scammed through FACEIT

[avatar hina]

Someone please help me, someone on FaceIt asked me to join their team for a tournament and told me I can't have skins in my account to qualify for the tournament. So I had to send them to a trusted friend which I did and then re-apply on face it. They told me I can cancel the trade once I get the confirmation that I'm in the tournament (Rule 3:Rewards), and once I tried that it wouldn't cancel and then told me I sent them all to my friend. So I went to my history to cancel it and it shows that I sent them to a complete stranger. This person said "dont panic, i just showed you how scam works on faceit in 2023. im content maker for youtube, you get all your items back in a week(because of the trade ban)" and I'm freaking out right now. I sent 77 items thinking due to Rule 3 in FaceIt tournaments I can't have active skins. I don't know how to get them all back and I really need help. I've already reported the scammer's steam account.

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

Face it you got scammed.

[✪ zionorbit]

HuBsOn původně napsal:

Hey just wanted to say that same thing happened to me and lost 11 pages worth of items worth well over 1k. I also can’t believe i was so gullible but they told good lies. I never thought that by trading items to my friend can somehow be intercepted. Steam responded that they literally cant help me. I played this game for a very long time and i dont think i can pull myself together to continue playing this game.

I am in the same shape. I just lost my 1k inventory. Man ♥♥♥♥ these scammers.

[JamesF0790]

If you're using steam's login on a 3rd party website the only way to be sure is by going to the steam website first and making sure you're logged in. If the third party site asks for your login then you're not on steam.If it says "Hey, you're trying to log into this third party site" and shows you're already logged in then it's most likely steam you're logged onto.

[skOsH♥]

I almost walked right into the same trap

They'll tell you they need that API key you use to have 2FA to join their team

The URL could even look like it's faceit official site

Just never give out that code

[ペンギン]

Older topic but unfortunately still up to date...

Lilim původně napsal:

There is an official support site about this scam.

Scam: Join a Tournament

It starts with such links on Steam, where users cannot see which page they are really being redirected to. Regardless of whether this is here in the forum or in the chat, where they are forwarded directly. This is not a criticism of you, but to the platform behavior itself.

In this case it would be

steam://openurl/https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/4081-BACF-CA77-27F0

No titletag, no mouseover, nothing. Or short. Users need to be doubly careful since Valve support such weaknesses by such missing details. In addition, there are extensive HSTS and CSP rules with whitelists and filter rules on top of that which, however, have other goals than protecting users. And without developer mode in Steam, users do not even have the option to inspect the specific position in the source code

[Aluvard]

ペンギン původně napsal:

It starts with such links on Steam, where users cannot see which page they are really being redirected to. Regardless of whether this is here in the forum or in the chat, where they are forwarded directly. This is not a criticism of you, but to the platform behavior itself.

All user need to do is click on "reply to post". Then they can verify where url will lead them.
Or copy link address and paste it in browser.

From my experience - only urls that stay inside Steam client can be posted in such way as one you've mentioned; those that send people outside of system looks different.
Paradox[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

[Tr3m0r]

I feel for you OP. It's a sad fact that the community is only negative to people getting scammed and use logic like the victim is dumb and gullable. It's actually not true and I have a ton of experience with high end CS skin trading from years back. The reality is, the economy in that game alone is worth 15 billion dollars and is worth more than every crypto not in the top 7. Yet it has zero accountability, customer protection, and is a huge Grey market money laundering disaster. I have no shame in saying I have been scammed on a few occasions and most people who were active traders absolutely did as well.

Sometimes it was a complete lack of technology protection in the steam mobile client that had bait and switches much easier to pass by. Sometimes exact profiles and friends lists were made and it was a super small discrepancy you would have to learn to look out for to prevent it.

