[Steam Guide] — SCAM ALERT–

Overview

There is a serious scam going around Steam, that if acted upon, will result in your account being hijacked!This guide will attempt to explain what to look for should you be faced with this hijacking scam.

The Scam

There is an account-stealing scam going around Steam that, on the surface, can seem very convincing. I was almost fooled by it myself, and I like to think that I’m pretty tech-saavy, that’s just how convincing that this can seem, but it’s all just ‘smoke and mirrors’ when you start to really look at it.

It goes like this:
This is the ‘lure’. They attempt to convince you that they screwed up and reported you by mistake.
They go on to explain that they attempted to rectify the mistake by contacting Steam support, but that Steam support just will not listen to them, so they need you to contact Steam support along with them, that way this mistake can be fixed.

Once that is done, the ‘alleged’ Steam support representative will give you instructions on how to ‘fix’ this mess and keep your account from being suspended.
If you follow these instructions, you just fell into the trap.

These guys are sending Account Access requests via the Steam App which will show up in your Confirmations area of the Steam App. If you press the Confirm button in the app or through your Steam Client, you’re sliding into the trap.

The next thing they will send is an SMS message and ask you to confirm the code. This message will bear the Steam Identification number 776-836 and will fall into the same folders Steam Verifications do and they use the exact same text Steam does for verifications. So this looks like a valid text.

They’ll ask you to validate the code they sent, only by the time you do, the steam guard code will change and they’ll say, that is not correct, check your phone again. If you give the new code. They have you and your account will be gone.

Last lure in the trap is they will give you a Discord address to follow them. I suspect that if you go here, be prepared to be asked to pay some sort of ransom and still not get your account back even if you do pay it, which you most certainly should NOT do.

The instructions can vary some, but basically, they get you to give out certain details that then allow them to take over your account. You are then promptly kicked out of your account and it is made private and locked, so that you can no longer access it, or even see what exactly is going on with it.

What you can do about it…

Here’s what you can do to combat this scam:

1. Ask questions BEFORE you react to the message.
   Don’t just take it at face-value, ask them questions about the circumstances, ask for details, or ask questions that require a detailed answer. In most cases, the scammer will not be able to answer these questions and you will then have exposed them.

2. The account contacting you has most likely also been stolen.
   Just because they are on your friends list doesn’t mean that you are safe. These scammers use stolen accounts to then access their friends lists and perpetrate the same scam on their friends.

3. Valve will contact you DIRECTLY, not through any 3rd parties and this includes people on your friends list.
   If you do get banned or your account gets suspended, you will be contacted by Valve through a private message and/or email directly from Valve.

4. Valve reps will NEVER ask you for a password or access code from the Steam mobile app.
   If you are asked to provide any of these, you are being scammed, period.
   NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR ACCOUNT PASSWORD OR YOUR STEAM MOBILE APP CODES!!

5. Report this scam to Valve immediately.
   If you’ve seen this scam, don’t just let it go, report it to Valve as soon as possible. The more they know about this, the more that they can do something about it, and the faster that they can do something about it.

6. Get the word out in your communities.
   Don’t just sit on your hands, let everyone on your friends list and in your favorite communities know about this scam. The scammers can’t make this work if everyone knows what they are doing, so don’t hesitate to tell everyone about this, afterall, there’s safety in numbers. The more people that know about this, the fewer the people that will fall for it.

7. Use your Activity feed to get the word out.
   If you are approached you can warn friends that an attempt was made by posting a Status message from your Friends Activity page. This will only work if your account is not taken over as once the account is gone, you’re locked out.

I hope that this info will help some of you out there from being scammed out of your accounts.
Please link this on your account, and please pass it around so that together, we can protect ourselves from these bottom-feeders.