There was a Linden Adjustment of 321.000L$ from my account.

[Lulli Yip]

There was a Linden Adjustment of 321.000L$ from my account. I have received the Lindens from a Risk-API POSITIVE avatar. I open a ticket and Linden Lab answered that these L$ was taken from me because of the fraudulent origin of the Lindens. Why do I have to pay for a fraudulent action someone else did? The rules say that we can accept Lindens from Risk-API positive avatars. I contacted billing aswell but nobody helps. Can I accept L$ payments from Risk-API positive avatars or not?

[Rolig Loon]

I'm not sure how you can know that any account in SL has received a Positive rating from the Risk API.  To get that information, you would have to be either a Third-Party exchange approved by Linden Lab or Linden Lab itself.  Regardless of that, the TOS (Sect. 5.3) says,

"Linden dollars are occasionally Bought and Sold on third party exchanges, which are wholly distinct from the LindeX exchange. Unless specified by Linden Lab, these exchanges have no affiliation with Linden Lab. We do not guarantee the legitimacy of the Linden dollar transfers offered on them, and we are not liable for purchases of such Linden dollars. You purchase Linden dollars from such sites at your own risk. If you Buy Linden dollars that are traced to unauthorized credit card activity or other fraudulent activity, we will recoup these Linden dollars from your Account.

Purely for informational purposes, we may list on our Websites third-party exchanges that use our "Risk API" tool. The use of the Risk API may lessen the occurrence of fraud on those exchanges; however, in no event do we endorse, guarantee or insure your purchases from these unaffiliated exchanges."

[Peggy Paperdoll]

I would be interested to know if you paid the equivalant of about $1280 USD for that 321,000 lindens.  My bet is that you did not pay anywhere near that much for those lindens..........and that, my friend, should have fired off so many alarms in your head that you would have run away in fear.  That old adage "if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is" applies.  Scams are built for people just like you.

[Lindal Kidd]

There is no such thing as a "Risk API Positive avatar".  Whoever told you this was scamming you.  The Linden Lab Exchange Risk API is a tool used by third party linden dollar exchange websites, and those web sites are more likely (not guaranteed, though) to be honest.  The Risk API is never something that's applied to an individual avatar.

Many thieves will use a stolen credit card to purchase $L, and then sell them to unsuspecting avatars.  Linden Lab identifies these fraudulaently-obtained $L, and can deduct them from your account, and also charge you a 50% penalty.

Peggy's words are harsh, but true.  If you are offered an exchange rate that's better than LL's own price for $L, it's probably a scam...because the only place to buy legitimate linden dollars is...guess who?  Yep, LL.  The legitimate price is always around $L250 = $1.00 USD.  Anything very different from that should raise a red flag.

My advice is to NEVER buy $L from any individual, either an avatar or a person selling $L on, say, eBay.  Only purchase $L on the official Linden Exchange (this web site) or on reputable third party Linden dollar exchange sites.

 

[Irene Muni]

Lulli, in addition to perfect previous answers, you will find interesting to read this related thread: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Merchants/Payment-reversed-and-taken-from-account-by-lab/m-p/1688003 (also http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Account/Ripped-off-by-the-Lab/qaq-p/1687965 ).