Vendor Search SCAM with fake Singing Balls :(

[Archnight]

Hey Guys,

Just want to let everyone know there's a scam going around on Singing Balls through vendor search... seems people are linking a pet named "Singing Ball" on a Crystal Ball Of Pet Summoning. Not sure if it's a new scam or an old one but I lost 75m tonight and wouldn't want others to lose their money like me... lesson learned I guess

CC View


EC View

 

[Restless]

also, i just noticed on vsearch today there is what appears to be the ol' cigar box trick, looks like a regular book dyed with new blue alchemy dye and named Pandora's Box (Sealed) i see 2 of them on vendors currently

 

[panoramix2009]

to late my wife lost 85m tonight

 

[Archnight]

to late my wife lost 85m tonight

Sorry to hear that @panoramix2009, it kinda puts you down for a bit... at least 75-85m is not too hard to get back

@Kyronix or @Bleak, is this a bug that you guys can fix? Thinking it's the <! (screen shots above) at the end that's tagging the ball incorrectly, singing balls are in high demand and would hate to see other people lose money through this scam...

 

[panoramix2009]

she bought on this vendor



at this shop

 

[Money Bags Mcgee]

There also a "blackmarket items" vendor house in the middle of no where. They sold "HTML" singing balls. Really they were just background color coded summoning balls. 175mil for 4 of them. Be careful out there. Easiest way is to vs summoning ball and see if that item pops up. Saved me 175mil.

 

[Happy Meal]

I used to have that vendor spot about 5 days to a week ago, and I dropped the vendor. So if it was recently placed, owner or Co owner should have knowledge of renter? Not the first time over several months where I have seen vendors pop up there for a couple days to only disappear - kind of strange. I do remember seeing this item though.

I ran out of stuff to sell, and I will be dropping my other vendor from this house as well. I had a bad experience there where I lost -400m, and ultimately it led to a web of lies and someone getting booted from a guild. Going to follow Stratics Rules with no mention of names tho to prevent any further drama


@Princess Zora has a good knowledge of a lot of the HTML stuff. She could probably give insight if this is an old or new bug.

 

[Money Bags Mcgee]

It's just naming a pet the name such as "singing ball" and setting it to the summon ball.

 

[Archnight]

It's just naming a pet the name such as "singing ball" and setting it to the summon ball.

I`m pretty sure that pet summoning balls first of all say that they're "Pet Summoning Balls" and have the [Linked] tag with pet's name displayed, not at home right now to confirm but pretty sure that's how mine appear...

 

[Lord Frodo]

I just checked all my Pet Summoning Balls and none of them display like the one in the OP CCs. All mine display correctly. CC Baja Shard. What did they say when you moused over them while they were in the Vendors backpack?

 

[Happy Meal]

I agree with Archnight. Any pet summoning ball I have ever seen says a pet summoning ball before the name. When he first ICQed me about the scam, I thought maybe there were 2 items placed over one another on a vendor or something. I know on CC, vendors display different than EC because sometimes I go to an EC vendor and items are so stacked, I can not buy or find the item in the pile. I usually have to leave without buying the item as I have never figured it out, and I do not play EC

The picture he posted looks like a real singing ball just a bigger shadow box. It's as if they were able to rename the entire item similar to the HTML bracelets, runes, runebooks, etc. If this is the same ball I saw days ago, I thought it was real also.

@Money Bags Mcgee good advice on searching for pet summoning ball. Have you personally tested this? So if u searched pet summoning ball on high to low sort, in theory it would show? Just wondering if it would if someone had figured out how to delete the entire name and write in that HTML font

 

[Lord Frodo]

Which shard did this happen on? Could it be shard specific?

 

[Archnight]

The picture he posted looks like a real singing ball just a bigger shadow box. It's as if they were able to rename the entire item similar to the HTML bracelets, runes, runebooks, etc. If this is the same ball I saw days ago, I thought it was real also

I think the ONLY differences are A) The real balls are blessed and B) They have an "on/off" tag at the bottom. I don't currently own a real one so I can't confirm but on other sites they appear like this

 

[Lord Frodo]

This needs to be on UHaul so everybody can see it @Larisa

 

[Money Bags Mcgee]

Have you changed pet name using HTML code to let's say background red and then tried it? HTML takes away lots of lines in other situations and I'm pretty sure that's what is happening here. They are using a code injector and putting the name on the animal then linking them.

