Under construction. This will be done by multiple users - good English only. If you'd like to help, PM me your guide in-game with the title 'Scam Guide'.

Other guides:
[you must login to view links]

Introduction
Scamming is more common than ever before, regardless of what kinds of trades you are doing. Such scamming methods include luring someone with deals too good to be true, gaining trust and so forth.

Do not underestimate how common scamming really is, it does not matter how trustworthy a player is, scamming can always take place, you always have to be prepared for it.

Why do people scam?
People scam because it is very tempting to gain a quick profit, however in the long term they will eventually get banned. Scammers scam for multiple reasons, for example:
They have been scammed themselves in the past, and want to take revenge on other people to gain back what they've lost (two wrongs do NOT make a right).
Scammers are lazy and selfish, they do not care what happens to the victim or how the victim feels.
All they care about is the profit.
They do not care about their own reputation or other people.
Scammers 'enjoy' hurting people's feelings, just like bullies do - which is wrong.


How do I avoid scams?
Do trades in one go! A lot of scams involve 'So you don't trust me then?'. People tell you to give them your pokemon, and if you don't they will tell you why don't you trust them. This puts you in a vunerable position of giving you the pokemon, as if you don't they will say that you don't trust them and could offend them. You could ALSO state that it is against the rules to play any form of the 'trust game'.

A solution is to refer to my guide, even to the people you trust you do not want other people holding your pokemon/items to anyone and that you treat people you trust the same way. Also the people you trust could get your pokemon scammed by a different person.

The best way is to keep your stuff in your account, do trades in one-go.

If you are training, you can use the loan-system or a collateral.

A collateral could be considered better as some people decide not to trade in the end.

Do trades all-in-one go
This is the best advice I can give you and is common sense.

What is the punishment for scamming?
Permanent ban. :)