Types of Scams

This page is not a comprehensive list of all scams, but we hope that this will help you avoid and be aware of most. If you are aware of a scam that isn't on this list, please comment below explaining it, and we might add it. Please read all the other comments on this page first, to make sure that we haven't already said we won't add your scam to the list. Keep in mind that not everyone who appears to be scamming is doing so maliciously - some people are just misinformed or confused, so please make sure that someone is actually scamming before reporting them!

Trust Trading/Best Troll Wins

In this scam, someone puts a bad item on trade and asks you to trade them something really good. They claim that they will accept the trade and then return your items. However, they will simply take your items and leave. They may also ask you to accept the trade twice, but then decline at the last second. There is only a very small window to cancel a trade you have sent after accepting it, a window that most players will miss. This tactic is commonly used in scam giveaways. Be aware that any "giveaway" that involves giving the host anything is almost always a scam, even if they promise to give your stuff back and even if they promise to decline the trade.
More information can be found here and here.

Best Gift Wins

In this scam, whoever gifts the scammer the best item supposedly gets some items as a reward. However, after receiving some gifts, the scammer leaves and doesn't give out the items they said they would. This scam can be avoided by using the trading system instead of swapping gifts as a means of exchanging items.

S14/Two Person Scam

In this scam, one person is offering a big overtrade in exchange for one very specific item, usually an uncommon item that not many people have, but ultimately isn't worth very much. Another person has the item that the other person wants. However, they will only trade it to you in exchange for way more than the item is actually worth. Once you overtrade for the uncommon item, both scammers leave/log off, and you're stuck with a nonvaluable item and none of the rares you traded for it. Be cautious if you see somebody offering a lot (such as multiple spikes or headdresses) for an item you may not have heard of before, and don't make a big trade unless you know for certain that it's worth it. It's always a good idea to check resources like the AJ Item Worth Wiki or the Animal Jam Wiki to find if an item is really worth as much as a stranger says it is.
More information can be found here and here.

Indirect Trading

In this scam, the scammer wants you to trade a good item for their bad item, then they'll trade a good item of their own for the bad item they previously gave you. However, they will leave after you give them your good item without trading you one in return. This is essentially what "best trade wins" scams or "make me accept and you win" scams are. This scam also often pops up in fake giveaways. This scam can be avoided by simply trading directly for the items you want instead of trading for someone's necklace and hoping they hold up their end of the deal.

Large Trades

In this scam, someone wants to trade someone else more than 20 items, such that they cannot all be traded in one trade. If they're buying your items, scammers may try to convince you to trade some of your items for a necklace, with the promise of giving the valuable item in the next round of trading. If you're buying their items, they may try to convince you to trade your valuable item for part of the trade, with the promise of giving the rest to you later. Either way, once the first round of trading is completed, the scammer will leave, leaving you without valuable items that you expected to have. When making large trades, try to either split up the value of the items the buyer is offering so that each trade is fair, or only trade 20 items at once. Either way, there should be no opportunity for anyone to run off without holding up their end of the deal. 

There's a variant of this scam involving My Shops. More info can be found on that here.

Gift Trading/Gift Wars

In this scam, the scammer asks you to gift them something, then they'll gift something back to you. They will then run off with the gift you gave them, not gifting anything back. This scam can be avoided by simply using the trading system to swap items instead of sending gifts back and forth. While not everyone who does gift trading/"gift wars" is trying to scam, you should be aware that the other person might not give you anything in return and participate at your own risk.
More information can be found here.

Sapphire Drop
(This scam is exclusive to AJPW)

In this scam, the scammer claims that they will activate a Super Sapphire potion if people gift or trade them valuable items. However, after you give the scammer your items, they will run off or lock their den without activating their potion. This scam has significantly dropped in popularity, as it is now possible to put potions on your trade list to prove you have them.
More information can be found here.

