1. SteamRep is shutting down at the end of 2024. See announcement.

SteamRep FAQ

What is SteamRep?

SteamRep is a service of the Online Fraud Prevention Foundation, a registered 501c3 charity non-profit. We partner with community administrators to improve the safety of game-related trading. Through the help of trusted volunteers and community admins, it has grown into the most popular fraud prevention tool for Steam trading.

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

How does SteamRep work?

We gather fraud 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 (Banned, Caution), or positive (Middleman, Admin), or neutral (Donator, No special reputation). 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.
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What is a banned user?

A banned user 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 being banned for fraud.
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Why am I marked as BANNED for my reputation?

SteamRep and/or other communities decided to ban you for fraud. We honor the bans of a number of groups for the marking of fraud, 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.
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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 ban. These are provided at administrator discretion to help protect community traders from risk. Note that a cautionary reputation may be temporarily applied as a notice to speak with admins as part of an investigation or as a first offense warning.
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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 'BANNED BY MTC' on Mann Co Trading, you will have to appeal to MTC first. Only if accepted, you must then appeal to SteamRep for ban removal @ http://forums.steamrep.com/forums/appeal. Everyone has one chance to appeal their tag, so make it count. Read "Ban Appeals" for more information.
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Who are the SteamRep admins?

See the bottom of the steamrep.com pages; all SteamRep admins are linked from there.​

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.
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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 supported the cause by donating to us. Careful - donors are just as likely to be scammers!
  • ADMIN - Admin belonging to the respective communities. These communities are not affiliated with VALVe, and their admins are not VALVe employees.
  • VALVE EMPLOYEE - An employee of VALVe, the company behind Steam. These people will not get involved with your trades or ask you to do anything sketchy with your account.
  • MIDDLEMAN - Selected by a SteamRep partner community as a trusted individual to middleman trades.
  • CAUTION - Shady or deceptive trading behavior, but not a major offense.
  • VALVE PROBATION - This person is on VALVe trade probation, usually because they were recently trade banned.
  • BANNED BY VALVE - This person is currently trade banned by VALVe, which means they are unable to send or receive trades, usually because of fraud.
  • BANNED BY ___ - Note: This doesn't prevent anyone from trading, but serves as a dire warning, for which many community websites and server clusters will automatically ban on sight. This person was provably found, by the respective community who issued the tag, to be guilty of one or more of the following:
    1. Charge-back or Reversal
    2. Quick-switching items
    3. Receiving the item and not paying
    4. Using fake middleman
    5. Impersonating with intent to commit fraud or abuse reputation
    6. Accomplice or fence (knowingly supporting and systematically trading) for a banned user
    7. Brokering (selling on behalf of) banned users and scammed items
    8. Alternate account of a banned user
    9. Falsifying evidence to SteamRep
    10. Using game or Steam exploits to profit on trades
    11. Anything that is deemed as deceptive or fraudulent trade activity by SteamRep admins. Please see our updated change to investigation policy thread for more info.
      https://forums.steamrep.com/threads/steamrep-investigative-policy.140101/
    12. Fraudsters always come up with new ways to steal. Simple rule: DON'T STEAL. DON'T AID IN STEALING.
Do you issue tags for buying or selling from BANNED users or obvious banned user alts?

As of 2016, the previous rule on trading with banned users was retroactively repealed. If you have been tagged for this by SteamRep or any of our partner communities, you should fill out an appeal even if your previous appeal was denied (a new appeal will be allowed for this). No new tags will be issued for trading with banned users. For more information, please see the official announcement: http://forums.steamrep.com/threads/119528

It is important to note, however, brokering and fencing for banned users is treated as a separate offense. If you are found to be a broker or fence, you can still be BANNED by SteamRep or a partner community.
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What is considered an "obvious" banned user alternate account (alt)?

banned users frequently make new Steam accounts (or buy Steam accounts) to avoid bans placed on their main account. An obvious banned user 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 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) Fraud 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) Fraud involving Tangible/Physical Goods
Refer above, it is outside SteamRep's ability to effectively investigate and to determine the legitimacy of such trades.

4) Latest SteamRep Investigative Policy
From time to time we make changes on what we investigate. Refer to this thread for the latest.

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For Banned 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 user. If you feel your appeal has been handled unfairly, you may request an appeal review, see below for additional details.
  • If you have any evidence to the tagged offense, be ready to provide it once requested.
  • Lying during an appeal will result in your appeal being immediately denied.
  • Most statuses are dependent on the community they are originating from. If you have a scammer status from TF2OP, TF2TP, Reddit, and so on, you will first have to appeal your original ban there.
  • If you have SR or SOP banned tag, you must login with your SteamID and appeal at: http://forums.steamrep.com/forums/appeal/
  • If you have a Valve trade ban, you must deal with that prior to appealing SR tags.
  • 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.
  • Buying/selling/trading/lending or any other transfer of ownership of a steam account does not negate a banned tag nor are you able to appeal for the account.
  • 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.
  • Reappeals are only granted under very narrow, limited circumstances:
    1. New evidence not produced in your original appeal.
    2. Unfair or mishandled appeal (outside policy). Note: A different appeal admin will review your original appeal and decide if their is enough to grant you a new appeal.
    3. SteamRep's policies have changed since the time of your denied appeal, such as trading with scammers.
    4. Other extenuating circumstance at admin's discretion.
    5. If, after reading and understanding these narrow circumstances, you feel one of them applies to your case, you may click on this hidden link to fill out the form and plea your case. Failure to acknowledge this will result in your one and only chance at an appeal review being rejected as well.
What are the SteamRep Partner communities?
These are communities whose tags are displayed on SteamRep.
In alphabetical order:​
You may also see these tags: AF2, ASBO, CvG, D2T, DGN, JAG, MCT, RAWR, TF2OP, TF2TP, UHC, UTC, and a few others. These tags are from communities who no longer exist to handle the case, and can be addressed as Legacy Bans.

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What are the SteamRep Friend 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.