SteamRep FAQ

What is SteamRep?

SteamRep is a non-profit site that partners with community administrators to improve the safety of game-related trading. The site was created by Ðiego and, through the help of trusted volunteers and community admins, it has grown into the most popular scam prevention tool for Steam trading.

It's important to note that SteamRep is an independent site and has no affiliation with Valve Software or its products and services.

How does SteamRep work?

We gather scammer reports from a number of high-profile trade communities. You find the person's steam profile link (custom URL, profile link, steam ID) and enter it into our database, and click on CHECK. SteamRep will display results regarding a person's status, whether it is negative (Scammer, Caution),or positive (Trusted Seller, Donator, Admin). No feedback displays as Neutral, which doesn't mean they are proven or not - there is just no feedback to date. When trading with a Neutral trader, you should also take other factors into account whether to trust the trader or not, look at rep threads, check for impersonation, play time, suspicious name change history, join date, or anything else related.

What is a Scammer?

A scammer is anyone that uses deception, thievery, lies, or anything that is underhanded to take advantage of or steal from another trader. See below for more comprehensive list of what qualifies for SCAMMER status.

Why am I marked as a SCAMMER for my reputation?

SteamRep and/or other communities decided to ban you for scamming. We honor the bans of a number of groups for the marking of scammers, simply because we don't get all the reports. Traders are spread out and report to their community of choice. We do not overturn bans unless that group does.

Why am I marked as a CAUTION for my reputation?

These marks are given for shady or fraudulent trading practices where evidence or circumstances do not warrant a full SCAMMER tag. These may be temporarily applied as a notice to speak with SteamRep admins as part of an investigation or as a first offense warning.

How can I get my reputation cleared of bad marks?

First of all, you need to address the source of the scammer tag on you. If you were, for example, marked 'UTC SCAMMER' on UTC, you will have to appeal to UTC first. Only if accepted, you must then appeal to SteamRep for tag removal @ http://forums.steamrep.com/forums/appeal. Everyone has one chance to appeal their tag, so make it count. Read "Scammer Appeals" for more information.

Who are the SteamRep admins?

See the bottom right portion of the steamrep.com pages; all SteamRep admins are linked.

If I have another question, who do I ask?

You may ask an admin. Preferably you should post your question at:
http://forums.steamrep.com/forums/steamrep-general-discussion.2 If it's an urgent matter, contact any admin.

I have an idea for a feature on SteamRep. Where do I send it?


What do the various tags mean?

Here's the breakdown:
  • SR DONATOR - Traders that support the cause by donating cash or items to SR
  • ADMIN - Admin belonging to the respective communities.
  • VALVE EMPLOYEE - An employee of VALVe.
  • MIDDLEMAN - Proved to the community that they can be trusted to middleman trades.
  • SOP TRUSTED SELLER - Belongs to the SOP Trusted Seller group.
  • CAUTION - Shady or deceptive trading behavior, but not a major offense.
  • VALVE PROBATION - You are on VALVe trade probation.
  • BANNED BY VALVE - You have been trade banned by VALVe.
  • SCAMMER - You were found to be guilty of one or many of the following:
    1. Trading with known scammers (see below)
    2. Charge-back or Reversal
    3. Quick-switching items
    4. Receiving the item and not paying
    5. Providing or soliciting fake reputation claims ("fake rep")
    6. Using fake middleman
    7. Impersonating with intent to scam or abuse reputation
    8. Spycrabbing and then not paying
    9. Accomplice to a scammer (ignorance is not an excuse)
    10. Brokering (selling on behalf of) scammers and scammed items
    11. Hijacking or hacking other traders (also includes phishing)
    12. Alternate account of a tagged scammer
    13. Falsifying evidence to SteamRep
    14. Using game or Steam exploits to profit on trades
    15. Anything that is deemed as deceptive or fraudulent trade activity by SteamRep admins

      Scammers always come up with new ways to scam. Simple rule: DON'T STEAL. DON'T AID IN STEALING.
What are the penalties for trading or buying from SCAMMERs or obvious scammer alts?

