How to Buy Gamertags On ForumKorner:
Introduction: What my Guide Will Teach
This tutorial will be used to help Forum Korner members buy Gamertags a little easier and safer. By reading this thread my goal is that you become a little more knowledgeable in the realms of not getting scammed when buying Xbox Gamertags and making it harder for the seller to recover the sold Gamertag back. By using my tutorial, I do not guarantee that every deal will go 100% as expected or be a 100% fool proof scam free guide. I am not responsible for anything that happens to your Gamertag or your deal…this is just some tips that I have learned. This is just my little disclaimer that people put in all of these guides
Buying Gamertags can be very difficult and very sketchy. You normally have no idea who the seller is. Is he/she trustworthy? Does he/she have any scam reports? How is the seller’s reputation? Am I going to have to go first in the transaction? Is the member a new member/multi account user? These could all be potential questions racing though your head when even thinking of buying a tag. Please use this guide to help you ease the pain.
Step One: Finding a Gamertag That you Like
Find a Gamertag that you like and get a price from the seller. This is obviously the first step in any buying process. However please remember if the price seems too good, it probably is too good and is a scam. For example, if a seller is selling the Gamertag “Kill” for 20 dollars, you know the price is too good to be true. Something is fishy with the seller and is probably trying to make a quick 20 dollar scam. To get a gauge on how much Gamertags are going for look around the Gamertag section of Forum Korner (link) http://forumkorner.com/forum-24.html Look though other people’s threads and see what kind of quality their Gamertags are and how the sellers are pricing them.
Step Two: Check out Your Seller
Check out the seller’s profile. Nothing is worse than getting scammed from a known scammer. Be sure to also check the seller’s reputation. If he has a recent scam report DO NOT deal with him. Why bother getting scammed out some hard earned money especially if the seller is making you go first in the transaction. Then look at the sellers post. Go through and see if they are in the “deal disputes” section with a scam report attached to their name. Maybe they only scam “normal members” and not upgraded members who could tarnish their reputation. Make sure you check to see if seller has those dreaded, deal breaking scam reports or – reputation when it comes to making deals. Just because a person has a lot of rep does not mean they are always legitimate. People can accumulate lots of reputation from doing giveaways.
Step Three: Get Proof of Account Ownership
Once you have established that the seller “SEEMS” legitimate and have settled on a price for the Gamertag ask for proof of ownership of the Gamertag. Who is to say the seller actually owns the Gamertags they are selling?
Proof of ownership usually ranges from someone taking a screenshot of them logged into xbox.com on the account. (See example- Most people will want to see the user use Internet Explorer as a web browser instead of Firefox or Google Chrome. This is because people using Firefox or Google Chrome, if you are sneaky enough, can do what is called “Inspect elements” and change the code of the website page. When the code is changed you can give off the appearance that you own a Gamertag that you really do not.
Another great way of knowing the seller actually has the Gamertag is to ask him to send a friend request to one of your Gamertags. You as the buyer could also request that the seller send you a personal message from the account. If the seller cannot send you the friend request or message from the account, it is most likely that the seller does not have the log in to the account. Also please be cautious if the member says he cannot send you the message or friend request right away but can send you it later on. This could be a potential scam. He could have a friend that actually owns the account and ask him to send you a message from it. Make sure everything is done right away as it is less likely that his friend is online the same time that you are asking for the proof.
Proof could also be used by going on Team Viewer and actually watching the user sign into the account. Some people do not like the idea of Team Viewer because they are afraid that the user could go rogue and open some type of virus or rat them. Still though it is a very valid option if you are good with computers and pay very close attention to what is going on.
Step Four: Actually making the deal.
