Account access revoked

[Reine]

Hello everyone.

Steam has revoked my access to my account because it was created by my childhood friend for me when I didn't have a computer in 2014. he asked me to change the email address on it when I get the chance and I did so back then and I'm still using the same email and phone number associated with the account.

How the account access was revoked:

I broke my phone a week ago and I had to send it in to be repaired but this morning while playing a game, I was notified by steam that my account credentials have changed.

I did not have my mobile authenticator at the moment so I tried to contact steam support and inform them about my situation as truthfully as I can with every account detail including the last 4 digits of my payment card and the phone number used for making the mobile authenticator.

They informed me to provide the email address which was used initially to create the account but I am no longer in touch with the friend who set up my account for me when we were kids.

A few minutes ago, steam support removed the access to the account when they realized that I was not the one who created the account despite me being the only person to have actually used it and bought nearly 250 games on it.

I'm very distraught and bewildered right now and I tried to request the support team to reinstate my access to the account as I was the only one using my money to buy those games on it.

I just want to know if there is a chance that they might consider giving the account back to me and if so, what should I do?

This is my secondary account but my main account access has been removed from my email address and phone number.

The account was created 8 years ago by my childhood friend because I didn't have a computer at home. We would play games at a gaming cafe after school. I updated the credentials to my own email address and phone number and he handed it over to me and i was only 15/16 when this happened so I had no clue that exchanging steam accounts is a bannable offense.

There was no transaction or any monetary value to the account when he gave it to me. I'm the only one to buy games on it with my hard earned money.

I am no longer in touch with this friend so i cannot provide or ask him to retrieve the steam account for me.

It's been 11 hours since steam support last responded to my support ticket and and I've detailed my situation to them ever since but still no response from them.

TLDR;

Steam notified me that my password has changed while playing a game, phone was broken so i couldn't log back in because of steam guard mobile authentication. Steam support thinks this account doesn't belong to me just because I asked my friend to make it for me when I was 15 years old and without a computer at home. I have purchased over 250+ games on my account over the course of 8 years and i vant bear to lose my account just because I didn't know it was a bannable offence in my case.

Please help me

[J4MESOX4D]

If you didn't create the account then it is not yours no matter how much you've spent on it since. This is how users who buy accounts get burned years down the line when the original creator (owner) reclaims the account or the person using it loses access.

If Support removed access to it then there must have been something significant happened for them to take this action i.e your friend has claimed ownership back.

[Cathulhu]

As you are not the original owner of the account you are in violation of the Steam Subscriber Agreement.
You did read that when you created your own account, right?

You may not reveal, share or otherwise allow others to use your password or Account except as otherwise specifically authorized by Valve. You are responsible for the confidentiality of your login and password and for the security of your computer system. Valve is not responsible for the use of your password and Account or for all of the communication and activity on Steam that results from use of your login name and password by you, or by any person to whom you may have intentionally or by negligence disclosed your login and/or password in violation of this confidentiality provision. Unless it results from Valve’s negligence or fault, Valve is not responsible for the use of your Account by a person who fraudulently used your login and password without your permission.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

[Phoenix]

Any idea why your account credentials changed in the first place?

[Cathulhu]

Maybe the original owner recovered it.

[Muppet among Puppets]

If you have the key of the first game or if you made every single purchase on the account,
i would say, there is no reason to take the account away from you.

If support can not help you, maybe contact the owner of steam. His email is public.

[Bee🐝]

Odd. Account credentials wouldn’t just be provoke without a very good reason. Nothing to do with a broken phone.

Possibilities? The original owner recovered the account and had enough info to do so.

OP, to have your account returned you need to provide Support with what they’re asking for. Note, that if they’ve gone the first email - and not the “proof of payment” - route, it means Support has noticed some activity on the account for which they require further (and older) clarity.

[DC-GS]

Originally posted by Bee:

Note, that if they’ve gone the first email - and not the “proof of payment” - route,

Just a hint, they will ask what the email address was. They will not ask you to have still access to it.

Another thing i didnt see someone mentioning it:
Was your phone secured? You gave it to some stranger. Maybe the stranger had full access to all your apps and data and tried to abuse it.

