December 18th- Tips on Ninjas and Scams

[sweet tooth]

in only a few hours, the December 18th rollover begins! This means a special advent will be posted, rerelases of old, rare pets! Some of these pets are very valuable! Unfortunately, some users take advantage of that, scamming and "ninjaing" valuable pets from newer players fooled into their scheme. This thread will help you identify, respond, and report scammers to staff!

What is a Ninja?

A ninja is someone who knows better who sends you an unfair trade! Typically, these ninjas seek "list" pets, pets from a group of the rarest pets on the site! The difference between a ninja and a scammer is the scammer will make false claims, such as:

"My pet/Your pet is worth is this much!"
"This trade is fair!"
"Your pet/My pet has this much demand!" Note that demand is subjective, but there are certain pets with obvious high or low demand that they may lie about

If someone claims a specific pet is worth a specific amount and is trading you, do not blindly believe them! ALWAYS get a second or third opinion! The Dec. 18th Fair Trade Thread can give you that second or third opinion, just make sure anyone replying isnt the other person! This can turn a ninja situation into a scam situation as they're now falsely leading you. If you are a COPPA user, send a help ticket!. Please be patient as they have a lot to do December 18th. The Rares List Guide can also help if you want to do your own research! This thread is NOT for asking about list fair trades or the value of a pet! Check out the Fair Trade Thread or the How Much Is This Pet Worth Thread, dec 18th version

Common signs of a ninja are:
Random rares, vrs, and pretty pets. People know that this is what newbies are after and will take advantage of that. Dont fall for it!

Offering a much lower tier list pet for your higher list pet. For example, a Mid-Tier Advent for a Mid-Main. However, keep demand in mind! Remember that demand is subjective!

Someone sent me an unfair trade! What do I do?

Do not confront them.
If it is a scam, get a link as proof and report to the moderators! They will help you as fast as possible.
If it is a ninja, you have a few options:
1. Cancel the trade. Don't accuse them of anything! They might not be a ninja but instead a confused, inexperienced or otherwise mislead honest user. Simply say nothing or something like "Sorry! This isnt fair to me", "No thank you!", or anything else that is neutral and not accusatory.
2. Edit the trade to make it fair. This can be very hard if you're new so get some help from other users or the Rares list. If you're having trouble with List Tiers, here is a super underrated guide to help you!
3. Send the trade back asking them to make it fair. They might send it back still unfair, and after that I would most likely cancel or edit as they are either trying to deceive you or just have no idea what they're doing

Everyone says its unfair, but I like what they're offering!


You can get so much more pets that you would like for your pets. However, if you are convinced that you really like the trade, there is nothing wrong in accepting it, but it it likley you will regret later, so think very carefully before accepting.

I accepted a ninja without knowing! What can I do? Can i get my pets back?

If the person lied during the trading process, yes! You can send a report to moderators with proof!

If the person did not lie during the trade, there is not much they can do, as you were both happy with the trade. You can send a pm calmly asking for a trade back to the other person, but if they say no or do not respond you're out of luck. Do NOT make a "callout" post or make a blacklist! These are against the rules as they can cause drama, plus you dont know if they had malicious intent! This is WHY you need to be VERY CAREFUL with trading!

Other tips

If you have any questions or critiques, post them here!
If you dont know or arent confident about the value of your pets, put them in a group and lock it! Saying "NFT!" but keeping it open wont stop some people. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, click "Change Trade Settings", and click "Nobody can make trade offers for these pets." !
A drastic measure is to also close pms so only moderators or mods+friends can send you pms. This can stop most people who will pm you if your group with the rare pets is closed
The archive can help you determine what year and month the pet is from, along with what it could grow into! Some pets will have a adult list pet version and an adult non-list pet version! Kyar has also made a amazing list of list babies to help identify if you have a list pet or not!
All OMGSRs are main list pets.
CS being laggy? Perfectly normal! Its the most popular time of year and often the servers cant handle the sudden large amounts of people trying to access the site at once!