So far if all seems to be good and you have a set price with enough proof you are now ready to make the deal. This part is also a crucial step in the buying process. Many scammers will try and speed up/rush this part. They try and make the deal quick and chaotic so the buyer does not really know what actually happened until its too late. Never get trapped in a “quick deal”. Take your time and go slow. Make sure everything is explained and you both know what is going on. Communication is KEY in this part. Talking to a buyer via Forum Korner PM’s is not the best way to communicate. Often it takes longer for a response and can really cause panic in the situation. I would advise talk on another platform (AIM, MSN or if worse comes to worse PM). Before you start talking though on AIM or MSN make sure you PM the seller first asking for his AIM/MSN screen name. Also when you start talking on AIM make sure you ask the seller to send you a PM on Forum Korner to verify that you both are the same people you say you are from Forum Korner. Some people like to impersonate people who are trusted on Forum Korner. Make sure the person you are talking to on AIM/MSN is the actual person on Forum Korner.
Once you talk on AIM/MSN go through all the necessary steps to ensure the transaction goes smoothly. If the seller is new and seems a little shady ask if the seller will go first. Make sure the seller has the log in information for the Gamertag ready. You should also have your form of payment all logged in and ready to go to ensure the deal goes smoothly. Nothing is worse than making a deal then not being able to properly log into your PayPal. This can cause the tension to escalate very quickly and make a good deal go bad real quick. Make sure you repeat the price and Gamertag name to the seller. This way there is no later dispute or underpaying or buying the wrong tag. If the seller is making you go first remember to ask for his Forum Korner user name and SAVE the entire AIM/MSN conversation to have proof of the deal. DO NOT exit out of the conversation as this will be your proof if you do in fact get scammed.
Step Five: Getting Account/Changing the Information
Getting the account information from the seller is ONLY half the battle. Yes I repeat getting the log in information for your Xbox Gamertag is ONLY half the battle. There will be lots of picture to help guide you through this part. You need to be quick and log into your new Gamertag to make sure you got the name you intended to buy. Sometimes scammers will give you a log in for another Xbox account but not the one you intended to buy. I would advise you already have www.xbox.com opened up prior to doing the deal, this way when the seller sends you the log in information you can quickly copy and paste the details and verify that the account is the actual one you bought.
Once you see that the account is in fact the one you wanted; sign into www.windowslive.com to change the password and secret question RIGHT AWAY. To do this, go to www.windowslive.com. You should already be logged in because you just signed into your account via xbox.com (to verify the Gamertag name). Then click on the name on the top right corner of the page
Once you clicked your name there will be a drop down menu. Click on the account tab
Now you should be on the page that allows you to change the account information.
CHANGE EVERYTHING. But change the secret password question and password first. You want to do this right away just in case the seller tries to take back the Gamertag right away from you. The seller already has his money and knows all the information on the account…he might just try to take it back right away. Once you change the secret question and password it will make it harder for the seller to take back. When you are changing the information on the account, be sure to open up a Word or Notepad document and write down everything you can about the account. Copy and paste the unique id code, the name, birth date, date registered and anything you can about the account. You could also do this easier by clicking the print screen key on your keyboard and pasting the image to Microsoft paint. By doing this it will save you some time from copying all the information do in a document. Having everything written down is beneficial if the account is ever stolen or jacked, you will have a nice word document waiting with all the information you used for the account.
Step Six: Looking if Account has Confirmed Emails Linked to Your Account
This step is another critical step to securing your newly purchased Gamertag from its seller. When you are on the windowslive.com account page you will see a section labeled “Password Reset Information”
Check to make sure the seller did not attach any emails. If he attached some emails this will be a worry to you and your newly acquired Gamertag. If there are confirmed emails it would allow for the seller to be able to reset your password whenever he wanted. All he would need to do is go and get an email reset from windowslive.com. To counter this action you can do a few different tricks.
If he attached an email like this
***Warning Do Not Use This Method With Spaced Gamertags They Will Glitch***
You could add Microsoft points to the Xbox account right away and change your Gamertag name via your physical Xbox. You would then need to make a brand new free silver account from xbox.com and change your name to your recently changed name. This way you get a fresh new Windows Live ID without any of the sellers email addresses attached to your account plus you get a totally different “Unique ID” code from Windows Live. View spoiler for a very detailed explanation and step by step walkthrough.