[J4MESOX4D]

Can you take a picture of the message received from Support? Make sure you leave out the account name. Just want to double check you aren't being scammed. If the message from Support is legitimate and they've determined you aren't the original owner then that's final. There's probably more to this story also.

[Bee🐝]

Originally posted by DC-GS:

Originally posted by Bee:

Note, that if they’ve gone the first email - and not the “proof of payment” - route,

Just a hint, they will ask what the email address was. They will not ask you to have still access to it.

DC-GS makes a very good point OP. So, maybe you have your friend's email somewhere in your email contact list?

There are cases where they'll ask for a reply from the specific email address, but I don't remember if they do that for account recovery as well.

[Reine]

So as it turns out, the friend who created the email didn't really use a legitimate email when signing up all those years ago.

It says i need to email an account verification code to @*.* And it doesn't even hint any letters or symbols.

In short, there really is no valid first email address that could be reached for account recovery.

My question is; is it possible for steam support to consider the complexity of this situation and grant me an exception in this case since I've been a very loyal customer since 8 years without any infractions.

The original owner is a friend and they certay haven't accessed the account, it was steam support that revoked my access after i foolishly decalred to them that my friend helped me create the account back when we were kids and even though I changed the email address on the account post acquiring it and using the same email, phone number and payment method for almost a decade, they think I am not the owner of the account on the technicality that i didn't sign up myself.

I was very young and stupid to even care or know about the fine print of the ToS when signing up.

[Reine]

Originally posted by Phoenix:

Any idea why your account credentials changed in the first place?

The credentials remained the same oddly enough. After starting the support ticket, i waited hours for a response from support but I was eventually able to get my phone back from repair the very same day.

It didn't have steam installed on it as i did a factory reset prior to sending it in for repair.

Anyway, i was able to log back in once again with the same password and account details I've been using for years however, while playing a video game a few hours later, the support response came and i was informed they will be revoking my account access because they think that my friend "gifted" it to me when in reality all he did was sign up for me at a game parlor since i didn't own a computer at home during that time.

[Reine]

Originally posted by Chompman:

There is nothing steam can do as this is a legal issue with your account as it was created for you when you were underage and this is against the law for you to have thus they will have to delete it.

I wasn't underage, i was only 16 but didn't have computer access. I've been buying the games on my account with the same card for years and without any issues.

[Reine]

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

As you are not the original owner of the account you are in violation of the Steam Subscriber Agreement.
You did read that when you created your own account, right?

You may not reveal, share or otherwise allow others to use your password or Account except as otherwise specifically authorized by Valve. You are responsible for the confidentiality of your login and password and for the security of your computer system. Valve is not responsible for the use of your password and Account or for all of the communication and activity on Steam that results from use of your login name and password by you, or by any person to whom you may have intentionally or by negligence disclosed your login and/or password in violation of this confidentiality provision. Unless it results from Valve’s negligence or fault, Valve is not responsible for the use of your Account by a person who fraudulently used your login and password without your permission.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

Unfortunately, i did not. I was a teenager and didn't understand any of this legal stuff. Plus it was my friend who helped me sign up so i didn't even get to see the ToS screen then

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by Reinrosannir:

My question is; is it possible for steam support to consider the complexity of this situation and grant me an exception in this case since I've been a very loyal customer since 8 years without any infractions.

Imagine if they granted everyone an exception that has been using someone else's account they stole but never having had done anything wrong while using said stolen account? And when the original owner comes back to reclaim what is rightfully theirs, they are told 'no' by Steam because the person who stole it from them has been a perfect user?

By your own admission you state that you are not the creator of the account. Accounts are free to create so there is no need for someone to create one for you. The reason being is what you're having to go through right now. If you created the account, you'd have a better idea of what the first email was on the account. Support is going to ask for what they need to prove you are the owner of the account. If you cannot, they are not going to give you an exception because it would mean for them that they are handing control of an account over to someone who is potentially not the owner. If they started granting these kinds of exceptions, then we should all be worried about account security because it would mean Steam doesn't care anymore. Epic would be flooded with users as we all abandoned Steam.

[Cathulhu]

So, you didn't create your current account either? Or did you refuse to read a legally binding contract before reading it?