Most of the scams were very novel and much later got addressed while no one but Russian dupers ever got inventories back despite the scams being novel and legit. People have a reasonable right to understand mechanics involved in their gaming and it's still lacking in virtual items. Thankfully privacy rights are making headway and I'm most certain this impossible wall will one day have SERIOUS accountability for making one of the world's biggest crypto and real cash economies on the skins designed to manipulate kids who aren't even old enough to voice consent.

Not even able to give consent because of age and the fact it's just casino gaming tactics used from the very beginning. Yet the victims are the PROBLEM? Some people are so tone deaf and must live just perfectly balanced and privileged lives whilst only seeing issues as black and white.

I say all this because I feel for you OP and this is another example of millions of cases getting ripped to go into the pockets of big global bot farms that conspire with Valve just through their own complacency and being complicit to not take real measured action. The economy had grown more than bitcoin and ether year over year. It's highly manipulated where now dragon lores I would trade at 2000USD in 2018 for .01 FN quality duped are 30K. The people funding elections won't be the people to suffer though when it comes crashing but all the small traders. And it will happen overnight. Fwiw.

[Crazy Tiger]

Tr3m0r původně napsal:

this is another example of millions of cases getting ripped to go into the pockets of big global bot farms that conspire with Valve just through their own complacency and being complicit to not take real measured action.

Citation needed.

[Aluvard]

Tr3m0r původně napsal:

this is another example of millions of cases getting ripped to go into the pockets of big global bot farms that conspire with Valve just through their own complacency and being complicit to not take real measured action.

When you throw around such accusations, you should also provide some source for your information to allow others to independently verify the data and reach their own conclusions.

Otherwise, I'm reminded of specific sentence from T. Prachett.

Terry Pratchett, Jingo původně napsal:

“Sergeant Colon had had a broad education. He’d been to the School of My Dad Always Said, the College of It Stands to Reason, and was now a postgraduate student at the University of What Some Bloke In the Pub Told Me.”

[Zimmy]

Had a moment of weakness and had something similar happen to my account. It’s absolutely bullcrap steam is doing nothing about this. It’s their platform, they should make it so trades can be reversed within a two day period of time.

They also so make these scammers go away. To put it bluntly, I was bamboozled because I was accepting a couple friend request from work and got screwed by the multiple requests Id get because I had a knife skin.

You can blame the victim for being gullible, but when they block your friends list, email your account with an official looking email, put up an official looking prompt on your account and message you. You’re in a panic or having a bad day. You can be vulnerable.

Ultimately, the scammers should take a long walk off a short plank. But, steam support should be taking action when EVERY WEEK I am inundated with scam friend requests.

Bright side is now that it’s gone I stopped getting so many requests. Good riddance. Never touching CS again. Been playing since condition zero and extremely pissed the policy is “the scammers win” mentality steam has given as a policy. All I can ask is that steam actually gets their ♥♥♥♥ together and prioritizes user safety over profits from these scams.

Also how the hell is this not reversible when its VERY obviously a scam that took just my cs skins. I call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!

[nullable]

Zimmy původně napsal:

Had a moment of weakness and had something similar happen to my account. It’s absolutely bullcrap steam is doing nothing about this. It’s their platform, they should make it so trades can be reversed within a two day period of time.

You say that, until a favorable trade gets reversed because some other person had second thoughts. And why two days? Why not one or three?

Victims always have advice for and opinions that if Valve only did X, I would be fine. Often it's extra security demands they make up for their situation. Sometimes changes to the trading system to benefit themselves. But there is a third option.... keep your account secure and learn about proper security.

Zimmy původně napsal:

They also so make these scammers go away. To put it bluntly, I was bamboozled because I was accepting a couple friend request from work and got screwed by the multiple requests Id get because I had a knife skin.

First, you have to get a hundred million users to secure their accounts so they don't get hijacked and used maliciously. Maybe you think because it's easy to say, it's easy to do. Not so!

And Valve isn't the internet police, and outside of Steam there's a lot of Internet for scammers to use.

