It’s a scary world out there. Even in Rocket League, a game of explosive, high-speed soccer with super-powered rocket cars, there’s a thriving underworld of corruption, deceit, and outright crime. Beyond the addictive gameplay that has earned Rocket League tens of millions of loyal players in the years since its debut, the game has a bustling, dynamic economy where fortunes are made and lost every day.

From cars to cosmetics, more items than you can count are being bought, sold, and traded constantly. But as any quick glance at a Rocket League forum will tell you, there are more than a few bad apples looking to exploit weaknesses in the trading system design to make a quick buck at someone else's expense.

Below we explain how to protect yourself from criminals and what to look out for so you don't become one of the many victims of Rocket League scammers.

Related: Rocket League Trading: How to Trade, Best Sites and Safety Tips