And yes. When I saw those 4 "HTML" singing balls, I did a Vs for summoning balls and there were four items, all 4 of the ones on the vendor which claimed to have been singing balls. So I know it's possible to do to pet summoning balls.

Easy way to know if vendor is ripping you off is this then. Search for "summoning ball". If the item that you think is a singing ball pops up, then it's not a singing ball. Hope this helps.

 

[Happy Meal]

Good info @Money Bags Mcgee

All that stuff you talked about Money, is that illegal? Using a code injector or creating the HTML stuff? I know nothing about HTML items and only bid once on an HTML death bracelet bc I liked the name, and it didn't look like HTML font, only red font. Sadly I didn't even know it was an HTML bracelet at first, I just thought it was a rare bracelet until I had to ask about it draining HP which was stated as a joke that only I seemed to miss, so I quit bidding. I assume all the HTML stuff is legal as it is everywhere.

Good catch Arch night, I didn't even notice his picture at top with the no bless, and I assumed the turned on thing was only there when being locked down.

Goodness.... Mesanna creates new graphics all the time, why not give items such as a pet ball a new graphic. I don't understand why giving the same graphic as a rare and allowing it to be re-named? Will only create problems

 

[Scribbles]

Yet another problem that could be easily avoided if the Game didnt recycle graphics non stop.

 

[Money Bags Mcgee]

Using a code injector is illegal in UO. You can still produce HTML on some items without the use of an injector though. This one can be done without an injector and is perfectly legal. **** morally, but legal. There's a couple loop holes they could shut down to stop this buut they haven't. That braclet you bid on can't be recreated so no one was trying to take advantage of you in that items case. Feel free to icq me if you have any questions about validity of HTML items 656525583, Zora has taught me a lot she would be your best resource on these items.

 

[Deaol]

That looks like a young Cyrus from trailerpark boys.

 

[MrUber]

Heads up this D*** has another one on vendor do NOT BUY!!! he has a few other locations as well ive noticed .. MAKE SURE IT IS BLESSED And the turned on or off is present!!

*Also a side note this is the SECOND vendor at this house to have this singing ball scam running so beware!!!*

 

[MrUber]

Also A SCAM dyed regular book with a BS title DO NOT BUY!!!!

 

[Larisa]

A Big thank you to the honesty of this community. Frodo requested this thread be moved so that it has as much visibility as possible, and I agree. For those of you who are not aware, please read this thread and be careful!

 

[Pawain]

Thanks. Clearly a scam.

 

[Tjalle]

Thanks for posting.

Perhaps some of you guys can also mention it in your local GC every now and then? To inform the non-forum players.
UHall only covers so much.

 

[Kojak]

looks like the html is actually in the pet's name - that's how it's being done - people are renaming their pets and sticking html in their names

 

[Troll The T Hunter]

I don't get it. where are they adding html?
do they name their pet something like <font size="2" style="font-size: 14px" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#ff000c"><b>Singing Ball</b></font>

 

[Merus]

Who is to say it needs to be HTML.... maybe its just a pet named:
" _____________________________________________________ Singing Ball"

... enough of a space in front to push all the other text up in the text box out of visual range?

 

[OREOGL]

Who is to say it needs to be HTML.... maybe its just a pet named:
" _____________________________________________________ Singing Ball"

... enough of a space in front to push all the other text up in the text box out of visual range?

this was my thoughts as well.

 

[Acid Rain]

Pinco's custom UI in the EC has a pet renaming tool that allows players to rename pets with characters, spaces, & lengths not normally allowed.

I've recently seen pets with colored names as well. My guess is its also being used to inject HTLM.
The bug technically would be on UO's side for allowing it, at least that's the argument some scamming douch bags will use.

When this does get fixed can we please have a clean wipe off all HTML named pets so we don't see these things for sale at 3 plat as rare pets.
@Kyronix

* Edit * I had already guessed correctly which Luna vendor house the singing balls were at before the screen shot was ever seen LOL.