How to Avoid Being Scammed on Animal Jam

On the massively multiplayer online video game Animal Jam (created by National Geographic Society and Smart Bomb Interactive), a process called "scamming" is quite popular among players. This Instructable will show you how to avoid being scammed while playing the game.

Step 1: Know What "scamming" Means.

"Scamming" is essentially when a player tries to trick another player into giving them an item, a code, or any personal information.

Step 2: Recognize Scamming.

There are a few "key phrases" that scammers use to trick others. Here are several:

"Gift me." This refers to sending a user an item through a Jam-A-Gram. Only members can send and receive items, so nonmembers are not involved in this method. Normally, Jammers will use a reason like "It's my b-day" to lure others into the 'gifting trap.'

"Giveaway." Many Jammers, mainly nonmembers, will ask other players to come to their dens for a giveaway. In an average giveaway, one Jammer will tell others that whoever gives them the best trade for a poor-quality item will be later sent a highly sought-after item (normally a rare or BETA). Often, the host of the giveaway will accept a good trade for one of their poor items and never give another Jammer the item they were promised. It is very rare that a Jammer will actually stay true to their words in a giveaway.

"Mailtime." A common AJ YouTube video format is "mailtime," when Jammers ask to be sent items and use a screen recorder to show viewers what kinds of items they are sent. Although this is not actually tricking Jammers, as participating in a Jammer's "mailtime" is completely voluntary, sending anything to another player will result in you not owning an item any longer. If you don't want to lose your items, stay away from mailtimes.

Step 3: Avoid Scammers.

You can't "avoid" scammers, but you can ignore them so that you are never scammed. Make sure to remember the few major scamming methods mentioned previously, and if you ever see one of them "in action," don't do whatever the scammer is asking Jammers to do.

Step 4: Knowing How to React to Scammers.

If you do happen to come across a scammer, don't treat them badly or draw attention to them. The best thing to do is click on their nametag so that their user card appears. Click on the "Report Player" badge in the bottom right corner of the card, and select the option "Scamming!" on the menu that appears. After you click "report," a popup will appear, asking if you want to block the player. Blocking a player will prevent their chat messages from appearing. Although blocking them is not necessary, it is always a good choice.

Step 5: Overview

That's all for this Instructable. If you have any questions, or know another scamming method that was not mentioned, feel free to tell me in the comments. I'd appreciate any input I can get! Thank you for reading, and good luck on AJ! Jam on!