Account abnormality

[SHMTT]

After I gave a friend a gift card, my friend gave me the game in return, but my friend’s account was locked. What does this mean?
Why can’t I use the gift card after receiving it? There was clearly no abnormal behavior and no external VPN was used, but it was identified as a scam. Isn't this normal procedure? The current rule change means gift cards cannot be used?
This is really weird...it's really a very inexplicable thing. I don't know if anyone else has encountered this problem, I hope it can be solved as soon as possible.

[Ogami]

Giving money to another account so they can buy you a gift falls under the suspicion of "commercial trading", meaning you paid him for the gift.
Also in general Steam does not like it if you use wallet funds for gifting games to other accounts for the same reason.
For your own account its fine but if you want to buy a gift its advised to use an external payment method on not Steam Wallet funds.
In any case since its your friehds account that has been locked he is the one who has to contact Steam Support and wait what they have to say.

[SHMTT]

But… I use a credit card to buy gift cards directly for my friends. Doesn’t this count as using an external payment method? So they're specifically monitoring these operations?
I just found similar articles, and they were all because they used two accounts on the same credit card, or used VPNs and other status gifts.
There was no case like mine, and I didn't receive any warning when doing this before, which makes me confused about the method this time.

[ANNENBTW]

hhhhai

[Ogami]

Originally posted by SHMTT:

But… I use a credit card to buy gift cards directly for my friends. Doesn’t this count as using an external payment method? So they're specifically monitoring these operations?
I just found similar articles, and they were all because they used two accounts on the same credit card, or used VPNs and other status gifts.
There was no case like mine, and I didn't receive any warning when doing this before, which makes me confused about the method this time.

Thats just it, if you only do it like once a year it works usually with no problem.
But if you do it more often it triggers the automatic flagging of the account for suspicious behavior.
Again, to make sure what the reason was your friend needs to contact Support.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by SHMTT:

Account abnormality

After I gave a friend a gift card, my friend gave me the game in return, but my friend’s account was locked. What does this mean?
Why can’t I use the gift card after receiving it? There was clearly no abnormal behavior and no external VPN was used, but it was identified as a scam. Isn't this normal procedure? The current rule change means gift cards cannot be used?
This is really weird...it's really a very inexplicable thing. I don't know if anyone else has encountered this problem, I hope it can be solved as soon as possible.

Originally posted by SHMTT:

But… I use a credit card to buy gift cards directly for my friends. Doesn’t this count as using an external payment method? So they're specifically monitoring these operations?
I just found similar articles, and they were all because they used two accounts on the same credit card, or used VPNs and other status gifts.
There was no case like mine, and I didn't receive any warning when doing this before, which makes me confused about the method this time.

That looks suspicious, yes. Even more so when you detail it out the way you did here.

[SHMTT]

Originally posted by Ogami:

Originally posted by SHMTT:

But… I use a credit card to buy gift cards directly for my friends. Doesn’t this count as using an external payment method? So they're specifically monitoring these operations?
I just found similar articles, and they were all because they used two accounts on the same credit card, or used VPNs and other status gifts.
There was no case like mine, and I didn't receive any warning when doing this before, which makes me confused about the method this time.

Thats just it, if you only do it like once a year it works usually with no problem.
But if you do it more often it triggers the automatic flagging of the account for suspicious behavior.
Again, to make sure what the reason was your friend needs to contact Support.

We contacted customer service immediately and just received the game. It should be alright now...? (Thanks for your message, which gave me a better understanding of this matter.

[SHMTT]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Originally posted by SHMTT:

Account abnormality

After I gave a friend a gift card, my friend gave me the game in return, but my friend’s account was locked. What does this mean?
Why can’t I use the gift card after receiving it? There was clearly no abnormal behavior and no external VPN was used, but it was identified as a scam. Isn't this normal procedure? The current rule change means gift cards cannot be used?
This is really weird...it's really a very inexplicable thing. I don't know if anyone else has encountered this problem, I hope it can be solved as soon as possible.

Originally posted by SHMTT:

But… I use a credit card to buy gift cards directly for my friends. Doesn’t this count as using an external payment method? So they're specifically monitoring these operations?
I just found similar articles, and they were all because they used two accounts on the same credit card, or used VPNs and other status gifts.
There was no case like mine, and I didn't receive any warning when doing this before, which makes me confused about the method this time.

That looks suspicious, yes. Even more so when you detail it out the way you did here.

:nkCool:

The detailed explanation is only because I haven't found any cases similar to mine that can help me solve this problem quickly. I know I am not the one who did the bad thing, so why can't I say it?
Even if you think it's ok, I haven't done anything illegal. I just want to resolve it quickly, rather than end up with the same experience as before, where the authorities and the bank passed the buck to each other, resulting in me not getting the game nor the refund.

[SHMTT]

Since the matter has progressed, this article will not respond here. (Thanks to everyone who left a message, regardless of their attitude towards this article)

[Ogami]

Originally posted by SHMTT:

We contacted customer service immediately and just received the game. It should be alright now...? (Thanks for your message, which gave me a better understanding of this matter.

Yes but in the future your friend should gift you games with an external payment method and use wallet funds just for their own account.
Support usually lifts the flag once as an exception but if it happens again they usually say its permanent.