Way to trace possible hack?

[America Number Best]

Does anyone know if there is a way to trace possible hacks to an account? If purchases were made and linked to a PayPal account but the owner claims he did not make them, how can this be proven? (disclaimer- I am writing about and from my son's account. Over $500 was spent on Steam that he says he didn't spend - he thinks it was part of a phishing scam) Any advice would be appreciated.

[fzhghfj]

message steam support that recent purchases havent been made by you, but someone unknown who had access to your account, though i doubt that valve will help you in that case.

[America Number Best]

ok - will try that. Thought there would be a way to link up purchases with games he plays, etc. Thanks!

[Practicaly]

thanks

[Practicaly]

[Kargor]

If can link a copyright violation to this, then police and intelligence agencies around the world will track down the culprit. Other than that -- no, they won't be interested.

[EldaBerry]

Were the items purchased used on the steam account in question or gifted to another? What do the steam account details say?

[America Number Best]

A little of both - @EldaBerry. I am not the regular Steam user - my son (owner of this account) is. So I was just trying to get some help @Kargor and @Rain - no need to be snarky.

[cinedine]

The profile has the level 3 Community badge, which means it has Steam Mobile Guard active. Which makes it basically impossible for a "hacker" to access the account without the owner being incomprehensible stupid.

Even then, I'm pretty sure you still need to authorize the capture at PayPal's. Which would mean a "hacker" needs to have the credentials for the Steam account, PayPal account, and either the eMail account or access to the phone.

[EldaBerry]

I'm thinking there's a possibility your child might be telling a fib. Did he buy games that were played? Did a handful of friends get some goodies or people not connected to the account? It doesn't seem normal to try to get items for the actual account holder during a hack.

If you ask paypal to do a chargeback steam will lock the account permenantly in about 9 weeks so you might be able to use that as a way to interrogate your little one.

It's also a good time to change your log in credentials, unattach your paypal from the account, scan your pc, and remind your little one about phishing and clicking links, yada, yada.

[America Number Best]

Thanks, Cinedine- this is really helpful info. I appreciate this! I didn't know about Steam Mobile Guard.

[America Number Best]

Yes- I was thinking he is not being upfront. I can see all of the purchases that came out of his bank account linked up to PayPal- all for Steam. He says he didn't spend all of that money (drained his account) but I think he just got carried away and didn't keep track. So his excuse is that he "must have been scammed" by a trojan virus - that it has happened to others on Steam by accepting some request. He changed passwords for everything, ran malwarebytes, etc. and I was trying to give him the benefit of a doubt. Thanks for your help! No more access to computers for him for awhile!

[cinedine]

Originally posted by Sainta Claws:

Thanks, Cinedine- this is really helpful info. I appreciate this! I didn't know about Steam Mobile Guard.

Also keep one thing in mind:
A purchase is a legal contract. You might have some laws applicable here. In some countries purchases of a significant amount done by minors are only provisionally effective and can be objected by a legal guardian.
This is country specific, so look it up. Especially since we're dealing with distance selling. Generally, though, you are accountable for what happened with your account (this is your PayPal account).

You'll have to work with support here in either case.

Originally posted by EldaBerry:

If you ask paypal to do a chargeback steam will lock the account permenantly in about 9 weeks so you might be able to use that as a way to interrogate your little one.

That's evil. ... I approve.

[EldaBerry]

Well, if he lost his own money at least you have a teaching tool for budgeting and setting spending limits on one's self. lol Money comes in slow but can go out so fast!

If he bought games within the last two weeks and has played less than 2 hours in a game he can get a refund easily. Unless he would rather keep them and learn an expensive lesson. I don't know how much you let him control his spending. (Although, you are probably going to keep a close eye now)

[BossGalaga]

Originally posted by Sainta Claws:

Does anyone know if there is a way to trace possible hacks to an account? If purchases were made and linked to a PayPal account but the owner claims he did not make them, how can this be proven? (disclaimer- I am writing about and from my son's account. Over $500 was spent on Steam that he says he didn't spend - he thinks it was part of a phishing scam) Any advice would be appreciated.

Is there a way to "trace a hacker?" Yes. For you? No.

As far as people being snarky, it's because there have been so many laughable, "Hello, I'm the father!" threads.

Your posts here look very similar to your son's* previous posts.

Assuming you are "the father" then you shouldn't link your credit card or bank account to your son's* PayPal account. A parent shouldn't save their credit card information on their child's Steam account either.

If your PayPal account has been compromised, follow the steps here:
https://www.paypal.com/en/webapps/mpp/security/report-identity-theft

Particularly the tips on system/computer security:
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/online-security-guide

If you chargeback the charges made via PayPal to Steam, then your...or your son's Steam account can be temporarily suspended and possibly permanently restricted as well as blacklisting the payment method you used.

[therm]

Yeah, looking at the information provided in this thread, with the authenticator active and the purchases being made for the account and not gifted to another, it's pretty obvious that your son is lying. I've pulled the same thing (albeit not $500) on my parents a couple years back.

It's almost impossible for a hacker to get access to the paypal and the account with all the implications Steam has made in order to counter hacking.

On the brightside, this can be a great lesson on lying.

Try to refund the games you can.