How to protect your stuff and not get scammed (scamming methods etc.)

Hey, my name's Nick and I'm posting this guide for you. Hopefully some people will take some time to read it and protect themselves from scams and other frauds through Steam.

I'm a CS:GO trader and player, but I am pretty sure all the scams on Steam are the same for all games. As far as I know, Dota 2, Team Fortress and Counter Strike are the games with the most valuable items on the market. The core of all scams are the online trading and betting websites for these games, like csgolounge.com and dota2lounge.com. Scammers usually look for their victims there.

I'll start off by listing a couple of scamming methods below:

1) Bots. There are bots who automatically add you on Steam, from CSGOLounge, and send you a message with a fake Steam Community link. It doesn't matter if you open that link, just don't log in. It saves your data and it's no good. It's just another way to scam people. The typical message all bots send is something like this: "Hey, my friend wants to trade with you, but he can't add you. Can you add him? steamcomunitlty.com/id/8482138485, just copy and paste the link in the browser, then log in and add him." Sorry if I'm being kind of rude here, but you have to be extremely stupid to fall for this bullshit. However, this is one of the most common scamming methods.

2) Impersonators. Many scammers tend to impersonate famous and legit traders from Steam. You should always check their games, comments, inventory, Steam ID, Steamrep and everything else. For example, you want to sell an AWP Asiimov to a random guy from CS:GO Lounge, he asks if you want to use a middleman and you accept. He suddenly invites, let's say, a trusted middleman from Steamrep, it is really important to do a double check first: Middleman List: http://steamrep.com/list/M

3) "Do you have a real friend that can hold your knife? I want to see if it's fake or not, because I've been scammed like that before." I think this is the dumbest scamming method ever, but I've decided to put it on the list, just because some people might fall for it. Well, a random guy adds you, apparently seeking to buy your knife for real money. You, of course, are interested because you need the money. Then the scammer asks you to add a real life friend from your list to the chat, to hold your knife. Here comes the fun part, after you add your friend to the group chat, the scammer changes his name to your friend's name and offers you a trade for your knife or whatever item. That's about it, it's a pretty simple and stupid scam, yet some people fall for it.

4) CS:GO pattern scams. (Same goes for item quality, for example, the guy says he's selling an M4 Cyrex Factory New and he gives you a Minimal Wear) As you know, there are CS:GO items that possess extremely unique patterns. These items are Case Hardened, Slaughter and Crimson Web knives/weapons. I'll use the Case Hardened knives as an example here, you will see many trades on CS:GO Lounge, where people are looking for Blue Gems. What is a Blue Gem? It's a blue Case Hardened knife. Usually people seek for M9 Bayonets. (http://i.imgur.com/omNJQr2h.jpg), this is what a Blue Gem Case Hardened looks like. As you know, the Steam trade has a feature that lets you add a note to your trade, scammers usually put an M9, a Karambit or a Bayonet Case Hardened knife and ask for a huge overpay from your side, attaching a screenshot in the trade description, "showing how blue their knife is." And in reality, they just give you another knife with a shitty pattern. Many people fall for that s✿✿✿ and this scam ain't that dumb, to be honest. It's more of a fraud, since you still get a knife in return, but a lot of players usually are back with $50-100 because of that.

5) "You will have to go first, because I have more reputation than you. My account and my inventory are worth more than yours." Seriously, who gives a s✿✿✿? This is the typical scamming method and 80% of the scammers use this when they are "buying items for real money." When you see a guy with a lot of reputation, a huge Steam level and a lot of items. Please, I am begging you, do not fall for that. Many scammers sell stuff they've scammed to level up in Steam, just to scam more and more. Never go first, the chance of not getting scammed is really low. Around %1 or even lower. Sad, but true. Even the person you will be trading with is extremely nice and professional, you shouldn't fall for that either, not even if your item costs $10. What if that person isn't a scammer? Then the person will have no problem buying your item off the Steam market, or trading it for keys (or something), or calling a trusted Steamrep middleman.

There are many more scamming methods, but these are the most common ones. Outsmart the scammer and report him here, it will always hurt them, even if it's a small scam: http://forums.steamrep.com/forums/report/



Just a quick summarize right here, ladies and gentlemen.

Never go first. Always record your transactions or take perfect screenshots. Always get a Steamrep middleman if you are trading for real money. Do not open any suspicious links. If you are trading with real money through Paypal, make sure the buyer sends the money as a gift and add a non-refundable note. Something like this: "I am buying virtual items and the money isn't refundable." That's about it, people. Protect your items, because Volvo won't help you. Trust me.


If you're having suspicions that someone is trying to scam you, feel free to post screenshots of your chat and the alleged "scammer's" profile, and you will receive help and advice! Thanks to all who have read this guide, hopefully it was helpful!

I will update this when I have more time. Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

That doesn't really do anything, they can still chargeback. Just wanted to point that out.

Yeah. That's true, man. That's why I prefer bank wires. Thanks for the input.

Its more advisable to have in notes the person's Steam ID sending the money, and for what it was "Steam 7656119814737583 sends money for 1 buds a bills and a few keys"

It's still not a 100% guarantee that the money won't be refunded. You could just use an alternative Paypal account, once you receive the money, you send them to your main account.

I never said that PayCheat would not chargeback. Just that its handier to have in notes information about the trade itself instead of any text. For Paycheat and/or the trader is NOT bound to anything in that text. Its a NOTE about the trade, not a contract.

Hello!Is he trying to scam me?

Yes

https://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/wiki/scamtypes