Also known as API Key scam! původně napsal:

Site camouflages itself to try to look like normal website but when you hit "Login via Steam" button instead of being redirected to Steam API site you are in fake similiar looking website. The website records what you type so they get your login, password and authentication code. After that they use that data to login a bot on your account, when you try to send any trade the bot will auto cancel it and send another where you give your items to a scammer, if you don't pay attention and confirm on mobile without checking you can accidentally lose all your skins away. This method has been very popular recently and plenty of people has been scammed because of this. Don't go into any website you don't know and don't trust.

This is example of a fake link on reddit that redirects to totally different site.



How to prevent getting scammed?
Common sense and not venturing into unsafe unknown websites should be enough but if you persist that you must login on that website you can always try this:
->Open new tab
->Go to official steam website ( https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/ )
->Log in to your steam account from there
->Go back to the unknown website
->Refresh the page
If it asks you to input your credentials it's certainly a scam, if you can login via a button press without inputing your credentials it's legit Steam API (that doesn't mean the site is 100% safe, they can be using different scam method to get your items!)


Safe =


Not safe =


If you have been affected by that:
Scan for malware. https://www.emsisoft.com/en/home/antimalware/
Deauthorize all devices https://steamhost.cn/twofactor/manage
Change your password on a different secure device
OPTIONAL: Generate new back up codes. https://steamhost.cn/twofactor/manage
Revoke the api key https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/dev/apikey (if it's empty then don't make any, the point is to have no api keys set)

Volvo no speak engrish! původně napsal:

Happens usually after getting hijacked by a phishing website. The scammer after getting into your account changes your profile name and removes the profile picture (sometimes also cleans out whole friendslist) and leaves a message like this:


Scammer wants you to send any trade to hijack it and have you confirm the other one in the mobile app to get all your items.

Other variation:
After getting hijacked by phishing website the scammer changes your profile name, profile text and picture to one saying that you will be VAC banned and if you want to save your skins you need to trade them to other account. Any trade you then make will be hijacked and changed by scammer so you will be confirming on mobile completely different trade. Valve/Steam Support never warn people that they are going to get banned.

One of the most common scams původně napsal:

THERE ARE NO STEAM ADMINS THAT YOU HAVE TO CONTACT
There are many variations of this scam, usually it involves trading your items to "Valve Admin" or other "Item verification bot" which are all fake.
Scammers may try to convince victim that they have "bugged"/"glitched" items.. and they need to have "verification" from Steam admin which is fake. There is no such thing as Steam admins checking trades and there are no bugged,glitched,marked or whatever broken items that need inspection
.
Even if scammer tells you you need to have "verification from Steam admin that you didn't scam the items" or that he "accidentally reported you" he just tries to scam you. Steam/VALVe employees don't ask to get added on Steam regarding any kind of reports.

Some scammers have even in artwork screenshots of some papers "proving" that they are VALVe employees
FAKE "CERTIFICATION" =















Other type of Scammer impersonating admin to scam:



The newest version is that scammer sends you some gif/screenshot of some "valve control panel" with buttons saying "Delete account" or "Apply trade ban" and the scammer threathens you that if you don't send him items he will ban your account
Example of such control panel:
Gif[cdn.discordapp.com]


The real Valve employees can be recognized by having Valve badge on their profile
or by their [VALVe] text next to their name that is accompanied by green name on forum

There are no legit ones, except Valve in-game case opening původně napsal:

Many 3-rd party sites offers skin gambling or diffrent case openings... be aware since most of these sites are actually scam and they are not affilated with VALVe


Many youtubers are sponsored by those sites and they recieve rigged accounts so they win more than usual users

Some of them are marked by VALVe employees as scammy ones but not all of them

Most common scam in 2018! původně napsal:

THERE IS PLENTY OF PHISHING SITES THAT TRY TO STEAL YOUR INFO, SCAMMERS MAKE HUNDREDS OF FAKE STORIES TO MAKE YOU CLICK THE LINK AND BECAUSE OF THAT I CANNOT LIST THEM ALL. DON'T VISIT ANY WEBSITES YOU DON'T KNOW OR TRUST!


Example:
The scammer will send you link that looks like normal profile or tradelink but it's diffrent and leads to a site that will give you malware and because of it stole your data. It sometimes comes with random bot with Steam nickname like [Site] Bot #[Number] saying you won a giveaway (you never participated)
Many of them also use method they are trying to trade with you and they send you link to "screenshot" of their item which leads to a phishing site.
Malware are usually but not limitimed to file extensions like:
.scr, .exe, .txt, .dll


Other variant:
The scammer sends you message like "Hello, I wanted trade my ak redline for all your cases or graffities. So if u dont need them just send me offer. My ak and tradelink in my main - (LINK) Dont add me i got limit, just send offer. Thanks"
but on their profile there is fake "trade link" that will lead to a phishing site

Newer variant:
Scammer asks you to join their team on Faceit, to surprise he actually wants you to go to Faceit site and search for their team. The team exists on Faceit but they ask you to click on their "Socials" link which is actual phishing link

Easiest to spot původně napsal:

They are trading sites that have deposit button.
Most of them also lure with something like "50$ free promo code" or name similiar to other websites that are trusted by many people. The point of this is to "deposit" aka gift your skins.

