Scammers acting like a virus on Steam

[MK PhilledZone]

Hey, just wanted to talk about this, since it's nothing really good.
Maybe you guys already know of it but I still wanted to share my experience.

There are scammers on Steam. If you ever get told, that someone reported you on accident, DONT BELIEVE THEM!!! They will try to get you to Discord where a fake Wheatly (Official Steam Mod (Well, the real Wheatly I mean)) will "help" you fix your ban issue. That person will tell you that you have to pay half of what you have ever paid on Steam. I fell for it. I was dumb, but luckily, I couldn't pay!

Now we're getting into the really bad stuff:
The whole situation started because a random dude I've never seen before, commented under a screenshot of mine that he accidently reported me. After that fake Wheatly had my account in his possetion, he started texting my friends that he reported them accidently. My friends texted me on Discord after that and I told them to report my account for investigation. Luckily, Steam Support was fast enough and no huge damage was done! I got my account back.

This guy steals accounts, using them to steal more accounts. It's like a digital virus!
I know you might think that I'm the most stupid person in the universe, to believe something like that, but I just wanted to share my experience with you! I just don't want this to happen to other people! Don't be as dumb as I was!

To sum things up, here are a few tips:
1. The Steam support will NEVER use Discord! They only communicate with you via official Support Tickets!
2. They will NEVER ask you to pay anything!
3. If there is someone texting you on Steam, and you don't know if it's a moderator or not, look for the "Valve Employee" Badge on their profile, or see if they are on the official Moderator list!

Edit:
If you think that an account is stolen, report the account for investigation too!
If you got your account stolen: Try to get it back via the Steam Support page dedicated to that topic! It worked for me! So it might work for you too!

Have a good day gamers!

[Morgan Fun Gamer]

Thanks for spreading awareness

[blunus]

1. You haven't see a dozens of threads said that before yours.
2. PSA threads don't work.
3. People don't read these forums until they get scammed or their accounts hijacked.

[MK PhilledZone]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย blunus:

1. You haven't see a dozens of threads said that before yours.
2. PSA threads don't work.
3. People don't read these forums until they get scammed or their accounts hijacked.

It's still better than not doing anything. I can at least TRY to spread awareness

[Sasori Kigaru]

I honestly don't understand why people have a problem with these kinds of posts.

"PSA threads don't ever work, no one reads them!"
This and variations of it aren't true, but aren't fully false either. I mean yeah, some people won't read it. Maybe a lot. That doesn't mean no one reads them at all.

I don't see spreading awareness as a bad thing. You can't convince scammers not to scam, so the best you can do is talk about it. Doing nothing at all, which is apparently what most people suggest, does just that. Nothing.

Technically a PSA could be made officially and pinned somewhere to localize these threads and let people share experiences but I kinda doubt that'll happen.

Anyway, am expecting to see a bunch of people complain about this post.

[м]

the problem is not the post itself, the problem is that there are hundreds of threads like this and people somehow manage to get scammed anyway.

[MK PhilledZone]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย м:

the problem is not the post itself, the problem is that there are hundreds of threads like this and people somehow manage to get scammed anyway. :madstar:

I, for example, don't read posts like these every day. The more there, the better!

[Ronvi]

Ничего не понял но было интересно.

[Sasori Kigaru]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย м:

the problem is not the post itself, the problem is that there are hundreds of threads like this and people somehow manage to get scammed anyway. :madstar:

Aye, and it is always going to be like that. You can't change people. However, that doesn't mean leave it alone to fester. These kinds of posts do help people sometimes and that is their point. The main reason they aren't as effective as they could be, is because the posts get buried. If there was a pinned thread at the top of the community forum, acting as a PSA and for people to talk about their experiences then not only is it a lot harder to miss but it gives a place for all these kinds of posts to get moved to.

None of us can do that though, so the only other recourse people have when they want to assist is to post it in the community in general.

[kitt]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย MK PhilledZone:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย м:

the problem is not the post itself, the problem is that there are hundreds of threads like this and people somehow manage to get scammed anyway. :madstar:

I, for example, don't read posts like these every day. The more there, the better!

and apparently you also don't read Valve/Steam own warning about scams..

you and others are just ignnorant and then act like mother teresa with PSA, which wouldn't be needed if people would stop ignoring warnings..

[Naruto 607]

I'll be honest; I was like you last year, and few days ago I got the exact same thing that I just have to say "NO" over and over until the guy stopped ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about this and reported the said account.

Glad that "exact same thing" was on the phone and not in front of my computer. My chats are closed as far as I concern, but someone commented for something like that on a screenshot? Uncanny, AFAIK.

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Iam shocked, didn`t read it before, oh wait i did.

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย kitt:

and apparently you also don't read Valve/Steam own warning about scams..

you and others are just ignnorant and then act like mother teresa with PSA, which wouldn't be needed if people would stop ignoring warnings..

Also this.

[Sasori Kigaru]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|:

Iam shocked, didn`t read it before, oh wait i did.

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย kitt:

and apparently you also don't read Valve/Steam own warning about scams..

you and others are just ignnorant and then act like mother teresa with PSA, which wouldn't be needed if people would stop ignoring warnings..

Also this.

The problem with that though, is that the harder it is to dig, the less likely anyone will find it.

Now Valve do have precautions in place that show up in the moment, but people are easily distracted and fooled. Kind of why having a PSA, as a pinned thread at the top of the Steam Community forum, would do some good for some people and would again cease a good amount of PSA's that get made anyway. Those that get made anyway could just be moved to that thread where it'd belong.

This suggestion puts the warning, in a place where its easier to be spotted, but also out of the way just enough not to be an eyesore to whomever may consider it to be. Though really no one should have a problem with it but alas people will complain about anything

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Pinned topics will also not work for all. Most people ignore them all the time. I also know that this scam is a big problem.

But Valve is warning people, and this whole scam is just nuts. Its all about fear and panic.

Some people also tried it with me, i played the game, and reported them, this is a never ending story.

[Sasori Kigaru]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|:

Pinned topics will also not work for all. Most people ignore them all the time. I also know that this scam is a big problem.

But Valve is warning people, and this whole scam is just nuts. Its all about fear and panic.

Some people also tried it with me, i played the game, and reported them, this is a never ending story.

Aye, I'm not saying such a thing wouldn't be ignored. I am saying that it is wrong to call them completely ineffective when they do in fact help and should honestly have a place. So I offered a potential idea.

Scams aren't ever going to go away, so the best way to combat it is to teach people, and then constantly teach them as scammers move onto more methods.

Its a game of cat and mouse, much like Anti-cheat vs Cheat developers. The Cheat Dev's work out new ways to get past the Anti-cheat, the Anti-cheat works up new ways to counter them and the cycle continues.

its the exact same thing with scamming. They'll continue with one method, then when that method doesn't work they'll move to the next.

I constantly have to teach my grandparents, since they're targeted by scammers and well, due to their age they can be pretty easily deceived. Less so now that I made it apparent they must let me check and confirm should anyone ask for access to their PC or banking stuff.

Anyway imma go in circles if I don't stop here lol

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย (Sasori Kigaru) Refrigeraptor:

Snip

I agree to most of it.