Sales of stolen accounts on G2a and others

[silver]

I have seen a recent rise of stolen accounts of all sorts of gaming platforms including steam being sold on G2a and other similar websites well they aren't advertised as stolen but it's clear that there is no way for someone to obtain huge numbers of accounts by legal reasons and it's against terms and conditions of most if not all gaming related accounts I think valve should look in to this and I think there is plenty of evidence for a lawsuit of massive proportions

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by silver:

Sales of stolen accounts on ♥♥♥ and others

I have seen a recent rise of stolen accounts of all sorts of gaming platforms including steam being sold on ♥♥♥ and other similar websites well they aren't advertised as stolen but it's clear that there is no way for someone to obtain huge numbers of accounts by legal reasons and it's against terms and conditions of most if not all gaming related accounts I think valve should look in to this and I think there is plenty of evidence for a lawsuit of massive proportions

Valve already knows and has known about the illicit 3rd party marketplace sellers of Steam account across various websites for over a decade.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by silver:

I have seen a recent rise of stolen accounts of all sorts of gaming platforms including steam being sold on ♥♥♥ and other similar websites well they aren't advertised as stolen but it's clear that there is no way for someone to obtain huge numbers of accounts by legal reasons and it's against terms and conditions of most if not all gaming related accounts I think valve should look in to this and I think there is plenty of evidence for a lawsuit of massive proportions

Well who are you thinking of suing and who are you going to hold accountable in said lawsuit? Because all users have to do is not use their Steam Login outside of Steam and not accept random requests.

[Brian9824]

Those sites are hosted in countries where you can't sue them. Even fi you manage to get a site shut down which is very difficult its back up in days under a different name.

[silver]

The main offender has been hosted by the same name and is the top result on nearly every Google search stars with G2 and ends with a their excuse is they are independent marketplace like eBay but they for a fact know that there is illegal trade going on on their platform and actively supporting it and I am sure someone would find a way to prove it

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by silver:

The main offender has been hosted by the same name and is the top result on nearly every Google search stars with G2 and ends with a their excuse is they are independent marketplace like eBay but they for a fact know that there is illegal trade going on on their platform and actively supporting it and I am sure someone would find a way to prove it

Yes, and that doesn't change that they are headquartered in countries where its harder to shut down.

[silver]

It is annoying that parasites like that can just get away with this to be fair I think most of them are just buying info from data breaches and exploiting any passwords that haven't been changed

[silver]

If the sites that allow scum to sell accounts where to be Removed it would be more doy for them to sell resulting in fewer stolen accounts I guess it's not as easy tho

[nullable]

Originally posted by silver:

The main offender has been hosted by the same name and is the top result on nearly every Google search stars with G2 and ends with a their excuse is they are independent marketplace like eBay but they for a fact know that there is illegal trade going on on their platform and actively supporting it and I am sure someone would find a way to prove it

Proof isn't the problem. Valve aren't the Internet police and navigating international law is tricky and time consuming and in the grand scheme of things a grey market site selling accounts for a video game platform may not be super high and any law enforcement's list of concerns.

Don't engage in buying or selling accounts, there you've helped Valve as much as any random user possibly can.

It might take years to get a site shut down. It takes hours to set a new site up. Clearly an unfair uphill asymmetrical battle.

[Aluvard]

Originally posted by silver:

If the sites that allow scum to sell accounts where to be Removed it would be more doy for them to sell resulting in fewer stolen accounts I guess it's not as easy tho

It's a "whack a mole" game. Valve would spend significant resources and lot of time to close site, that would instantly sprung back to life under different name.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by silver:

If the sites that allow scum to sell accounts where to be Removed it would be more doy for them to sell resulting in fewer stolen accounts I guess it's not as easy tho

Can't remove something that keeps disappearing and reappearing somewhere else.

Valve can only react by closing the accounts that are being sold, when found. Sadly, there is little else they can do.

[silver]

I am here to discuss and ideally yes people shouldn't be buying accounts especially like this but also it's not like it's completely victimless crime there are many people who do suffer due to account theft and it's not just game accounts either I think it's just not getting talked about enough but then again it might incurage the spread of this disease
Regardless of how you look at it it's there and it is a problem and it's everyones problem it might be that your email and password got leaked in a data breach not much you can do about other than be prepared have all account details memorised and don't use the same password everywhere I guess those are the only ways to really prevent theft

[silver]

Regardless of outcome the more people know about how it happens and how to prevent it the less stolen accounts I suppose

[silver]

Originally posted by Aluvard:

Originally posted by silver:

If the sites that allow scum to sell accounts where to be Removed it would be more doy for them to sell resulting in fewer stolen accounts I guess it's not as easy tho

It's a "whack a mole" game. Valve would spend significant resources and lot of time to close site, that would instantly sprung back to life under different name.

I suppose there is no real way to completely stop it but people can do better to prevent it I like a good discussion and I think this surely cu turn in to one

[Aluvard]

All people need to do to prevent it, is being less careless with their data and less greedy regarding money.

So - impossible.

[nullable]

Originally posted by silver:

I am here to discuss and ideally yes people shouldn't be buying accounts especially like this but also it's not like it's completely victimless crime there are many people who do suffer due to account theft and it's not just game accounts either I think it's just not getting talked about enough but then again it might incurage the spread of this disease

No on is arguing otherwise. It just what you're saying doesn't change the realities.

Originally posted by silver:

Regardless of how you look at it it's there and it is a problem and it's everyones problem it might be that your email and password got leaked in a data breach not much you can do about other than be prepared have all account details memorised and don't use the same password everywhere I guess those are the only ways to really prevent theft

Preventing theft is a different issue. The problem there is users are bad at account management and they almost always don't understand what they're doing.

For example I use a proper password manager (KeePass) to manage accounts, user names, passwords, recovery codes, account details. I don't need to re-use passwords or I don't need to take shortcuts. I don't need to memorize anything. I only need to remember one password, the password to access my manager's database. I'm used to my routine and it's trivial for me to add one more new account whenever I make one. It's a good habit, like brushing your teeth.

But I've mentioned it a bunch of times over the years. Everyone in my social circle knows I'm a software developer and an expert on the subject. But they've been doing their lazy BS for years or decades and it hasn't burnt them yet. Or hasn't burnt them hard enough yet. So it's in one ear and out the other. Even my wife can't be bothered to put more than half -assed effort into it. Because adding all your accounts to a password manager and getting everything setup is too much work, it's not fun, exciting, or sexy. And if you think it is, you didn't need me to tell you.

But ultimately it is possible to secure your account and manage credentials and details and anyone who doesn't is making a choice. Valve isn't responsible for those choices. No business is. You're worried about it and even your complaint reveals you don't understand how to sustainably manage account security. It's too boring for you to figure out how to take care of yourself.

My advice: get your house in order before you worry about everyone else.