1. There is no such thing as a "pending" ban or Steam admin. Anyone threatening your account is a scammer trying to scare you. Read more.

Trade Banned bought from scam items?

Discussion in 'SteamRep General Discussion' started by tQQQ.SecretShopIligan, Mar 16, 2016.

  1. tQQQ.SecretShopIligan

    tQQQ.SecretShopIligan New User

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    Steam:
    STEAM_0:1:78805876
    Hey one quick question, A friend of mine bought a knife to somebody here in our local place, he bought it for real cash. Then after a day he was banned.

    Can someone please elaborate how to un banned his account? we can't provide a prof of purchase since it was bought locally there is no like receipt or whatsoever because the money was personally handed to the seller.

    If you have some FAQ's about my question please do send the link in here.
    Cause i fear for my self, I buy and sell stuffs like keys and knives and skin here in our local place.

    If someone can help about this, I'll be glad to hear it.

    Thanks!
  2. AznZeus

    AznZeus New User

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    Steam:
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    Only thing you can is contact support and explain the situation. From their pov youre friend got a free knife so you need to prove somehow it was bought. Perhaps if you gave details of the original scammer and info they will investigate and release your friend if your friend has good trade history.
  3. Lava

    Lava Public Relations SteamRep Admin

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    SteamRep Admin:
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    Not a lot you can do about that. If you look at it from Steam Support's perspective, you appear to be an alt or accomplice for moving stolen items, and considering scammers' general track record for honesty... they really don't have a reason to believe anyone claiming they didn't know it was stolen once the trade ban is issued. If you think something might be stolen, or you might be dealing with someone sketchy, it may be a good idea to back away.

    All that said, we are not Steam Support, and we are not affiliated with Valve. There is nothing we can do to help you or your friend. All we can do is recommend you make a determination on whether the account you're buying from is an obvious scammer alt, weigh the risks (this being one of them), and make a decision accordingly. There's a reason scammers sell below market value, and it's not because they're generous or stupid. They're trying to dump items for cash as quickly as they can before an inevitable trade ban, and anything they receive regardless of market value is still profit. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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    Edward. likes this.
  4. buzaglo

    buzaglo New User

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    To be honest, the best way to avoid from those people is to check their activity. Usually it's pretty easy, they can't fully fake activity such as high level friends, reps over the wall and short search of their name (previous nicknames) over google. But, yes it does happen because Steam might see you as the scammer's alt account, you may contact them and ask them to check IPs and they will find different IPs, but it's up to them and who answers you over the ticket.
  5. You Are The One

    You Are The One SteamRep Admin

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    Steam:
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    Yes, yes they can "fully fake" such activity. Anyone with 20$ can make an account look fully legit. A few scams or laundered/stolen items the account has paid for itself 50x over. They expect the account to be disposable/get banned, Its simply a part of them doing business.
    As Lava pointed out already, this particular example/case its unlikely the trade ban was issued for being an alternate account but for fencing/laundering stolen items. Having them check IPs is completely pointless and Valve is unlikely to side with you if it was pretty obvious the user was a fence.
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    Edward. likes this.