Zimmy původně napsal:

You can blame the victim for being gullible, but when they block your friends list, email your account with an official looking email, put up an official looking prompt on your account and message you. You’re in a panic or having a bad day. You can be vulnerable.

I would agree that calling people gullible is a bit unfair. These scams are often sophisticated and honed to exploit common human weaknesses that we all share. Only knowledge about how scams work, and why, can really inoculate you. Namely any interaction that relies on fear or greed to get you to act is highly suspect.

Zimmy původně napsal:

Ultimately, the scammers should take a long walk off a short plank. But, steam support should be taking action when EVERY WEEK I am inundated with scam friend requests.

Bright side is now that it’s gone I stopped getting so many requests. Good riddance. Never touching CS again. Been playing since condition zero and extremely pissed the policy is “the scammers win” mentality steam has given as a policy. All I can ask is that steam actually gets their ♥♥♥♥ together and prioritizes user safety over profits from these scams.

Also how the hell is this not reversible when its VERY obviously a scam that took just my cs skins. I call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!

Well problem is, if you make a ticket and claimed you were scammed and you want all your items back. Very hard to prove you weren't scammed and are just trying to exploit a loophole in the system, which is what people did early on. And why Valve adopted all trades/market transactions are final. So again, you might sing a different tune if you traded fair and secure and then one day Valve just yanks the item out of your inventory because the other jerk lied about being scammed. Granted you probably don't care so much because you only care about today's injury. But flipside is if you had a pretty rare item and one day it wasn't so rare because Valve duplicated items, you'd probably have opinions about that. Every solutions has some pros and cons.

So one could argue there's a lot fewer scammers than greedy users, so preventing users from crying scam, falsely, probably has a bigger impact than letting them and scammers run amok abusing a generous item restoration policy. And one could argue that learning a hard lesson with lost items, and having no option but to learn how to properly protect yourself in the future may have more benefit than letting users run amok because Steam will always give their items back whenever they're sad.

[Mezzrow]

Anyone whos is having a go at this person falling for a scam is a useless human.
This is a very sophisticated scam, I've been using computers and working with scamers for 30 plus years, and a tone of people would fall for this one . I almost did,
it looks legit, it has the right steam page links for the signup stage
and it can come for anyone you've played games with over the years.

So I feel for anyone who's lost their inventory I was half way though signing up to
faceit this morning and then it clicked it wasn't right as soon as it started asking for my steam login in details

hopefully you guys can contact steam and get your stuff back but i doubt it

at the end of the day these are just skins for a game..
Go outside and embrace nature then realise that none of this means anything in the end

[Jarek has quit gaming]

Mezzrow původně napsal:

This is a very sophisticated scam, I've been using computers and working with scamers for 30 plus years, and a tone of people would fall for this one . I almost did,

You almost fell for it after working with scammers for more than 30 years?

In that case i think it's more about the ability to catch red flags early on, than it is experience based. Some people are just able to spot the signs faster than others. (which is not meant in a mean way, it's part of human nature)

[Brian9824]

Mezzrow původně napsal:

Anyone whos is having a go at this person falling for a scam is a useless human.
This is a very sophisticated scam, I've been using computers and working with scamers for 30 plus years, and a tone of people would fall for this one . I almost did,
it looks legit, it has the right steam page links for the signup stage
and it can come for anyone you've played games with over the years.

Its not even that complicated. NEVER sign into your steam account on a random site. No legit site will ever ask you to sign into steam and give away your credentials. Steam has had a secure way to login for years now that does not involve sharing your credentials and any legit site will use that.

If they don't then they aren't trustworthy.

[J4MESOX4D]

Mezzrow původně napsal:

This is a very sophisticated scam, I've been using computers and working with scamers for 30 plus years, and a tone of people would fall for this one . I almost did,
it looks legit

If you've been working with scammers for three decades and cannot identify a simple phishing page then it's time to call it a day.