One of the most popular scams in 2017/2018 původně napsal:

The scammer wants to trade but he wants you to send him skins first then he will send you counter offer which will feature his items but the scammer rather than send counter offer just accepts the trade and you are left with nothing

Don't install random extensions randoms want you to původně napsal:

The scammer wants you to install extenstion (usually for Chrome) or program to "check" or "verify" your items. That extension and/or program is made so it either automatically sends your skin to the scammer or to steal your account.

You thought he will rig for you but he rigged you původně napsal:

Scammer adds you and wants to "hire" you. Mostly its either for rigging the drops and splitting the win or working as a moderator in chat. If you decide to participate it will either end up with fake Steam login API (see the scams above) or the gambling owner will just "forget" to press the rig button and you will lose your skins.

What goes into Steam Wallet.. stays in Steam Wallet původně napsal:

The scammers sends you trade offer that looks like begging (Your skin(s) for nothing) but attach a message like "User [SCAMMER] Added 999$ to the transaction. The funds will be transferred to your Steam wallet when you accept the trade."

Example:

GbtDG-s1SzG-XXXXX = Free GTA VI code! původně napsal:

Scammers want your skins for steam wallet code or game CD-Key but he will give you used/wrong code at the end

Why choose between money or skins when you can have both! původně napsal:

Scammer wants to trade your items for a game that he will gift you on Steam, after you get the game and send him items he will proceed to refund the money which will result in removing that game from your library (It will be removed even if you hit the 2hour mark)

Other variant:
The scammer will offer to buy a cheap skin of yours off the market for much more than it's worth, then he wants you to spend that money on keys and give them to him, then it appears that scammers stole credit card he used to buy your skin or chargebacked.

That PayPal email from aidsbaisdasb@tempmail.org looks legit původně napsal:

The scammer wants to buy your items for PayPal and he is going first! Seems legit... right? Well it's not, scammer ask you for your PayPal email "to send money" but instead he sends forged email that looks like it's from PayPal but in reality it's from scammer who tricks you into beliving that he sent you money and they will appear in several hours on your PayPal account.

Other variant:
Scammer sends you the money first but charges back later, PayPal is usually in the favor of buyer so it is hard to dispute that chargeback.

In legal terms all skins are woth 0.00$ regardless of how much you paid for them původně napsal:

Scammers try to convince you to sell your items for real money to them, they often use PayPal but they don't limit themself to it. Please remember that the account they use may always be stolen or they can just chargeback, you won't get help getting your item back or money if you send your skins to a scammer for real money even if he will go first.

Discord is 100% safe from this type of scam původně napsal:

Scammer adds you and ask you to talk via TeamSpeak with him. When you join his channel you get notification about some "outdated plugin", when you click to update it, it will download some keylogger ( Wikipedia - Keylogger [en.wikipedia.org]) on your PC.

>Put 3cent item for 300$ on Steam Market >???? >Profit původně napsal:

That specific type of scam is used mostly for DotA 2 items but can be used for other game items. Basically DotA 2 market is "weird" as you can say, because you can add autograph to that skin (like stickers or nametags in csgo skins) and market count this as totally different skin so things that can be bought in-game for 1 or 2 euro are often found on the market for 300-400euro (ofcourse nobody buys them buy they are used to fool you into thinking it's very valuable item). Always check DotA 2 trading reddit or DotA 2 Steam forum and ask for real price.

DotA 2 Trading reddit page:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dota2Trade/

Double check every bot původně napsal:

Scam using marketplaces such as OPSkins and gambling sites. Scammer will impersonate a bot or work with somebody impersonating bots and will try to scam you

The scammer want you put for a while (or to buy it from there) your item on OPSkins or other sites. Scammer wants to "guide" you using Skype or any program where he can see your desktop, he will watch what you are doing and "guide" then he will tell you to check offers and then you get offer from the "bot impersonator". This is mostly used on newer players who doesn't know about trading on big sites and let the scammer go guide you through the process.

Only do 1:1 trades původně napsal:

Scammer tells you to trade your items to middleman that will hold your both items (or maybe even sell you some story about bugged items or smth like that) but the middleman is friend with scammer so they won't give you your items back.