Doubling Items

In this scam, the scammer tells you that if you give them your item, they can double it, and give both items back to you. However, there is nothing short of hacking that can actually be done to double an item - so, instead, they will take your item and run off. Even if, hypothetically, the other person is somehow capable of doubling your items and gave your doubled items back to you, you would likely risk getting your account permanently banned for possession of illegitimate items (items that have been hacked or cheated into the game). In some cases, the scammer may ask for your account's password so that they can go onto your account and double the items there. This is an even more harmful version of this scam, since the scammer would have access to everything on your account rather than just the item you gave them. Never give out your personal information to anyone, especially a stranger who claims they'll give you rare items if you do.
More information about a form of this scam, item generator websites, can be found here.

Borrowing

In this scam, someone asks to borrow your item to try it on. However, they will then leave with your item and not give it back. You should avoid giving items to someone if you expect them to be returned after, especially to a stranger or someone you don't know very well. If for some reason, this is something you have to do, you can reduce the likelihood of being scammed by asking the other person to trade you a rare item in exchange for the item they're borrowing, and then both of you get your items back afterward. This way, if the other person ends up running off, you won't be left with absolutely nothing.

List Filler Scam

There are two versions of this scam, one that happens in AJ Classic/AJPC, and one that happens in AJ/AJPW. The AJPC variant occurs when someone tries to trade you one item that's worth the item on your list, as well as a bunch of necklaces or other cheap store-bought junk. The good item they trade will often be worth more than the item on your list. However, they will quickly cancel the trade, telling you that you were 'too slow'. They will repeat this process a few more times, canceling every time, until you're not checking the list and are just accepting as fast as you can. Eventually, they will accept, but they will have removed the good item from their list, leaving you without your rare and with a bunch of necklaces.

The second variant of this scam happens in AJPW. It happens when someone fills up their offer with cheap store-bought junk and one good item, in exchange for your good item. The scammer then tries to remove the good item from the trade before you accept it, hoping you don't notice. If you don't notice, they will accept the trade, leaving you without your good item and with a bunch of cheap store-bought junk.

More information can be found here.

Impersonation

In this scam, someone will pretend to be AJHQ or a hacker and demand that you give them items/personal information or they'll suspend/hack your account. They could also pretend to be a famous jammer and ask for items as the "famous jammer". Just remember that AJHQ will never contact you via a player account on Animal Jam - if they needed to talk to you, you would receive an email from the official Animal Jam support email (support@animaljam.com). Animal Jam will never send you an email from a gmail, Yahoo, hotmail, or any other address. AJHQ will also never ask you for your password or other personal information.
More information can be found here.

Fake Giveaways

Many different strategies can be used in fake giveaways- most commonly trust, best gift wins, paying items or diamonds to be on a wheel, and indirect trading. We recommend you steer clear from any giveaway that involves giving the host anything, even if they promise to give your stuff back, as it is likely a scam.
More information can be found here.

Membership Exchanges

In this scam, the scammer claims that they will give you a free membership in return for a good item or just your password. However, there is no way to get a free membership, and, even if there was, you should not give your password to someone you met on the internet- they could hack into your account and take even more items.
More information can be found here.

Codes for Items
In this scam, the scammer claims that they have a code for something, such as a code for membership, a promo item, or diamonds. They claim that if you give them valuable items, they will tell you the code. This is a scam for a variety of reasons, first of all because there's no guarantee that they are actually going to give you the code. It's also a scam because all codes that are purchased with real currency are one-time use. If the scammer has used it already - which they likely have, why would they buy a code for real money just to trade it to a random stranger? - then, even if they did give you an actual code, you wouldn't be able to use it. They would then skip town with your rares, leaving you with a code that doesn't work, or maybe even nothing at all.
More information can be found here.

Account Exchanges

In this scam, the scammer claims that they will give you good items directly to your storage if you give them your username and password. However, giving them access to your account means that they can take whatever you put on the account. Sometimes scammers will also offer to give you the username and password of an account they hold in exchange for items. This is also a scam, as they can take whatever you put on the account or lock you out of it via parent dashboard.

