Beware of Scam: Fake "$50 Steam Gift Card"

[Üks Ahv]

Warning: Dangerous Scam Alert!

Hello,

I wanted to raise awareness about a dangerous scam spreading via Discord, not Steam itself. The scam link I encountered is:
https://steamcommunity.com/gift-card/***/**. It claims to offer a $50 free Steam Wallet gift card but is fake. The link redirects victims to a phishing site with a deceptively similar address that includes a subtle error, such as an extra space in "gift-card," making it look almost identical to the real site while being a scam.

What makes this scam particularly deceptive is that the fake page looks nearly identical to the real Steam Community site. It uses the same HTML elements and design to trick users into believing it’s legitimate. If you’re not paying close attention, it’s easy to fall for.

The scam is spreading primarily through Discord. Hijacked accounts are used to distribute these links, and the account owners often don’t even realize their accounts have been compromised. They continue using their accounts normally, unaware that they are unknowingly spreading the scam.

How to Protect Yourself:

• Do not click it.
  
• Block the sender immediately.
  
• Inform others in their friends list to stay cautious.

Unfortunately, Discord support does not currently handle reports about these types of scams effectively, so it’s crucial to stay vigilant and protect yourself.

Proof of Scam:

I’ve attached a screenshot as proof from the owner of the original link, showing how the scam operates and its source.

[img]https://imgur.com/*wHzvQq[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/FLEuD*v[/img]

Origineel geplaatst door Marko Pihla:

Please share your experiences if you’ve encountered this or similar scams, and let’s work together to keep our communities safe.

Best regards, Marko

[Azuwi]

Origineel geplaatst door Üks Ahv:

Warning: Dangerous Scam Alert!

Hello,

I wanted to raise awareness about a dangerous scam spreading via Discord, not Steam itself. The scam link I encountered is:
https://steamcommunity.com/gift-card/***/**. It claims to offer a $50 free Steam Wallet gift card but is fake. The link redirects victims to a phishing site with a deceptively similar address that includes a subtle error, such as an extra space in "gift-card," making it look almost identical to the real site while being a scam.

What makes this scam particularly deceptive is that the fake page looks nearly identical to the real Steam Community site. It uses the same HTML elements and design to trick users into believing it’s legitimate. If you’re not paying close attention, it’s easy to fall for.

The scam is spreading primarily through Discord. Hijacked accounts are used to distribute these links, and the account owners often don’t even realize their accounts have been compromised. They continue using their accounts normally, unaware that they are unknowingly spreading the scam.

How to Protect Yourself:

• Do not click it.
  
• Block the sender immediately.
  
• Inform others in their friends list to stay cautious.

Unfortunately, Discord support does not currently handle reports about these types of scams effectively, so it’s crucial to stay vigilant and protect yourself.

Proof of Scam:

I’ve attached a screenshot as proof from the owner of the original link, showing how the scam operates and its source.

[img]https://imgur.com/*wHzvQq[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/FLEuD*v[/img]

Origineel geplaatst door Marko Pihla:

Please share your experiences if you’ve encountered this or similar scams, and let’s work together to keep our communities safe.

Best regards, Marko

How does the official website link have a scam page?

I am confused

[Бобок]

Origineel geplaatst door Azuwi:

How does the official website link have a scam page?

I am confused

It doesn’t. You need the most basic understanding of hyperlinks: the displayed underlined text can be anything, but when you click it you go to the actual hyperlink hidden behind it. In this case it’s a phishing website that pretends to be on https://steamcommunity.com , its domain name is somewhat similar, but misspelled.

[Üks Ahv]

Origineel geplaatst door Azuwi:

Origineel geplaatst door Üks Ahv:

Warning: Dangerous Scam Alert!

How does the official website link have a scam page?