[LLHBBB]

I've been waiting to see a post like this because normally the Mods or Tess puts up a warning about this. I just hope people will see this a double check a trade. To many time people will offer a couple of store pets for a list which to someone unfamiliar with what their pet is and they might think they are getting a deal. Or a shima long tail or a pps dragon cat for a main list pet. Just always double check if your not sure. 99% of the time a ninja trader will not trade back. Just because someone has been on for years doesn't mean they are offering a good deal.

[sweet tooth]

I've been waiting to see a post like this because normally the Mods or Tess puts up a warning about this. I just hope people will see this a double check a trade. To many time people will offer a couple of store pets for a list which to someone unfamiliar with what their pet is and they might think they are getting a deal. Or a shima long tail or a pps dragon cat for a main list pet. Just always double check if your not sure. 99% of the time a ninja trader will not trade back. Just because someone has been on for years doesn't mean they are offering a good deal.

i agree with most of this, though the pps dragon cat and the shima get lists because they are in extreme demand but arent nearly rare enough to make the list.

its really sad that ninja traders often wont trade back, but its also worth a shot especially if the ninja trade wasnt meant to be a ninja? like the traders were both misinformed

[LLHBBB]

I've been waiting to see a post like this because normally the Mods or Tess puts up a warning about this. I just hope people will see this a double check a trade. To many time people will offer a couple of store pets for a list which to someone unfamiliar with what their pet is and they might think they are getting a deal. Or a shima long tail or a pps dragon cat for a main list pet. Just always double check if your not sure. 99% of the time a ninja trader will not trade back. Just because someone has been on for years doesn't mean they are offering a good deal.

i agree with most of this, though the pps dragon cat and the shima get lists because they are in extreme demand but arent nearly rare enough to make the list.

its really sad that ninja traders often wont trade back, but its also worth a shot especially if the ninja trade wasnt meant to be a ninja? like the traders were both misinformed

that's why I said main list pets. They do get dvents and sometimes sept list but very rarely main list and are definitely not worth a main list. Example a shima long tail for a sundog pup.

[myth;]

Thank you for making this post, I really hope enough people read this and don't end up getting scammed on ninja'd this year, and if we have to say it one thousand times then so be it. If it's okay, I'd like to link this thread to my signature if you'd be okay with it? So people can see it and read it if they're unsure. c:

[jakub]

bumping for awareness !

[sweet tooth]

Thank you for making this post, I really hope enough people read this and don't end up getting scammed on ninja'd this year, and if we have to say it one thousand times then so be it. If it's okay, I'd like to link this thread to my signature if you'd be okay with it? So people can see it and read it if they're unsure. c:

i dont mind at all! thats kind of what i made this thread for haha

[skip]

Thank you thank you thank you! It's my first 18th and although I have done my best to understand rarities and prepare myself, this still helped me so much!

[rain,]

Thank you so so so much for posting this! i see too many scams every year as these people do not realize the value of their pets. its truly a sigh of relief seeing someone care so much to post this on cs, and im so glad to see it!

plan to be helping as much as possible tonight and tomorrow, as well as this week, (despite exams) helping others figure out their pets dates and rarities ! (shoot me a pm w/ your pets if you need help!!) too many people get scammed on this night, and its truly upsetting to see.

as always, have a happy holidays, and may the dec. 18 gods be with you all c: !

[sweet tooth]

Thank you thank you thank you! It's my first 18th and although I have done my best to understand rarities and prepare myself, this still helped me so much!



happy to hear! ive seen too many people fall for scams and ninjas and regret it years later. always be careful!

Thank you so so so much for posting this! i see too many scams every year as these people do not realize the value of their pets. its truly a sigh of relief seeing someone care so much to post this on cs, and im so glad to see it!

plan to be helping as much as possible tonight and tomorrow, as well as this week, (despite exams) helping others figure out their pets dates and rarities ! (shoot me a pm w/ your pets if you need help!!) too many people get scammed on this night, and its truly upsetting to see.

as always, have a happy holidays, and may the dec. 18 gods be with you all c: !

i have two sisters, both of which were coppa at some point, and so seeing them constant attempted ninjas really made me realize that this is a way bigger problem than it looks. i want to help inform newer users about the risks of December 18th. i hate seeing this fun event be ruined by greedy people

and happy holidays to you too!