When you add the 800 MSP to the account you are able to change your Gamertag name. You would need to go on your physical Xbox and recover your newly purchased account. Once you recovered it you would need to hit the guide button on your controller. Scroll over to the setting tab (Should be 2 clicks to the right on the D Pad) and click on “Profile” from this page go down one and click on “Edit Profile” and then click “Change Gamertag”. Change your Gamertag to something completely random that no one else would have. Once you have changed your Gamertag it frees up the name so anyone can take it again.
Go back to windowslive.com and make a new Windows Live ID. You would just need to click sign up button on the left side of the page. Fill in the details and create a new email/Windows Live ID. After you created it go to www.xbox.com and hit sign in. It will ask you for a name and birth date. Afterwards xbox.com assigns you a random Gamertag name but also gives you one free name change. Click on the weird Gamertag name Xbox gives you and click “Edit Profile” on the bottom left of the screen.
Then all you need to do is click “Change Gamertag” Then type in the name you literally just bought from the seller. This way now you have a completely fresh Windows Live account without any of his emails attached to it. Also now every bit of your Windows Live information is different from when the seller had it.
Go back to windowslive.com and make a new Windows Live ID. You would just need to click sign up button on the left side of the page. Fill in the details and create a new email/Windows Live ID. After you created it go to www.xbox.com and hit sign in. It will ask you for a name and birth date. Afterwards xbox.com assigns you a random Gamertag name but also gives you one free name change. Click on the weird Gamertag name Xbox gives you and click “Edit Profile” on the bottom left of the screen.
Then all you need to do is click “Change Gamertag” Then type in the name you literally just bought from the seller. This way now you have a completely fresh Windows Live account without any of his emails attached to it. Also now every bit of your Windows Live information is different from when the seller had it.
You can also email windowslive.com support. https://security.live.com/acsr.aspx This will take you to “recover your account” Fill in all the details from the account you just purchased. Then it will give you your own private forum while you wait for someone to assist you. Look over your details you put and hit the reply button at the bottom of the page. In this box make up something like your Windows Live account was stolen and when your account was stolen the hacker attached his emails to your account. You are worried he is going to recover your account and need the emails removed. I have not had 100% success rate on the first time but can normally get them removed with another try and a little more convincing of a story. It normally takes around 3-4 days to hear a reply so be patient.
***Warning Do Not Use This Method With Spaced Gamertags They Will Glitch***
Last trick is to go back to the Window Live Account page. On that page look for the date that says “Registered Since”. If the registered date is 1 month prior to the current date you will be able to switch your Windows Live ID. For example if the “Registered Since: January 10th 2011” and the current date is “Registered Since: February 10th 2011” you will be able to switch the Windows Live ID. You would need to go on Windowslive.com and sign up for a new account. Make the new Windows Live email address. Make sure you remember what you put for the email and password. Now go onto your physical Xbox and recover your newly purchased Gamertag. Once you have the account recovered hit the middle guide button on the center of your controller. Scroll to the “Settings” tab which is 2 clicks to the right. Once you are on the “Settings” tab go to the “Account Management” section and click it. Once you are on scroll over to the right until you see the tab “Your Information” (should be two clicks to the right on the D Pad). When you’re on the “Your Information” tab you will see something that says “Windows Live ID” click that. Scroll down to the last item on the list that says “Change Windows Live ID”. It will say “Do you already have another Windows Live ID to switch to? If not create one at www.live.com” click the yes button (YOU ALREADY DID THIS STEP) It will now ask you to sign into Windows Live from your Xbox. Give your old Windows Live email and password then click sign in. Now enter the new Windows Live ID that you JUST made. Now your Windows Live ID is new and without the sellers old emails linked with your Gamertag.
Additions Made By Hack Forum Members
From Starburst Thanks again:
"You need to make sure there are no emails attached when you click both of those links, because they can be used to reset the account and return it to the seller.
End/Conclusion!