FA+
Shop
A Warning about a Scam going on Discord
4 years ago
General
Hello people, I know that this thing isn't new but I wanted to spread awareness of this scam and share my experience with you all because not everybody can actually tell if something like this it's a scam
Story:
I've been contacted on Discord by a random guy (Let's Call him "Agent Smith") saying that he reported my Steam account for "illegal purchase" and my account would be banned in three hours if I didn't appeal.
It all seemed very weird since I Rarely been on and/or didn't get any email from Steam but the possibility of my account being banned was scary, so I asked how to appeal this report and he told me to contact Another guy (Let's call him "Christopher Pelant"). When I asked him what was the game I was doing those illegal stuff he replied that all I needed to do was "to prove that your account is in good condition and it was a false accusation"
Of course being the skeptic that I am, I looked up this and saw that this was a scam and immediately repotted Smith to a mod (Along with some screengrab evidence as well) and was promptly banned
The Red Flags and Tips for you
This whole story. How can a random guy report an account and Steam replies in an instant that the reported account will be banned in just three hours? Seems so unrealistic. And why the whole conversation is happening on Discord which has nothing to do with Steam? Doesn't it seem strange?
Some Red Flags and Tips for you (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamScams.....eported_your/)
1: This whole story. How can a random guy report an account and Steam replies in an instant that the reported account will be banned in just three hours? Seems so unrealistic. And why the whole conversation is happening on Discord which has nothing to do with Steam? Doesn't it seem strange?
2: Their screenshots are not believable, they're always showing little parts of their screen, always hiding names or putting strange ones (like "Steam-User" instead of the guy that contacted me). Also anybody can fake a message like this by switching the username, just thing of the developer console of any browser
3: The Steam accounts. Don't be fooled by the genuinely of the Steam accounts they give you. Sure they may be real, they may be real valve employees, but remember that anybody can create a Discord account (without even an email) with the same name, same pic, putting "official" in their name and setting "Steam mod" as their status (and thus stealing that person's identity), but the scammer remains a scammer.
4: Don't panic and don't act quickly because "your account will be banned in few hours". Ask them for evidence like "When I did those illegal things?" or "In what game did I do those illegal things?". They typically avoid answering directly to those questions reminding you that your account will be banned soon
5: Their language: It's unlikely that official Steam staff will write things with a bad English so check also for grammatical or syntax mistakes
6: I searched the Internet for similar situations, and I found that there were many others indeed.
Conclusion
Of course my Steam account is still up and well but please, please be safe. Don't double or triple check, but check even ten times if needed for the little details that tells you that everything is a scam. Don't trust anything they send you, always check by yourself with everything you got. They may try to scam you with different details in the story but the purpose is one and only one: steal your account.
Remember that nobody from Steam Staff will ever ask you for your username and password and AFAIK (they're not allowed to ask private information like your recent purchases.)
I would encourage to report those guys but keep in mind that they can move on to the next victim easily since creating a new Discord account is easy and quick and doesn't even require an email. Also double check before reporting any Steam account, since I'm assuming they were giving me real Steam profiles, so you might ruin someone's day instead.
If you've been tricked with this scam, contact the Steam Support immediately and describe the situation and maybe you'll get your account back.
Thank you if you read all this, sorry if it was long or boring. Be safe you all
Story:
I've been contacted on Discord by a random guy (Let's Call him "Agent Smith") saying that he reported my Steam account for "illegal purchase" and my account would be banned in three hours if I didn't appeal.
It all seemed very weird since I Rarely been on and/or didn't get any email from Steam but the possibility of my account being banned was scary, so I asked how to appeal this report and he told me to contact Another guy (Let's call him "Christopher Pelant"). When I asked him what was the game I was doing those illegal stuff he replied that all I needed to do was "to prove that your account is in good condition and it was a false accusation"
Of course being the skeptic that I am, I looked up this and saw that this was a scam and immediately repotted Smith to a mod (Along with some screengrab evidence as well) and was promptly banned
The Red Flags and Tips for you
This whole story. How can a random guy report an account and Steam replies in an instant that the reported account will be banned in just three hours? Seems so unrealistic. And why the whole conversation is happening on Discord which has nothing to do with Steam? Doesn't it seem strange?
Some Red Flags and Tips for you (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamScams.....eported_your/)
1: This whole story. How can a random guy report an account and Steam replies in an instant that the reported account will be banned in just three hours? Seems so unrealistic. And why the whole conversation is happening on Discord which has nothing to do with Steam? Doesn't it seem strange?
2: Their screenshots are not believable, they're always showing little parts of their screen, always hiding names or putting strange ones (like "Steam-User" instead of the guy that contacted me). Also anybody can fake a message like this by switching the username, just thing of the developer console of any browser
3: The Steam accounts. Don't be fooled by the genuinely of the Steam accounts they give you. Sure they may be real, they may be real valve employees, but remember that anybody can create a Discord account (without even an email) with the same name, same pic, putting "official" in their name and setting "Steam mod" as their status (and thus stealing that person's identity), but the scammer remains a scammer.
4: Don't panic and don't act quickly because "your account will be banned in few hours". Ask them for evidence like "When I did those illegal things?" or "In what game did I do those illegal things?". They typically avoid answering directly to those questions reminding you that your account will be banned soon
5: Their language: It's unlikely that official Steam staff will write things with a bad English so check also for grammatical or syntax mistakes
6: I searched the Internet for similar situations, and I found that there were many others indeed.
Conclusion
Of course my Steam account is still up and well but please, please be safe. Don't double or triple check, but check even ten times if needed for the little details that tells you that everything is a scam. Don't trust anything they send you, always check by yourself with everything you got. They may try to scam you with different details in the story but the purpose is one and only one: steal your account.
Remember that nobody from Steam Staff will ever ask you for your username and password and AFAIK (they're not allowed to ask private information like your recent purchases.)
I would encourage to report those guys but keep in mind that they can move on to the next victim easily since creating a new Discord account is easy and quick and doesn't even require an email. Also double check before reporting any Steam account, since I'm assuming they were giving me real Steam profiles, so you might ruin someone's day instead.
If you've been tricked with this scam, contact the Steam Support immediately and describe the situation and maybe you'll get your account back.
Thank you if you read all this, sorry if it was long or boring. Be safe you all
mako67
~mako67
I've had that same story, I kinda looked deep into that and called him out as a scammer.
Sparkpad
~sparkpad
I fell for one of those last year. Got me while I was half awake and getting ready for a 6am cleaning shift. Fortunately Steam Support got my account back safe and sound in a few days, and even in that vulnerable moment I knew better than to share my Discord info with a "SteamAdministrator".
