General Discussion

General DiscussionHere's a little guide how to dodge scammers. (c) TripleSteal

Here's a little guide how to dodge scammers. (c) TripleSteal in General Discussion
Mekarazium

    Mods, pinpoint it somewhere. People are starting to qq about scamming and well...
    by TripleSteal ( http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=227686782 )

    1). Most popular trade scam: a guy adds you and writes you something like that

    Add my friend bro, he cant add you. Here is his profile: .....

    Rarity : common

    How to avoid
    NEVER click on the profile link. No one would ever add you and isntantly write you something like that except scammers.
    This link is fake. Look attentively: it always contains a little mistake, like steancommuinity instead of steamcommunity, for example. You can check it by googlink the link, too.
    If you go to this page and log in there, you will lose your account, obviously.

    How to punish
    Report in steam for phishing.

    Little note for those who are interested: these scammers usually use accounts they stole before, so once you can be added by someone to whom you knew before and get this spam. It probably means that this account was stolen, the guy to whom it originally belongs is in trouble, too, and you do not have to blame him.

    2) In-trade scammers

    Actually, the most obvious type of scam
    You start trading, your partner puts lots of items in trade and then, when you do not pay attention, changes the most expensive of his items by an other one.

    Rarity :rare

    How to avoid
    Just always check what trade you are acepting, and you won't be scammed.

    How to punish
    Report in steam for trade scam attempt.

    3) Imitators
    A person adds you, usually being offline at the moment. Then, this guy (or may be girl, who knows) finds out with whom you play in party most often and copies his/her account. Then this scammer goes online (when your friend in reality is offline, of course) and asks you to lend him/her a certain item for one game.

    Rarity : uncommon

    How to avoid
    If your friend suddenly asks you to lend you something, check his/her inventory, hours in game, collection of games, steam level, favourite heros or whatever you know for sure. If your friend, for example, played 1750 hours in dota and the guy who asks you played 3 hours, you can be sure it is a scammer.
    Furthermore, you can use "Add a nickname" function (open Friends and click with the right button on one, and you will see a menu that includes this option). You can either use it to tag your friends, or to tag all people who add you.

    How to punish
    Report in steam for imitating.

    4). Scammers from dota2lounge who sell heroic items for incredibly high prices
    Probably, the most original type of trade scams. It is usually created by one guy with several accounts or just a group of people. One of them creates a trade where he sells some heroic item that in reality doesnt cost more than one rare. Others post incredibly high offers to make real buyers believe it really costs much. Then, the person who originally created the trade adds you, gives you a link to this trade and says it is his/her offer for one of your items.

    Rarity : rare

    How to avoid
    Be aware of the fact that such scam model exists and just dont trade with these people.

    How to punish
    Report in steam for trade scam attempt, report in trade on dota2lounge, minus his/her rep, post in trade telling that it is a trade scam. And, ideally, to do it not only with this trader's profile, but also with the profiles of the guys who cooperated with him - they are all scammers just the same.

    5) People who say their item(s) cost(s) much proving that by giving you a link to some page with items' prices
    In many cases, these web pages contain fake prices.

    Rarity : rare

    How to avoid
    You can easily check it by looking for current price for this item(s) on steam market.

    How to punish
    In case the price is really fake, report in steam for trade scam attempt.

    6) Extracting gems when using steam offer
    You get a steam offer (also known as fixed trade, see more in my other guide) that includes an item with any sort of gem - inscribed, ethereal (unusual couriers), etc. You accept it, but in the period after the offer was sent and before you actually accept it your partner uses Artificer's Hammer to extract the gems, so you get items with empty slots. Because of some reason steam doesn't automatically cancel the offer if gems disappear.

    Rarity : very rare

    How to avoid
    Dont trade items with gems via steam offer, use normal direct trade only

    How to punish
    Report in steam for trade scam attempt

    7) Items with changed name and/or description

    Rarity : rare

    a) Easy case. Scammer uses certain tools to re-write item's name or description. Usually he/she names something "Dragonclaw hook".

    How to avoid
    It is easy to understand it is false, as the image keeps being the same and it can't be changed, justbthe same as rarity.

    b) Hard case
    Courier has changed description and name in order to look like an unusual one. Description includes the code of color (f.e. 214 72 166).

    How to avoid
    All items with changed name/description have a sign "!" in the left top corner of the image. Furthermore, you can check the bottom line of the descriptions, where all the tags are mentioned. If the courier has an effect, there is word "unusual" there.

    How to punish
    Report in steam for trade scam attempt

    8) Scammers that steal real money or buy items for money without paying in reality

    Rarity : common

    There are lots of scam models here.

    How to avoid
    Never trade with people to whom you do not trust. Deal with experienced traders that earn money on trades. Of course, you will pay a bit more to them, but it is a reasonable payment for safety.
    Take screenshots, record everything. More proof - higher the chance to recover your items in case you get scammed.

    How to punish
    Report in steam for trade scam attempt. Contact Steam Support and give them as much proof as you can, in case you used Steam Wallet (in case you used other methods of payment, SS won't help you as they forbid such trades). If you used WebMoney, send a report there.

    9) Scammers who use trade description in Steam offer in order to deceive you

    Rarity : very rare

    Your trade partner sends you a Steam offer that includes a short description that tells you will get something after accepting the offer, as if it was written by steam.

    How to avoid
    Don't trust to this description. In any case, you get items that are displayed in trade window only.

    How to punish
    Report in steam for trade scam attempt

    If you were scammed anyway, I would advice you not to panic and to contact Steam Support. Although they reply with a huge delay, they still can help you.

    im so bad at artifact

      Good guide but a lot of people will gloss over it.
      Here's my short version:
      1. Don't download anything people link you to. If someone asks you to download a program, find the program's real website on your own.
      2. Only trade with steam trading, and do not believe that you are trading for anything that is not in the trade window.
      3. Do not type any usernames or passwords into anything people link you.
      4. Only sell for real money with a trusted middleman with a non-reversible form of payment (such as bitcoin, DO NOT trust paypal or anything else that can be charged back).
      5. Carefully look over the items in the trade window before accepting the final trade confirmation.

      BenaoLifedancer

        Nice guide. I'm sure it will be helpful for some

        Ariaflutter.Ataraxia

          I want to ask something, if i get scammed ( not really sure, since i just logon on dota 2 and i found my arcana missing. even i enabled steam protection )

          can i get my items back? :/ and how?

          Andy

            ^In case u got scammed: No you can't get it back anymore. Steam changed their way of handling these things recently.

            TripleSteal-

              At some point I stopped getting notifications about comments on my guides and it looks like I ignored quite a bunch of question here.

              @Tohsaka Rin <3
              First, see your trade history in steam. If it was really stolen, change ur password and contact steam support about the issue. They probably won't help you, cz what nexon said is true, but it is still worth it to give it a try.

              arin

                hi it's me your brother

                arin

                  btw i heard that if you get scammed, you have only one chance of retrieving your items with steam support, not sure if that's true though

                  Mekarazium
                    Овај коментар је уклонио модератор.
                    Mekarazium
                      Овај коментар је уклонио модератор.
                      TripleSteal-

                        nah it still works, but not for trade scams; this rule can be applied to sttolen accs (commonly with phishing links)

                        bum farto

                          Steam have a one time policy where they will help you out one time. If you're a frequent trader and something (out of your control) goes horribly wrong and you haven't just clicked TRADE without looking then steam will roll it back.

                          This happens only once so make sure what you're requesting back is worth the one get out of jail free key you have.