Guilds and Clever Scams
Why did I put them in the same category? Because guilds (with "contests" or "free -insert rare item- for all new members if you donate" ) are scams. Below is a real guild, after it had scammed some members. At least the guy is honest about it.
When there's a guild, either the owner gets scammed if he has contests that
cost him more than he gets in donations, or the members donate more than the
prizes are worth, and the owner gets rich and members get scammed.
Most guilds that I've seen have ridiculous
contests which I think are rigged from the start to steal members' money.
They promise the most expensive battle equipment or paint brush for their
contest, but you can't just enter. You have to pay to enter, and who knows
if you'll ever get a prize.
One classic scam is "send me ___ first, and I'll send you this cool thing". Why would you want to do a guild? It's the same thing. You send them stuff, hoping to win this "contest" . . . it's all a scam.
I've never joined them, but I figure the guilds that tell you how to make a million points a month don't really do that. They tell you to play games or do other stupid things. You can join my guild, no membership fee, but if you would like to donate, I'd be more than happy to oblige. =)
Clever Scams
STRANGERS DO NOT HELP STRANGERS MAKE NEOPOINTS.
Let me say that again. Strangers do not help strangers make neopoints. Remember that, so any offer by a stranger is a scam. Period. Having to go to a non-neopets website, or learning some "secret" is a scam. Ok, you already know about the usual scams. Those fake login pages, the ones where you have to send an item, or have to give your password so they can hack the system using it, or change your email address (so they can steal your password by sending the password to their email). You know those. Don't fall for them. Here's some clever ones I've seen, that I thought should be mentioned.
Generally, there will be a few easy to spot phrases that you instantly know it's a scam:
They want you to go to a non-neopets site.
They say "this is not a scam."
They say "if I scam you, you can report me."
They empathize and say "I have been scammed too, I don't want others to be
scammed."
They have poor grammar and misspell a lot cause scammer wannabes are usually
stupid little 12 year old boys who can't make neopoints.
They want you to send first, cause they don't want to use auctions or the
trading post for a variety of stupid reasons (stuff like "send me a
codestone and I'll tell you a way to make a billion neopoints!").
The deal seems to good to be true, and they want you to "hurry".