Help to report extorsion

[cod]

Good morning community,
I'm a cyber security expert and I'm currently assisting a victim of an extortion.

The victim was forced to buy some steam cards and give the criminals the codes in order to pay the ransom.

Is it possibile to report these cards and make them unusable?

Thank you.

[Ogami]

The victim would need to go to the police and report it as a scam/crime.
It all depends on the internet fraud laws in your country after that.
The police/prosecution then can contact Valve and ask for information about those used cards and which account and such.
Getting the cards revoked in a timely fashion is highly unlikely though, this would be a long and tedious process through lawyers and courts, IF ( and its a big IF) the country laws of the victim even allows for this to be considered a crime.
Valve will not revoke those cards without a court order or similar.


The problem is this:

Originally posted by cod:

The victim was forced to buy some steam cards and give the criminals the codes in order to pay the ransom.

The victim was not "forced" to do anything. They fell for a scam story and acted rashly.
A simple google or Steam forum search would have shown its a known scam method that can easily be resolved by the user themselves and the account made secure again.
Those scammers can neither really "block" the account or ban it, its all a illusion.
But the victim panicked and paid then, which is what the scammers count on.

[Mr. Smiles]

You are assisting by posting on a public forum?

Word.

Either way, sounds like your "client" got scammed and is out a bit of money.

Were they physical or digital? (not even sure it makes a difference, answer is probably the same).

Either way, depending on the circumstances, there is next to nothing you can do, especially not render the cards worthless if they have been redeemed (likely not even if they haven't).

Also if they were purchased on steam, a charge back will get the account locked, so really no way to recoup.

[Yujah]

Originally posted by Ogami:

The victim was not "forced" to do anything. They fell for a scam story and acted rashly.
A simple google or Steam forum search would have shown its a known scam method that can easily be resolved by the user themselves and the account made secure again.

People here (as in generally in the Steam forums) seem strangely eager to blame the victim. I suppose the above quote is refering to account hijacking but it's likely this has nothing whatsoever to do with that: the from what was posted most likely scenario is a from Steam fully independent ransomware attack, with "Steam" only featuring through Steam-cards being used as a way to pay the ransom.

Yes, contact the police: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/09A1-E754-1D86-DDC9

[cod]

I posted here because I wasn't able to find a correct answer in the support area. Thanks to those who spent some of their time to answer my question properly.
The victim was not scammed nor got his/her profile stolen: this is a money laundering technique and, since I have some experience in this field, I'm afraid Valve will soon have to implement a way to contrast these actions since they will increase massively in the near future.
Police was already involved: we'll wait for them to act.
Thank you again

[Cathulhu]

Such scams are known for years, nothing new. Not on Steam or somewhere else.

[peppermint hollows]

It is a scam, and a very common one. Scammers ask for gift cards because they're hard to trace and most retailers do not provide refunds on them, and it's basically impossible to prove you did not redeem or spend the gift card yourself. Sure it could have something to do with money laundering but more likely it's the same common scam that online scammers have been doing for years for quick, easy money.

I thought a "cyber security expert" would be familiar with this kind of thing.

[Pscht]

Originally posted by peppermint hollows:

I thought a "cyber security expert" would be familiar with this kind of thing.

OP can't even decide how to write "extortion". In the first post alone he once does it right and once wrong.

[Yujah]

Right.

OP: Mail us at least $20 in Steam gift cards before the end of day lest we report you for spelling errors.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by cod:

Is it possibile to report these cards and make them unusable?

No, it is not.

Contacting the authorities would be the best option, though little is likely to come of it. Unfortunately the person may have to take it as a lesson learned.

[Crazy Tiger]

A "security expert" wouldn't be posting here, but would already have taken the correct actions.

As has been said, it's a standard scam that happens daily in various industries and services. Contact the correct authorities, that's all that can be done.