Other version

Scammers tells you to trade your items to your friend to see if they are tradeable, on that moment you get trade offer from scammer's friend that changed his profile to look like your friend's one

They are all scams! původně napsal:

Scammer will say that he has won much on some 3rd party site and that they cannot withdraw because they need to deposit X$. He will ask you to "borrow" some of your skins and in return he will give you a knife or something. He will photoshop the picture or use Inspect element in browser to "proof" that they really have that cash on that site

Other version:
Scammer is the owner/admin on that site and he gave himself a lot of "coins" on that site.. he says he wants to withdraw but he can't because of broken phone.. he gives you coins but when you try to withdraw it says you need to deposit X$ to withdraw. Since it's scamming site you will never withdraw no matter how much you will deposit.

Why duper don't have 100 Dlores?!? původně napsal:

Scammer adds you and says he can duplicate your CS:GO skins... but in reality it's impossible to do that. Steam support duplicated skins long time ago for hijack victims but they stopped doing that when mobile authenticator came out.

Other variant involves scammer saying he can gift you free items if you first send your whole inventory to him, it's obviously a scam and nobody on steam can make,dupe or change items.

I think I will see my knife in between 300 cases původně napsal:

Scammer wants to buy a lot of your cheap skins but between your items he puts one your valuable skin hoping that you won't see that

When you sell FN don't put FT in trade window původně napsal:

Usually happening when you use 3-rd party sites to check what other people want to trade.
User offers you specific item but put lower quality item instead. It's usually done by counter-offering your offer

MC account for noodles? původně napsal:

The scammer wants to trade his account with you (Steam,Riot,Rockstar etc it doesn't matter). After recieving payment scammer recovers account and you are left with nothing. Most sites put in Terms of Service that account trading is forbidden and may lead to permanent blockade.

Pls sponsor me původně napsal:

It's a scam where you have virus on PC/Phone and you get information that apparently Steam saw some "suspicious activity" on your account and needs to hold your skins... ofc Steam Support never does that and your items are gone forever if you give them.

I suggest full PC and phone scan for viruses and malware

All skins look the same if you are blind! původně napsal:

User wants to trade with you but they put similiar item into the trade window which have lower value.

Ninjas! původně napsal:

The scammer will ask to trade in window made (That one where you could change items without counteroffering) and then they add their items and take your time by asking a lot of question to fool you to at the end switch their or your item for same or similiar of much different value.

Can't buy items off market but can trade... původně napsal:

This scam involves scammer contacting you and saying that he can't use community market but he wants to trade his skins/keys for that item... So he asks you to buy it from market and then trade it with him. The scam is that this item on market is being sold by scammer 2nd account

I can predict that next time you will lose your skins if you gamble původně napsal:

The scammer offers you script to the gambling site that predicts next round and make you automatically bet, but in reality it sends all your skins to scammer's account

Plox help my Roblox channel grow! původně napsal:

The scammers adds you and wants to borrow your inventory for youtube video. He never gives them back.

Hey! It' me, your brother původně napsal:

The scammer tries to impersonate victims friend and convince him to lend him skin(s).. They sometimes work in pairs.. one person tries to trade with you and 2nd tries to impersonate your friend usually they say something like this:
"I wanna be sure that your item is not bugged, trade it to à friend then get it back and we trade"

It's my uknown 999x storage account for trades původně napsal:

The scammer impersonates some famous player or youtuber and asks for donation/borrowing your items.. or just wants to trade and claims it's his "storage account" and when you give your skins first then he will give you skins from his main account.

Other version of that scam have the scammer pretend to be "discussion account" where he discuss trade with you. Scammer wants you to send your offer first (for nothing) then he claims he will log on to his main account (the one he is impersonating) and skins to you. Since he is not the actual owner and just impersonator he doesn't have access to the skins and cannot give you anything.

First scam attempt I ever saw on Steam původně napsal:

That's a scam that is fairly new and not many users use it but it's good to know. This scam have many stories and this is one of them:
Unknown user (1) adds you and asks you for a favor. He accidentally lowballed somebody (2) and got blocked... now he wants to trade but it's unable to do so because of the blocked communications. (2) Guy agrees to only trade with you because he hates lowballers and he will never forgive him for that >:(, so (1) asks you to trade your items with (2) and as a reward he (1) gives you his skins. When you give your skins for worthless items they both unfriend you and block and you are left with some useless items that are worth nothing.



(Sadly I don't have screenshots of talk or anything.. just of the offer :/)

Pay 20$ to join VaultHunters101 E-Sports clan původně napsal:

Basically somebody offers you entrering to his clan but you must pay for it... even if you pay he still doesn't allow you into his group

Get 0.01€ case if your scam somebody! :O původně napsal:

The scammer wants to trade with you but asks you to send him one cheap item offer to make sure your trade window isn't "bugged", after that he runs off with whatever cheap item you sent him.

Take it and run! původně napsal:

You get a trade offer from a bot where he give you cheap ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and puts some referral code as message to it. The scam is that you get the skin, gamble it on the site and win but when you try to withdraw it asks you for a deposit and even after that you can't withdraw.

