a trade being made. This, however, is entirely optional; a transcript of a private message should be enough.

It is your responsibility to gather as much of this information as possible and send it to a moderator.

The less information you provide us with, the less likely it is that we will be able to take swift action. We're here to help you if you need it, but we can only act on what you give us. Therefore, it is in your best interests to keep as much material related to the trade as possible in case the worst should happen. We also recommend that you allow atleast 24 hours from the end of the agreed time frame before making any reports of a bad trade to the moderating staff.

This is not something that I think will ever happen, but just to be safe, I feel I should include it:

Please note that anybody who is suspected of filing a false claim of wrongdoing will be banned from the forums without warning while the moderators investigate. If our suspicions prove correct, the ban will be made permanent.