What's with all these level 0 people adding me?

[Mari]

What is going on?There's been 3 of these adding me today and like 10 in the past days.

[Merry Xmas! SAUNA]

Random friend invites, most likely "Scambots". Dont click ANY link they send to you. I got one yesterday and he kept sending links even after I blocked him.

[TyyGUy91]

me too. lvl 0 private profiles right?

I assume it is some kind of scammer, spammer, or general bullshite accounts.
just ignore them as they come. I am sure they will go away eventually

[Merry Xmas! SAUNA]

REPORT, block and delete.

Please dont forget to REPORT. I kept 5 scambots to see how long those accounts last. Its been almost 2 months for one of them.

I'm trying to keep the last one I got but he keeps sending me chat messages even thou I already blocked him. This is the scammer:
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198183696395/

It's obviously a SCAMBOT not a random infected user. And yes they all have their profiles private.

[wt7]

Your inventory is also Public. Set it to private or friends only.
That will eliminate most random requests.

[Mari]

Good idea.

Originally posted by wt7:

Your inventory is also Public. Set it to private or friends only.
That will eliminate most random requests.

[Mari]

Lol i got another one just as i was checking my inbox for this thread...

[Zukabazuka]

Any profile that is private will show up as level 0.

[Mari]

I don't think my profile is so fabulous that 5 people add me all in one day.

Originally posted by Zukabazuka:

Any profile that is private will show up as level 0.

[Merry Xmas! SAUNA]

REPORT and block.

I dont know exactly how this bots work so my guess is;

You can only get trade offers if you keep your inventory public. So yes, bots would be looking for those accounts. Doesnt matter if you dont own any items, for a bot is just another chance to steal.

[Merry Xmas! SAUNA]

I think my other thread was deleted?. I just asked people to "Dont forget to report the scambots please". was that wrong?. oh well.

[Mari]

Well reporting every single one of these ♥♥♥♥♥ would get boring since some people get like 10 of them every day..

Originally posted by SAUNA:

I think my other thread was deleted?. I just asked people to "Dont forget to report the scambots please". was that wrong?. oh well.

[Merry Xmas! SAUNA]

Originally posted by ♥♥♥♥ & Balls:

Well reporting every single one of these ♥♥♥♥♥ would get boring since some people get like 10 of them every day..

I know it could get boring, why do you think I sort of started to "collect" them.

But it's the only reacting thing we can do. The passive solution (if given that solution works) is restricting users from a steam feature, if the feature is less and less used then it might be removed at the end.

Like I said, I have one bot that did send me a friend invite at least 2 months ago. Means scambot keep active all around and those accounts are not being cancelled.

Yes you block them and delete but other people may get in risk.

I may sound dramtic and cheesy but do you remember that quote " evil only needs that good men do nothing about it " or something like that?

[Ineffable Anathema]

I would advise against reporting every 0 level account that friends you as some of them may not be scammers at all. Any account that is set to friends only or private will show up as a level 0, my own profile for example. The system is likely already clogged up with reports and doesn't need a bunch of frivolous ones in there taking up unecesssary room. Simply ignore or block unwanted friend invites and keep the reports for actual signs of suspicious activity.

It's probably safe to assume that anyone whose name is {unassigned} is probably a spam/scambot, but others may simply be other users wishing to friend you. Use your head and try to separate the more obvious ones out (no name or photo selected for example) before just knee-jerk reporting every 0 level account you see. If they are acting suspicious, i.e. posting links on your profile, sending you links in some other way, then certainly report and block them.

[Merry Xmas! SAUNA]

Originally posted by Ineffable Anathema:

Any account that is set to friends only or private will show up as a level 0, my own profile for example.

As I said, this is restricting users from a steam feature. At the end, If everyone goes private, whats the point of keeping that feature.

Originally posted by Ineffable Anathema:

The system is likely already clogged up with reports

How do you know that?, Is there an official statement about it?. I don't know if support ticket system is the same as the report violation.

Originally posted by Ineffable Anathema:

It's probably safe to assume that anyone whose name is {unassigned} is probably a spam/scambot, but others may simply be other users wishing to friend you... (no name or photo selected for example)

Only 1 out of 12 scambots I had, in the last few days, have no profile pic. But yes, use your head. If you had no activity for hours or even offline, who would want to send you a friend invite?.

BTW, spaming friend invites is a reportable violation.

[Es0teric]

I accepted a friend request from a level 0 one day.

He asked me what skin from CS:GO a gun was. I clicked the PNG file he sent and checked it, couldn't identify it for him.

The next morning my account was lost. I got it back via the lost password system, luckily.