I got scammed need help please!

[Tarnished]

Got scammed for more than 2500$. I write today because I’m desperate and don’t know how to get help, yesterday while playing sons of forest I started receiving messages threw the steam chat of someone posing as a steam GM telling my that my account needed a reboot and was under investigation because of a purchase I had made in the steam market. My first reaction was to block and ban the user that was contacting me BUT HE WAS STILL ABLE TO CONTACT ME after this (this made me trust that it was a GM account) on top of this my profile had been altered whit a text saying that my account was to be rebooted and my profile picture was changed. (This was the second thing that made me trust this person was a GM that had the power to change my profile and text me after I had blocked him). He told me that I had 5 minutes before the reboot happened and I would lose all items but to avoid losing them I could transfer them a friend I was playing with at the moment. He even told me he could speed things up for me and made a trade offer between my and my friend. It looked fully legit like my friends account (that’s what freaked me out even more). So my been all innocent and stupid when ahead and went for it. The person kept texting and told me that he was working on sending my items back and that the reboot was sucefull. BUT HE STILL WANTED MORE. He told me I needed to buy An item threw a 3rd site to verify my identity, he even game me my last 4 digits of my debit card and asked me to use it to verify it was me. At this point I had already fall in he’s web completely and folllowed to but a 276$ worth item and once I transfer the item to my account he took it all. I lost all of my items for a total worth of more than 2,500$ came to find out steam doesn’t give you any help once this has happened. I’m desperate, depressed and feel so stupid I have been saving this items for 20 years + and never felled for a scam but the fact my account was altered without me doing anything and him been able to text after I blocked him and him knowing my info made me trusted PLEASE I AM BEGGING SOMEONE HELP ME give me a light.

[Wolf Knight]

your account is compromised
DO NOT TRADE
If you have access to the account

Steps to take NOW to secure the account:
1. Scan for malware https://www.malwarebytes.com/
2. Deauthorize all other devices https://store.steampowered.com/twofactor/manage
3. Change passwords from a clean computer
4. Generate new backup codes for your Mobile App https://store.steampowered.com/twofactor/manage
5. Revoke the API key https://steamcommunity.com/dev/apikey (there should be nothing in the APIKEY)


Please review how you are logging into Steam, you somehow gave them your log in information. This could of been due to the computer being compromised and redirecting to a fake login, or you using a 3rd party site to login to steam.

[Tarnished]

So all of my items are gone forever even if i got evidence of it been a scam?

[Wolf Knight]

Originally posted by Tarnished:

So all of my items are gone forever even if i got evidence of it been a scam?

that is correct. steam does not return scammed/stolen items anymore. people abused the restoration option, so steam stopped it.

[Cardo Dalisay]

Sad

[Tarnished]

I cant believe this is a thing that is happening in masses and steam cant help us. This guys literally did things that only a steam gm could do and got away with it

[Wolf Knight]

Originally posted by Tarnished:

I cant believe this is a thing that is happening in masses and steam cant help us. This guys literally did things that only a steam gm could do and got away with it

he did things that anyone who has access to your account can do. and they gained access because you somehow gave away the log in. you need to take some time and figure out how you did that so you dont repeat that mistake.

it is far easier to get the log in from the account owner then it is to try and actually hack the account.

[Dimitri Sokolow]

Similarly, this incident made me want to watch it too.
Messages were sent to many people from my account
In the message they sent, they talk about things like gift codes in the link.
I don't know how I caught this virus
I didn't have much in my inventory, but they transferred the cards I earned in the game to different bot profiles.
My account has been on steam guard for about 2.3 years, but I have not received any notifications despite this.
They managed to do this even though I did not give my consent on my phone.
Then steam guard was of no use to me
Right now I'm just doing a full scan of the computer with Malwarebyte.

[de_orphan23]

Yeah i just got scammed too. Im new to Steam and Counter Strike, I got into gambling boxes and got a StatTrak Paracord Knife Fade, Factory New with a high fade on it. It sells for about 650$. My mom was recently diagnosed with Inoperable liver cancer and shes not doing well, we are a bit desperate for money at the moment as the last couple months have been rough. I was just trying to get some money so i can continue going and helping take care of her and spend time with her while I can. She is only 52 years old and has always been my best friend, as my dad passed when I was 4, also cancer. The guy scamming was very very thorough, screen shared on discord, waited a week for the knife to become tradeable, pulled up paypal and put in the amount agreed upon, I was very skeptical and normally I am smarter about these situations, but my dumbass self fell for it, I traded him the items as he went to hit pay, he logged out of steam on his PC to show he couldnt accept offer while he sent payment, as soon as i sent it and refreshed he accepted before i could cancel. He was walking me through everything and teaching me how to trade, he showed me he trades with some of the most well known marketers on twitch, and he has almost 1000 comments on his profile saying he is a reputable reseller, he is level 150 on Steam and has the 8 years of service coin on his profile. I dont even care about the money at this point i guess. I just want my knife back. I almost didnt sell it to him at first, and he got mad because he said he already had a buyer. Me being a good person, was like okay, fine, ill sell it to him so that i dont screw him over, and i get money out of it. I guess not. I reported him on Steam and explained the situation as well, then I read the policy and saw they do not restore items anymore. I reported again and mentioned my mom, and asked if they can make a one time exception, I highly doubt they will, cuz im not anyone special, but just figured I would share my story on here. For those of you that read this far, thank you! :) Im beyond angry I just lost all that money, but more or less disappointed I fell for it, it sucks that people took advantage of the restore so much they had to remove it entirely. It would be extremely appreciated for situations like mine. Thanks again!

