So, I'm a horrible scammer in that game. As long as it all stays in in-game assets, the developers don't discourage it (it helps the space pirate feel of the game). My latest attempt is selling mercenary services that I don't actually have. I got the idea from a friend of mine who set up a public citadel (one of the recently-added player-owned stations) getting pretty ticked off at someone else who set up another citadel in the same star system. So I advertise that for a fee depending on a few factors, we can blow up someone's control tower, citadel, whatever. We just need half the money up front, for the security of both parties involved. Of course, then I just don't do anything after that.
If you pay attention, it's pretty clear that it's a scam. I've done my homework and I can make it sound really convincing, but there are still signs that I just can't do anything about. So one day, I'm advertising in a trade hub, someone invites me to a conversation to ask me about it. We talk for a few minutes, he gets a price quote, asks me about some other scenarios, I ask for more clarification because some of it doesn't make any sense and he admits he's just trying to waste my time (as if that does something. I'm talking to someone else in the meantime and still advertising). I tell him I get that a lot, tell him that I'm just trying to get my corp some activity and all these damn scammers make it really hard for us to get taken seriously, etc. We talk for a little longer, and he actually hires me to take out a competitor's control tower, and pays half up front. Naturally, I close the conversation afterward.
tl;dr, I'm scamming in an online game where scamming's generally allowed. Dude knows I'm scamming and tries to waste my time. I convince him otherwise and he falls for it anyway.
In other news, after thinking long and hard about it, I emailed my friend to turn down the job she offered to help me get. Too risky, moving so far away for a contractor position when I don't really have savings to fall back on.