I am confused

Response

The link in question may appear official because hijacked Discord accounts often share phishing links crafted to appear genuine. Here's how the scam operates:

1. Temporary and Changing Links

Hijacked accounts send links like https://steamcommunity.com/gift-card/*/ accompanied by legitimate-looking Steam gift card images. However, the actual underlying link is different and redirects to a phishing page (e.g., {LINK VERWIJDERD}https://u.to/*YsYIQ). These shortened or altered links mask the true destination and confuse users.

2. Temporary and Changing Links

Scammers frequently use dynamic link generators (like the {LINK VERWIJDERD}https://u.to example) to keep their operations flexible and harder to track. They also change stolen Steam account credentials and finally rely on temporary email addresses (e.g., ******@munificymail.com) to further obfuscate their activities.
These links are crafted to mimic Steam's official site design, making it extremely challenging for regular users to distinguish them from the real site.

3. Exploitation of Discord's Limitations

Discord does not currently provide effective tools to report hijacked accounts or phishing activities. Many users fail to recognize the severity of the problem until they are personally affected or fall victim to the scam.

---

Key Points to Understand

• This scam leverages Discord's lack of robust security reporting mechanisms to spread quickly. Users are tricked into thinking the links are safe due to their resemblance to official Steam URLs.
  
• The root of the issue lies in the hijacking of Discord accounts, which are then used as distribution points for the scam.

---

Suggested Solutions

1. Educate users to inspect all links carefully before clicking and to avoid using shortened links without verifying their source.
   
2. Encourage Discord to improve its account recovery and hijacked account reporting processes, which are currently insufficient.
   
3. Raise awareness about these scams within communities to reduce the number of victims.

Taking the problem seriously at both individual and organizational levels is crucial to mitigating the impact of these scams.

[Niko]

do not redeem

[Taraxa]

real legend!

ty for posting the original link structure so we could identify the fake link directly!

[Mr. Smiles]

Old scam is old?

Good to know.

[RPG Gamer Man]

Origineel geplaatst door Üks Ahv:

Warning: Dangerous Scam Alert!

Hello,

I wanted to raise awareness about a dangerous scam spreading via Discord, not Steam itself. The scam link I encountered is:
https://steamcommunity.com/gift-card/***/**. It claims to offer a $50 free Steam Wallet gift card but is fake. The link redirects victims to a phishing site with a deceptively similar address that includes a subtle error, such as an extra space in "gift-card," making it look almost identical to the real site while being a scam.

What makes this scam particularly deceptive is that the fake page looks nearly identical to the real Steam Community site. It uses the same HTML elements and design to trick users into believing it’s legitimate. If you’re not paying close attention, it’s easy to fall for.

The scam is spreading primarily through Discord. Hijacked accounts are used to distribute these links, and the account owners often don’t even realize their accounts have been compromised. They continue using their accounts normally, unaware that they are unknowingly spreading the scam.

How to Protect Yourself:

• Do not click it.
  
• Block the sender immediately.
  
• Inform others in their friends list to stay cautious.

Unfortunately, Discord support does not currently handle reports about these types of scams effectively, so it’s crucial to stay vigilant and protect yourself.

Proof of Scam:

I’ve attached a screenshot as proof from the owner of the original link, showing how the scam operates and its source.

[img]https://imgur.com/*wHzvQq[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/FLEuD*v[/img]

Origineel geplaatst door Marko Pihla:

Please share your experiences if you’ve encountered this or similar scams, and let’s work together to keep our communities safe.

Best regards, Marko

Your first issue is you used DISCORD. Discord is full of scammers. Stay on steam, but beware that steam also has it's fair share of scamers. But i feel like every week i see 5-10 posts about people getting scammed on discord. Stop using it and protect yourself. Discord must have some weak BS security if that many people are getting scammed on discord. So stop using it.

Also feel free to check my posting history as most of the ones i try to warn are about discord scammers scamming people, so take a look please.

If you cannot recognize a scam also on discord, stop using it. Learn how people scam first on steam, then you can avoid the same scams on discord. So that is why you should stop using discord. It is not like you can count on their security..lol.