How To Check If Someone Is Hacking

A simple guide that will help you determine if someone is cheating.

Disclaimer:

This guide is not going to be 100% accurate every time, and it will not tell you if someone is cheating for definite. However, it WILL help you to decide if someone is cheating most of the time.

Is Someone Acting Suspiciously?

If you've played Team Fortress 2 for a while, you have probably seen a cheater at some point. Some of the most common cheats are:

• Aimbotting - (the cheater never misses a shot, usually used by Snipers).
  
• Wallhacking - (the cheater can see enemy players through walls).
  
• Crit Hacks - (the cheater always has the "Critical Damage" bonus, constantly dealing 3x normal damage).

However, before you type "HACKER" into the chatbox (and let's be honest, this happens a lot) you should check the following list of common cheater characteristics, and see how many apply to the suspicious player in your game...

(The more things that apply, the more likely it is that they are cheating.)

Things To Check In-Game

Most cheaters normally create a new account when they use hacks, as they don't want to risk losing their main account. Therefore, the following characteristics are common for cheating players:

Badge Level:

A cheater's Casual Matchmaking badge will probably be a low level. Press Tab to view the scoreboard, which will show you everyone's badge.

A low-level badge like this is more suspicious:




A high-level badge like this is less suspicious:




In-Game Items:

Does the suspected cheater have some expensive in-game items, such as Unusual hats or Australium weapons? As mentioned before, cheaters normally create a new account when they use hacks, as they don't want to risk losing their main account and all of their expensive items. So, if the suspected cheater does have Unusuals or Australiums, it is less likely that they actually are hacking. Similarly, a player with no in-game items is more suspicious, as this suggests their account is new (but this doesn't mean that a player with no items is definitely cheating!)




Check the Scoreboard:

*(You'll need to tick the box "enable mouse input on scoreboard" under the Advanced Options menu.)*

Press Tab to view the scoreboard, and click on the suspicious player's name to see their statistics for your current game. How many kills do they have? How many deaths do they have? Do they have 25 kills and also 25 headshot kills? - (which means every single kill was a headshot). This is very suspicious if the suspected cheater is an aimbotting Sniper.



Go Invisible as Spy:

**(Only applicable for testing against aimbots or wallhacks; easier to do with the Cloak and Dagger watch)**

This test is self-explanatory. Go invisible as a Spy, and try to stay near the suspected cheater as much as possible. Do they still manage to see and kill you? - if so, it is more likely they are using an aimbot.

(Note: it's best to try this method a few times. If you are killed just once or twice while invisible, it may have been because of bad luck or because the other player was purposefully looking for invisible Spies - known as "Spy-checking.").



When in doubt, ask your team:

Check to see if anyone else on your team is suspicious of another player.

(Press U to enter Teamchat - only your own team will see your comments).




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****[IMPORTANT!]****
Remember, if a player has some of the above characteristics, it DOES NOT mean they are definitely cheating, it's just more suspicious.

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Things To Check On Their Profile

If you are still unsure about another player's activity, check their profile for the following characteristics.

Remember, as most cheaters make a new profile when they use hacks, these characteristics are more common and suspicious, but NOT definite:

Private Profiles:

Cheaters don't want you to know anything about them, so their profile may look something like this:




Low Steam Level:

Most cheaters don't try to level up their alternate Steam profile, so their level will be very low (0 - 5):




Basic Profile:

The cheater may not have even set-up their profile:




Few Games / Low Time In-Game:

The cheater is likely to have spent very little time actually playing games:



How Do I Check Someone's Profile While In A Game?

To quickly check a player's profile in Team Fortress 2, you need to first enable mouse input on the scoreboard, as mentioned earlier. Then, when you are in a game, you can bring up the scoreboard by pressing Tab, right-click a person's name, then click "Profile" to easily access their Steam Account page.

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****[IMPORTANT!]****
Again, remember that if a player's profile has some of the characteristics mentioned above, it DOES NOT mean they are definitely cheating. These charactistics are simply more suspicious, as it suggests their account has only been made recently.

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Reporting Cheaters

If you are absolutely convinced that another player is cheating, there are two ways you can report them:

Through the Scoreboard:

Again, you will need to enable mouse input on the scoreboard from the Advanced Options menu. Press Tab to open the scoreboard, right-click the suspicious player's name, and select "Report" then "Cheating."

Through Their Profile:

Open the suspicious player's profile through the scoreboard (as mentioned earlier), or by opening the Steam overlay (default buttons are Shift and Tab together) and clicking on the "View Players" box. When you are on their profile, click the box "More," and select "Report Violation." - (when the report box appears, state that the player is a suspected cheater).



Note: I am not encouraging anyone to abuse the Report Player system; only use it if you are absolutely convinced another player is cheating - which means that they have shown more than just one or two of the characteristics mentioned in this guide.

Before You Go...

If you found this guide useful, please leave a positive rating or add it to your favourites.

Thanks.

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Check out my other guides here:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=788085769
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=796953353
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=898947793

[gurt]

just because suspects have unusuals and australiums doesn’t mean they’re not cheating just means they’re stupid

[Burger My Fry]

thanks dude now i know

[extremely gay dragon]

thank you know i know when to set priority 10

[itna]

thanks bro i can find all the cheaters now

[Roi-san]

most think most think ya

[.rorschach]

thank you, as an elite tier scriptor I'll be sure to do the opposite of what is said in this guide to fool my opponents

[GuyWithAHat]

Ah yes, This guy has an unusual hat and australium weapon, This is definitely less suspicious, I mean, it's not like he just wants to either flex his money or make his character look cool or anything

[Kremling 24]

Having a Seperate name and Profile pic to their profile's is also an immediate Red Flag
e.g. the dunce who has a link to this guide on his profile.

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

so many cheaters lately

found this one today

problem is no one does anything about it any more , just enables the bots , or cheaters , by failing to vote kick and call the other team "salty"


here is a list of four i ran into just today playing ctf
https://steamcommunity.com/id/kakeri516
https://steamcommunity.com/id/brotherbot2
https://steamcommunity.com/id/brotherbot1
https://steamcommunity.com/id/itsacoolnamedontwearitout

[Lime Cat]

Found a guy today who was all talk no skill. Dude was lowest level (2 - 3) Fucking furfag too (Usually it's edgy twats with anime pfps). Dude kept hitting shots left and right BEFORE you even LEFT the fucking side view on the bridge in 2FORT. He displayed everything this guide warned about. Fucker.