If you knowingly trade with scammers or obvious scammer alt accounts (with extremely low hours), you are putting your reputation at risk. SteamRep's policy is to be understanding when an innocent trader makes a mistake or when the monetary value is relatively low. Yet, we cannot encourage scammers to profit from their theft.
  • New traders: New traders who are unaware of SteamRep will not receive penalties to their reputations, but will receive a one-time warning.
  • First offense:
    • Item/Game trades: You will receive a one-time warning for any high-value item or game trade with a SCAMMER or an obvious scammer alternate account. (This warning will be a temporary CAUTION tag that will be removed when you contact SteamRep admins.)
    • Cash trades: You will receive a CAUTION reputation tag for cash exchanges for high-value items with a marked scammer or obvious alternate scammer acount. Helping scammers profit is not something we can encourage.
  • Second offense:
    • You were already warned: You will receive a CAUTION reputation tag.
    • You already have a CAUTION tag: You will receive a SCAMMER reputation tag.
  • Third offense: You will receive a SCAMMER reputation tag.
Important Notes:
  • Anyone has the right to one appeal. You should appeal if you feel the evidence is incorrect or you feel the penalty is too harsh.
  • Ultimately, if it's very clear you were purposely trying to profit from scammed or stolen items, you deserve a SCAMMER tag at admin discretion.
  • Even if you disagree with someone else's SCAMMER reputation tag, trading with them is still considered "Trading with a Scammer". Just because you trust them not to scam you, it doesn't mean they aren't selling stolen merchandise they took from someone else.
What is considered an "obvious" scammer alternate account (alt)?

Scammers frequently make new Steam accounts (or buy Steam accounts) to avoid bans placed on their main account. An obvious scammer alt is a trader who has a great deal of knowledge of the values of items and the Steam economy, yet has a very recent Steam account or very low hours played in TF2. Trading with these accounts is not permitted.

The following clues help identify an obvious scammer alt:
  • Low hours of TF2/DotA with a deep knowledge of Steam/TF2 item values
  • New Steam start date, but eager to trade high value items
  • Private backpack, and with no rep threads
  • Quickselling fresh items that are less than a day old in their backpack
  • Nearly empty game backpack except for a few high value items with very recent history
Note, trading with newbies is not discouraged-- it is only when your conversation and their vital statistics make it obvious that they surpass the trading abilities of a newbie, which usually means they are an alternate account of an experienced trader.

If you have any concerns about a specific account, please ask a community admin for advice.

Are there any reports that SteamRep DOESN'T investigate?

These reports we will automatically mark as INVALID and will not be researched or actioned:

1) Proprietary maps, scripts, copyright, & other server administration disputes
As these fall within the realm of server administration and fall entirely outside of Steam trading, SteamRep does not investigate these (regardless of any precedent set in the past).

2) Scams involving trades occurring entirely outside of Steam trading
SteamRep's scope is limited to trades that involve the Steam economy and Steam trading ONLY. We do not handle scams for other game economies nor do we handle scams regarding outside businesses or agencies. These should be handled with the appropriate authorities.

3) Scams involving Tangible/Physical Goods
Refer above, it is outside SteamRep's ability to effectively investigate and to determine the legitimacy of such trades.

For Scammer Appeals, what are the rules?

The rules are as follows:
  • You must have a public profile and public backpack. If it isn't public, don't even bother.
  • Only appeals are done with the account that has been marked. No 3rd-party appeals (exceptions may be translators, or if you were somehow directly involved such as being middleman).
  • Only ONE (1) appeal per scammer. If you feel your appeal has been handled unfairly, you may bring it up to another admin.
  • If you have any evidence to the tagged offense, be ready to provide it once requested.
  • Most statuses are dependent on the community they are originating from. If you have a scammer status from UTC, TF2TP, RAWR, and so on, you will first have to appeal your original ban there.
  • If you have SR or SOP scammer tag, you must login with your SteamID and appeal at:
    http://forums.steamrep.com/forums/appeal/
  • If you do not make yourself reasonably available during an appeal process, the appeal will be closed and evaluated or denied. You will be told the result in the appeal post and removed from friends list.
  • Be courteous and respectful, as you should expect the same from us. If you insult and berate us, we will simply ignore you and block you. Admin abuse is grounds for terminating interaction with you, and the appeals admin will be forced to rule on the case taking into account your behavior.
What are the SteamRep Associate communities?
These are communities whose tags are displayed on SteamRep.
In alphabetical order:
What are the SteamRep Affliate communities?
These are communities whose banners are displayed on SteamRep's front page but do not have tags displayed on the site.
In alphabetical order:
For even more information, please click here to go to our Expanded FAQ.