Is Anything Being Done About Chinese Scammers

[ArcTheWolf]

Seriously this is just getting out of hand now, my block list has 17 accounts all with the same xxbn3 Chinese account name. I report them every time but I feel like it's not going to make a difference. I used to have to file a weekly report then it went quiet for a long time now I've had to file a report two days in a row again same name different account. Something needs to be done to put a stop to this.

[MalikQayum]

I wouldn't worry too much, we got all these safe security measures made mandatory if we want to participate in trading, market and community, these security measures are steam guard and mobile authenticator.

as they have clearly solved the issues, so i wouldn't worry too much about it.

[wuddih]

Originally posted by I>U:

Mate, I've just reported a dev who is scamming on Steam, and that thread is gone.

The reason was "naming and shaming". The same freaking reason when I've been reporting Ukrainian and Chinese, like, 5 years ago.

report the content. everything that can be made by users has a report button.
there is no reason to make a thread about it.

[ArcTheWolf]

Just got my second one for the day and filed yet another report.

[Ermil]

These type of accounts/bots have been around for years, now it's just a wave. All you can do is ignore and block them when they add you. Reporting won't do much either, it's not just that Valve don't care, they can't do anything about it. It's not just a 'Valve' problem, this is on other platforms as well.

[Cheezus Crisp]

They find people through large Steam groups. And seeing that you're in one of them I assume that's where they're finding your profile. I personally hadn't received a bot invite from them for a very long time...

[I>U]

Originally posted by Ermil:

These type of accounts/bots have been around for years, now it's just a wave. All you can do is ignore and block them when they add you. Reporting won't do much either, it's not just that Valve don't care, they can't do anything about it. It's not just a 'Valve' problem, this is on other platforms as well.

I'm sorry, but on which other platforms? I'm positively curious, because I've never received a random request in EGS and hadn't logged in Origin for millenia.

Or did you bind your EGS account to Steam? Mate, that can explain a lot.

[ArcTheWolf]

Originally posted by Cheezus Crisp:

They find people through large Steam groups. And seeing that you're in one of them I assume that's where they're finding your profile. I personally hadn't received a bot invite from them for a very long time...

I've been in that group for around 8 years now, it's only just now becoming an issue. I doubt it has anything to actually do with what groups I'm in.

[Bobveela]

real talk recently these annoying requests have been happening a lot. Hopefully this gets fixed soon (the random scam profiles adding people).

[Ermil]

Originally posted by I>U:

Originally posted by Ermil:

These type of accounts/bots have been around for years, now it's just a wave. All you can do is ignore and block them when they add you. Reporting won't do much either, it's not just that Valve don't care, they can't do anything about it. It's not just a 'Valve' problem, this is on other platforms as well.

I'm sorry, but on which other platforms? I'm positively curious, because I've never received a random request in EGS and hadn't logged in Origin for millenia.

Or did you bind your EGS account to Steam? Mate, that can explain a lot.

Xbox, PSN, social media like Instagram and Twitter, this problem is on almost every platform, except for the ones like Nintendo or Discord where you need a tag or friend code.

[Ermil]

Originally posted by Cheezus Crisp:

They find people through large Steam groups. And seeing that you're in one of them I assume that's where they're finding your profile. I personally hadn't received a bot invite from them for a very long time...

I don't think it's just Steam groups, I've gotten bot invites on accounts with no groups or friends, I think they get them from things like game APIs or something.

[Ermil]

It might also be Steam API websites that get databases leaked, like the thing that happend with opencsgo in 2017 where they leaked Steam profiles, email addresses, credit cards and what not. I did have my email address and Steam profile leaked back then, so that might be it for me.

[Cheezus Crisp]

Originally posted by ArcTheWolf:

Originally posted by Cheezus Crisp:

They find people through large Steam groups. And seeing that you're in one of them I assume that's where they're finding your profile. I personally hadn't received a bot invite from them for a very long time...

I've been in that group for around 8 years now, it's only just now becoming an issue. I doubt it has anything to actually do with what groups I'm in.

And you're implying that just because you've been in said group for 8 years that you become a non-target? These bot accounts only started about 2-3 years ago hence why you're starting to get the invites. The bots rely on whatever info they can find to search for Steam profiles.

Originally posted by Ermil:

Originally posted by Cheezus Crisp:

They find people through large Steam groups. And seeing that you're in one of them I assume that's where they're finding your profile. I personally hadn't received a bot invite from them for a very long time...

I don't think it's just Steam groups, I've gotten bot invites on accounts with no groups or friends, I think they get them from things like game APIs or something.

Steam groups aren't the only thing that they rely on. But it's one of the bigger things that make a profile a target. It's probably never possible to completely avoid getting invites from them since your profile will always be found some way or another. But reducing the ways they can find you can reduce the amount of invites you get from them.

[EBANN]

oh

[KillahInstinct]

Spam and scams (which kinda go hand in hand) are indeed a big issue, and many, many things are being done to block it. That said, there is only so much you can do until it will be impossible for a normal person to make an account, as it's pretty much impossible to know someone's intentions.

Private profiles and not joining the 'mass-groups' can help you be less of a target, but obviously that's not ideal either - if you for example want to trade.

All in all reports help (because the accounts get banned, or returned to their owners) and scams overall seem to be on a downwards slope, as a result of all the measures. But you can't solve it entirely, unless people somehow magically stop being scammed. But even with 2FA and all the warnings, some people still manage to get scammed.

Meanwhile, I'm not saying it's ideal, it's an issue without real good solutions. Steam isn't the only one affected by it, even 'bigger' platforms like Facebook and Google have problems with spam (and fake news) and no good solutions in sight.

[I>U]

Those bigger platforms are affected by ad-bots, while Steam bots exists to assist scammers aiming for your inventory. There is nothing you can steal in Twitter, nothing you can steal in EGS, but even for people that never bothered with trading cards there is a risk in Steam to be targeted just because of the sheer amount of accumulated cards, extra gifts from 4-pack gifts and so on.

If you want to win this fight - disolve Steam market and make all the items of users inventories untradable. It is the root of these bots and their activity in Steam.