Best way is to get the skin and ignore the bot completely :)

Boo! I'm scary původně napsal:

Scammer threathens you to report/Doxx/DDoS/Ban you if you don't give him your skins


Just block that idiot on Steam and if he continues to contact you or your friends then report him for harassment, if you feel like you are in actual danger contact your local authorities.

Scammer is just a d**k at this point původně napsal:

Scammer shows you decent offer that you will probably accept, when you are both talking and setting up trade offer scammer proceeds to scrape the stickers on his skin.. when you looked earlier the scammer had perfect non-scratched stickers but when you got the skin it have been nearly fully scrapped

Like this and have a chance to win 999999999Dlores!!! původně napsal:

Recently a lot fo scammers started to post some fake giveaways/raffles asking for rep or case donations in return.. it's all a scam, you won't win anything, the winner will never be annouced or it will be scammers second/friend account.

BETA TREASURE DLORE!!! původně napsal:

Some scummy game developers started to put fake items on market with picture of Dragon Lore or other Howl but they are worth nothing, please make sure that item you trade for is from CSGO and not some scamunknown game. Here are examples of those fake items:

Fake trade, but for real původně napsal:

Scammer will add you and will want to make 'Virtual Trade' with you, nothing like that exists but the scammer will try to make you believe that there is some fake trade you can do and just basically ask you to gift him your item and accept on mobile. He will reassure you that you would be getting your item back but all trades are final and he will just run off with your item

It has many varations, this is the newest one původně napsal:

Recently there have been screenshots and ads promoting fake giveaways, do not scan the given QR code nor visit those sites

Below you will find tips on trading and finding if people are trying to scam you

+reps mean nothing... some people "farm" them and try to convince you that they are "legit" because of that... +reps mean totally nothing on self moderated wall

SteamRep is a site where you can check if someone was reported on that website. I don't personally like websites like SteamRep since they started all the "middleman" and "reps" that have ended up as opportunities for scammers to scam others. If somebody has been marked as scammer there you know that they tried to scam others but no reputation or even postitive reputation doesn't mean that the person can be trusted. Remember to stick only to 1:1 trade window and if any trade requires something else just back out, it's most likely a scam and you don't want to risk your items.

( My steamrep link Here [steamrep.com] )

If you see see somebody have a previous name like (Site) BOT #(Number) or Item verification bot that's the red flag showing this person tried to scam other people earlier.

Usually there is nothing to do except reporting the scammer and hoping he will get a trade ban.

To report scammer on Steam:
Go to his profile > Click more > Report violation > Trade scamming (and provide as much evidence as you can)
More reports don't equal higher chance to ban somebody. So please don't post on forum the profile link of scammer or ask anybody to report him

To report via trade offers history:
1.Go to: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/my/tradeoffers/
2.Find the trade where you were scammed
3.Click the flag icon and fill on the details and evidence there

More reports don't equal higher chance to ban somebody. So please don't post on forum the profile link of scammer or ask anybody to report him

To report on SteamRep:
1. Review SteamRep investigation policy
Here [forums.steamrep.com]
2. GATHER EVIDENCE!
3. Use their report tool
Here [forums.steamrep.com]

If the scam also made your lose access to your account or caused changes to it (even if temporary) you should also follow this:
Scan for malware. https://www.emsisoft.com/en/home/antimalware/
Deauthorize all devices https://steamhost.cn/twofactor/manage
Change your password on a different secure device
OPTIONAL: Generate new back up codes. https://steamhost.cn/twofactor/manage
Revoke the api key https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/dev/apikey (if it's empty then don't make any, the point is to have no api keys set)

Steam will not return any items or gifts that you feel have been traded unfairly. There are no exceptions to this policy.


Steam Support does not restore items that have left accounts for any reason, including trades, market transactions, deletions, or gifting.
It is your responsibility to secure your Steam account. To quickly make trades or sales on the Market, your account must be protected by a Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator. This ensures that only you are able to remove items from your account. If you can’t enable an Authenticator, Steam will hold the trade or Market sell listing for a period of 15 days so that you’ll have enough time to discover and cancel pending transactions if your account was compromised.
Please carefully check the value of the items you want to trade. All trades are confirmed twice in the trade window and a third time via email or the Mobile Authenticator. Never agree to a trade that needs to be made outside of the Steam trade window.
Steam Support will no longer restore lost items. Items often exchange hands multiple times before a restoration request and this means they cannot be restored without duplicating them or removing them from another innocent user’s inventory. Duplicating items has a negative impact on everyone who trades or uses the Market by lowering the value of items.

Original link

Please donate so I can keep this guide updated
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/tradeoffer/new/?partner=235057219&token=JnsbWP9h

If you have any questions feel free to ask via commenting below