[Tarnished]

Dude i feel for you this is ridiculous they should have a branch to investigate this situations and if found to be truth get the items back for the victims involved. even if i could get all of my items back with them not been tradable I would be happy. I cant believe i feel for it and as you said is what hurts the most!

[Lilim]

Originally posted by Dimitri Sokolow:

I don't know how I caught this virus

Not a virus. Most likely you have entered your Steam login details on a third-party site. There is such a site in your name history.

Originally posted by Dimitri Sokolow:

Right now I'm just doing a full scan of the computer with Malwarebyte.

Do all the steps from post #1.

Originally posted by Tarnished:

I cant believe this is a thing that is happening in masses and steam cant help us. This guys literally did things that only a steam gm could do and got away with it

You need to find out how they gained access to your account.

• Have you been asked to vote for a team/tournament/pixel art?
  
• Have you been asked to register for a tournament?
  
• Have you used any third-party site for gambling or trading?
  
• Have you logged in on a public device?
  
• Have you entered any giveaways/giveaway groups?
  
• Have you tried to claim any "free 50$ gift cards"?
  
• Have you talked to an "admin" after being "accidentally reported"?
  
• Does someone else use your PC or your account?

[Lilim]

Originally posted by MyDadsDead:

The guy scamming was very very thorough, screen shared on discord, waited a week for the knife to become tradeable, pulled up paypal and put in the amount agreed upon, I was very skeptical and normally I am smarter about these situations, but my dumbass self fell for it, I traded him the items as he went to hit pay, he logged out of steam on his PC to show he couldnt accept offer while he sent payment, as soon as i sent it and refreshed he accepted before i could cancel.

Never trade for money or promises.

What trades should I avoid?

Do not trade for anything that cannot be added into the trade offer itself. The most common examples of these scenarios are the following:

• Trading items/gifts for money outside of the Steam Community market. You cannot add Wallet credit, PayPal, gift cards or any form of money into the trade offer.
  
• Trading items/gifts for CD Keys. You cannot add a CD Key into the trade offer. CD Keys that are offered can be for a different game, fake, used or region restricted.
  
• Trading items/gifts for nothing in return in the first trade and expecting to get an item or gift in a later trade. There is no reason to not trade everything in one trade. You may add unlimited items/gifts to a single trade. A common example of this is using a middleman to facilitate a one sided trade.

Steam Trading

[de_orphan23]

Originally posted by Lilim:

Originally posted by MyDadsDead:

The guy scamming was very very thorough, screen shared on discord, waited a week for the knife to become tradeable, pulled up paypal and put in the amount agreed upon, I was very skeptical and normally I am smarter about these situations, but my dumbass self fell for it, I traded him the items as he went to hit pay, he logged out of steam on his PC to show he couldnt accept offer while he sent payment, as soon as i sent it and refreshed he accepted before i could cancel.

Never trade for money or promises.

What trades should I avoid?

Do not trade for anything that cannot be added into the trade offer itself. The most common examples of these scenarios are the following:

• Trading items/gifts for money outside of the Steam Community market. You cannot add Wallet credit, PayPal, gift cards or any form of money into the trade offer.
  
• Trading items/gifts for CD Keys. You cannot add a CD Key into the trade offer. CD Keys that are offered can be for a different game, fake, used or region restricted.
  
• Trading items/gifts for nothing in return in the first trade and expecting to get an item or gift in a later trade. There is no reason to not trade everything in one trade. You may add unlimited items/gifts to a single trade. A common example of this is using a middleman to facilitate a one sided trade.

Steam Trading

Yeah i figured that out the hard way lol, I just wish there was some sort of undo button to help with honest mistaken cases like this one. Thank you for the advice though!! :)

[Aluvard]

Originally posted by MyDadsDead:

Originally posted by Lilim:

Never trade for money or promises.

Steam Trading

Yeah i figured that out the hard way lol, I just wish there was some sort of undo button to help with honest mistaken cases like this one. Thank you for the advice though!! :)

Also read this, might be useful for you in the future:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2569847731

[de_orphan23]

Originally posted by Aluvard:

Originally posted by MyDadsDead:

Yeah i figured that out the hard way lol, I just wish there was some sort of undo button to help with honest mistaken cases like this one. Thank you for the advice though!! :)

Also read this, might be useful for you in the future:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2569847731

Yeah im just not gonna sell or trade anything again unless its to a real life friend. Easiest way to prevent future scams lol. But I appreciate it very much!! :)

[nullable]

Originally posted by Tarnished:

Dude i feel for you this is ridiculous they should have a branch to investigate this situations and if found to be truth get the items back for the victims involved. even if i could get all of my items back with them not been tradable I would be happy. I cant believe i feel for it and as you said is what hurts the most!

Or you could keep your account secure. Once of prevention is sometimes worth way more than a pound of cure.