Account Borrowing
In this scam, the scammer, often a non-member, will claim that they need to borrow your account for something because they don't have a membership. They will often promise to repay you with a valuable item. After giving them your password, they would have full access to your account and will likely take your items or do things that could get your account suspended or even banned. Even if someone is being 100% honest, sharing your login information is against the Animal Jam code of conduct and could get you in trouble.

Lying About an Item's Value

Some scammers pretend that normal items are glitched/rare/unreleased in order to get good items traded to them. In the case of items that have real glitched counterparts, the fake glitched item can sometimes look very similar to the actual glitched item, so it is important to look closely. If you are unsure about whether a trade is fair or not, check online resources like the Animal Jam Wiki to find out an item's release information and the AJ Item Worth Wiki to find an item's approximate value. While some people lie about item values intentionally, some people may simply be misinformed, so you should always clarify before accusing someone of scamming. Some item value scammers, when confronted, will claim they got scammed and leave, but if you notice them doing it again a few minutes later in a different area, you know they were acting.

We also have a Rare Item Guide page that will help you spot the difference between very valuable rare or glitched items and their worthless counterparts.

Selling Items for Real Money
Some people may post listings for virtual items in Animal Jam on e-commerce websites such as eBay in exchange for cash. While this could definitely be a scam itself, with the scammer running off with your money/items without giving you the money/items you were promised, it is, more importantly, a direct violation of Animal Jam's Terms of Service. The 11th term states that players do not have the right to sell any virtual items, as every game asset is legally owned by WildWorks and not the individual account owner. If you participate in a transaction that involves the transfer of virtual Animal Jam assets in exchange for real-life currency, whether you are buying or selling, you risk having your account permanently banned, so it is important to keep all your transactions kept in-game only.
More information can be found here.

Session ID Hacking
There is a string of numbers you can get if you log in to your Animal Jam account and follow some instructions. This string of numbers is called your session ID. It is possible for other people to take your session ID and use it to obtain your password, at which point they can hack into your account and take all your items. If anyone ever asks you to give them your session ID, or any string of numbers accessible only after you log in, they are trying to compromise your account. They may also try to get you to download stuff or open files that contain viruses. The viruses will obtain your session ID and they will use it to get your password. Never believe anyone who says they can get you free items, never give out your personal/account information, and never download files or open any suspicious links you are sent unless you can be sure they are safe.
More information can be found here.

Fake Animal Jam
Sometimes scammers will try to get you to enter your login info into fake Animal Jam sites. When you attempt to log into these sites, the scammer who directed you to said site will know the username and password you entered, and can use it to log into your account on real AJ and take all your items. Make sure that the site you're logging into/the site you're downloading AJ from is actually the real animaljam.com site, and isn't a scam site. Signs of a scam AJ include the URL being nonsense or something that isn't Animal Jam, having characters replaced with similar characters (e.g. replacing an l with an uppercase i), and people claiming that you need to log onto this site specifically in order to do something. A variant of the Fake AJ scam happens when someone claims that they can direct you to non-English AJ. All alternate-language Animal Jam sites can be accessed from the normal AJ game/site, and anyone who claims otherwise is scamming. Also note that sites claiming to be 'Beta AJ' or 'Unreleased AJ' are scams that will just steal all of your info.
More information can be found here.

My Shop Scams
There are many scams involving the usage of My Shop den items. Such scams usually involve buying very overpriced items, the attachment of trading or gifting to a shop purchase, or some other way of not using the shop for its intended purpose of buying and selling items.
More information can be found here and here.

Allies/Accomplices
Sometimes, when you encounter something you think might be a scam, there will be a jammer or two advocating for the scammer. Such a jammer will say the scammer isn't scamming, will trade/say they traded big items, will say that the scammer is trustworthy and they have won items from them before, and will usually be winning the contests. Be warned that these jammers are usually friends/alternate accounts of the scammer, and are in on the scam.
More information can be found here.

[Note that while sometimes trading between AJPW and normal AJ is not a scam, there is no official method for it, and doing so may result in the other person running off with your items. More information can be found here.]

[We also want to warn you all about the possibility of bidding in AJPC and AJPW. More information can be found here.]