STEAM GROUP
TF2 Outpost by Fanbyte
Membership by invitation only
STEAM GROUP
TF2 Outpost by Fanbyte
160,744
MEMBERS
4,025
IN-GAME
32,172
ONLINE
Founded
7 August, 2011
Language
English
Overview Announcements Discussions Events Members Comments Curator
This topic has been locked
NiceTraderJoe 24 Jul, 2014 @ 7:30am
Phishing Countermeasure: Trade Offers
Howdy!

Like many of you, I have been plagued with phishing bot friend requests that originate from this site. The bot’s current method is to scrap my Steam ID from links displayed here and then friend me directly using that information.

I propose a countermeasure by giving sellers the option to remove all references to their Steam ID and replace it with Steam Trade Offer links.

  1. Add a “Steam Trade Offer” information option to user profile settings
    1. If my Steam Trade Offer link changes, I can modify it here in settings
  2. Remove “Add on Steam” links for user and replace with “Steam Trade Offer” link
  3. Remove all other plain text Steam ID references
    1. Trade post pages
    2. User profile page
    3. Anywhere else my Steam ID directly appears to users

Using this method will put me (the user) in control over who can and cannot see my Steam ID, thus making it more difficult for phishing bots to spam me. Users will still be able to communicate with me via post replies and trade offers.

Thank you for your consideration and have a great day!

Joe.
< >
Showing 1-8 of 8 comments
HusKy 24 Jul, 2014 @ 7:40am 
1. Isn't this already available?

Do you realize that you can retrieve Steam ID from trade offer link?
#1
kléni 24 Jul, 2014 @ 7:41am 
No, it won't. Bots can easily read your Steam ID from the trade offer popup (just click on the avatar).


Originally posted by HusKy:
1. Isn't this already available?
Right now you can't hide add as friend buttons.
Originally posted by HusKy:
Do you realize that you can retrieve Steam ID from trade offer link?
He can't. .com/tradeoffer/new/?partner=83495804&token=BfCvH7ef is my trade offer link, which doesn't contain my ID (76561198043761532 or klenium)
Last edited by kléni; 24 Jul, 2014 @ 7:48am
#2
NiceTraderJoe 24 Jul, 2014 @ 7:49am 
@HusKy No, the option described above is not currently available. Trade offer links do not directly contain my Steam ID; instead, they contain "partner" and "token" information.

@kléni This countermeasure will require more steps to potentially pull my Steam ID. The countermeasure also puts the responsibility directly in the hands of Steam since Steam will be providing my Steam ID instead of this site.

The goal of this countermeasure is, at my request, to add more complexity for phishing bots to be successful.
#3
HusKy 24 Jul, 2014 @ 7:53am 
I was pointing at 1st bullet point - you can set your trade offer URL in the settings. It's been like that for ages.

kleni: Yes, and from there I'm just 1 or 2 HTTP requests away from users Steam ID.
Last edited by HusKy; 24 Jul, 2014 @ 7:53am
#4
kléni 24 Jul, 2014 @ 8:03am 
Originally posted by NiceTraderJoe:
@kléni This countermeasure will require more steps to potentially pull my Steam ID.
But won't stop them, so your suggestion is totally useless. Also, it's rejected.
Last edited by kléni; 24 Jul, 2014 @ 8:05am
#5
HusKy 24 Jul, 2014 @ 8:17am 
Originally posted by kléni:
partner=83495804

So, I looked at it and it took me like 2 minutes to figure out that your STEAM_ ID is:
STEAM_0:0:41747902

For even partner ID:
83495804 / 2 = 41747902 -> STEAM_0:0:41747902

For odd partner ID:
(49102683 - 1) / 2 = 24551341 -> STEAM_0:1:24551341

Nice try.
#6
NiceTraderJoe 24 Jul, 2014 @ 8:24am 
@kléni It will put the burden of responsibility directly from tf2outpost.com to Steam; meaning, since tf2outpost.com did not provide the Steam ID for the phishing bot to use, tf2outpost.com is pushing the burden of responsibility away from it to Steam to deal with directly. Also, I did not see where this idea was rejected in that list you linked.

#7
Blue Screen of Death 24 Jul, 2014 @ 8:57am 
Everyone here just proved how useless this suggestion is. Also read: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/groups/tf2outpost/discussions/0/38596747734811146/#c38596747761331928

Stop creating threads without reading what people say or you will be banned for spam.
Last edited by Blue Screen of Death; 24 Jul, 2014 @ 8:57am
#8
< >
Showing 1-8 of 8 comments
Per page: 1530 50

All Discussions > General Discussions > Topic Details
Date Posted: 24 Jul, 2014 @ 7:30am
Posts: 8
Start a New Discussion

Discussions Rules and Guidelines