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Hey! Can someone give more information on how a Trade Lock works? I got one from Valve :(

Discussion in 'Discussion Archive' started by Aliasless, Aug 8, 2014.

  1. Aliasless

    Aliasless New User

    Messages:
    4
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:1742502
    To clarify, I don't really know the reasons for this. Haven't scammed anyone, haven't broken the Steam ToS AFAIK. I've got a big bucket of alt accounts, one's was an unusual banking bot, one's the one where I do my market transactions, and the rest of 'em I was turning into trade offer bots for an upcoming project.

    A short timeline:
    Aug 1st - I and the former unusual banking bot get banned. Send a support ticket.
    Aug 5th - All my other accounts get banned. Even the fully empty accounts I wanted to make trade offer bots out of.
    Aug 6th - I notice that the "Steam Support Alert" describing my lock changed its date from Aug 1st to Aug 2nd for this account.

    A summary of my exchange with Steam Support:
    Me: [Information on account, ask why I was locked]
    Them: [Copy paste answer] Blah blah 30 day ban from marketplace is automatic.
    Me: [Recategorize from Trade Ban to Account Restriction]
    Them: [Copy paste answer] Blah blah account lock because fraud, permanent.
    Me: [Ask for more info, hoping to get human answer]

    And finally before I ask my questions, the Expanded FAQ section on this:

    Trade Locked:
    1. Visibility: Not visible to others.
    2. Limitations: Cannot trade, cannot buy games or items in-game.
    3. Duration: varies, depending on the reason. This may or may not end up in a Valve Trade Ban or Valve Trade Probation.
    4. Reasons: Valve is investigating the account due some issues. Valve may remove items fraudulently gained.
    5. Action: Contact Valve via Steam Support. SteamRep cannot help you in this.

    ALRIGHT WHOO BOY NOW THE ACTUAL QUESTIONS

    1. What's the chance that this is actually permanent? I mean, is "may or may not end up in..." just a way to excuse yourself if 0.00001% of people stay locked, or is this something like a 50/50 chance where people just stay in account limbo for forever?
    2. Of people that had a trade lock before, what's the average time it took for it to be cleared up?
    3. In general, what are the most common reasons for people getting locked like this? I've checked my trade history and it doesn't look like I traded with any hijackers.
    4. What extra information, if any, would it be useful for me to add onto my support ticket?
  2. You Are The One

    You Are The One SteamRep Admin

    Messages:
    110
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:41038663
    1. Seen some for less then a day before a user ever got a reply from support. Seem some never lifted. Valve wont tell you or us their criteria for doing anything.
    2. Valvetime.
    3. Mostly hijacking related, fencing stolen items, accepting carded items, payment issues.
    4. Usually they ask a user about a specific trade or user they dealt with, provide detailed payment and trade agreement history (links, screencaps, text, anything related or could be related) for whatever they ask.
  3. Aliasless

    Aliasless New User

    Messages:
    4
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:1742502
    Thanks for the reply, though

    Sorta worries me. After I re-categorized my ticket, they just gave a clearly copy-pasted response of "We have found activity in the Steam account related to fraud".

    Has anyone that received this response gotten their lock lifted?
    Is this just a message that everyone receives when they file a ticket for this issue, or is it their version of saying "stfu and leave our overworked asses alone"?
    I'm not asking you to predict my future or anything, just see if any similar cases in the past have gone better, or worse. It's been a week since the ban.
  4. Aliasless

    Aliasless New User

    Messages:
    4
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:1742502
    By the way, that's the message they give - Fraud, not Hijacking or Chargebacks as I've googled other cases for in the past. What does THAT usually mean?
  5. You Are The One

    You Are The One SteamRep Admin

    Messages:
    110
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:41038663
    no clue, too vague to be useful,
  6. ForteSP

    ForteSP New User

    Messages:
    877
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:32783182
    Perhaps it would be more helpful if you uploaded the tickets. That would be probably the best way to go about it. Giving a paraphrase really doesn't do you any good.
  7. You Are The One

    You Are The One SteamRep Admin

    Messages:
    110
    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:41038663
    its not really an SR issue anyhow, we cant assist him.