This will make it a bit more challenging to see patterns in behavior for some users posting for help or for those that try to be sneaky about VAC bans/game bans, for example only.

No alias history, and we cannot see if they use third party websites and become victim to the API Key scam, perhaps. Although many will still try to "advertise" for these sites in their current profile names, I am sure. But that is being looked into also, from what I gather.

No alias history, and we have it more challenging to see their other possible alt accounts in the case of bans and claims of them being false.

Both of these are not really a big deal, I guess. Just changes things a bit in how we might respond to such threads in the future.

Sorry, I was only using the mods I mentioned as examples of paid mods, that appear as Valve employees. I see your point, Boss, about the issue with the avatar. That is kinda nonsense, in my opinion also.

Oprindeligt skrevet af 🎴 The Great Escape 🎴:

I didn't know a lot of the mods retired. Is The Vampire still around, I hope?

Yes, SV is still around. He said a while back that his time in the community fourms might drop off over time, but he seems to still moderate quite a bit, mostly in VAC.

My guess is Boss, that Felix is no longer moderating the Dota 2 forum, as he is retired now also, along with other mods. If my information is correct, that is.

And if so, it was probably a paid mod that did this. I have actually seen the good Killah state that paid mods need to be more careful and apply bans better and more accurately, while he was posting and removing a ban where a user had complained about something very similar as what you stated here. Can't say any of that is relevant, but it would make sense.

And sadly, Killah is no longer a mod now either. So these paid mods like Empress of Fire or Snow are going to have a "heavier hammer" possibly, so to speak.

Our wonderful host, the good BossGalaga, seems to have made a guide about this. Thanks for your time making that, Boss. Linking that here at the top as it is good and has a great style, too :

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1523781462

Posting this here to maybe help with these VAC scams, as a record of them happening for explanation later on to new victims of such scams, as well as a slight explanation of how the messages are nonsense, as well as steps for the user to take if it happens to them.

Sadly, the link list is a work in progress, as others will keep falling victim to this scam, probably. As users clean up these on their own accounts, of course the scam message will often not be visible anymore, as well as the avatar change. The avatar is often changed to a "VAC" avatar in some/most of these scams.

VAC Scam Threads

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1729828401702125785/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1729828401679757015/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1729828401705066175/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1729828401705453045/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1729828401704244753/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1729828401705297572/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1734333281940184413/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/2572002906847994618/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/2572002906852999086/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/2572003428664647149/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/2572003428664932662/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1711816076697860899/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1762481957310409653/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1762481957318046384/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1736588252383015667/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1736588252383330473/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1738841319819035344/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1743346190270961606/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1743346190277219772/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1735465524704692016/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1735465524722451329/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1735466157775023339/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/3145094199309549275/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1736595131055147487/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1736595227851305870/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1736595227854352574/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1736595227854805134/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1736595227856337185/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/3315110799621757248/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/3315110799626040472/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/3315110799625641580/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1762481957318767331/?tscn=1532758690#c1762481957318845833
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/3398435622560109512/

(user above posted by mistake off topic in a real VAC ban thread. That is how convincing this scam can be to some)
Then the last user made their own thread, at my recommendation :
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1762481957318900427/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1762481957320532440/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1738841319803914248/

Sometimes, there is a bit of a different message, but the methodology of this scam is the same. Example below :

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1743342647549953375/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1746720717337737957/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/1/1736588252379838462/?tscn=1534624700
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1738841319814154572/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/3374780959396545331/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1744479063991271303/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1744479063991298061/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1745605598710329814/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/3315110799607264343/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1744480332712178104/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/3315110799620576105/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1744480966983848331/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1744480966990690705/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1743358239831774934/

(unless the user of the account has removed the message. If so, it is quoted below :

Account Alert. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Within an hour your account will get VAC ban.
To save skins place them on another account.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1735468061759802688/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1744480967009312757/
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1744483505482063408/
Actions to take NOW :

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/2572003428664647149/#c2572003428664668656

Somewhat of an explanation of the most commonly seen fake message :

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1729828401694894342/#c1729828401694972591

EDIT...Will keep threads linked as an update to this post, as I see them. Hopefully, this will provide an easy accessible record for those that want to maybe show others this is a scam, as often enough, that can be a challenge to convince such users that fall victim to things like this.

There seems to be multiple versions of the scam "alert message" of course, but the scam works basically the same, apparently.

Yep, looks like the scammers are trying to change the message around a bit, as expected due to possibly people catching on some, but the methodology is just the same :

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1732089092449241220/#c1732089092449262816

FINAL EDIT......

This, of course, sadly turned out to be much more of a lasting method to scam users than I had originally considered, so I won't be adding any more links to this post. There are just too many, and the post would end up being over the text limit anyway. Sadly, these just keep coming up over and over in the forums.

Also, BOD has created this helpful thread we can post/link in the forums where we see the many "is this site a scam" threads, where users are going to these third party websites, and maybe getting scammed, phished, or worse......hijacked.

"Help! Is this site a scam? Probably."

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/730/discussions/0/1693785035812738453/

This actually seems to have helped a few users, from what I can tell.

The good Killahinstinct has created this snippet, and said we can post it in these repetetive threads where users maybe are complaining about how VAC does not work and may result is the spreading of misinformation. He hopes to some degree, that this maybe will help to keep such discussions on it more centralized, and maybe curb the spreading of such misinformation around just a bit.

I will add that here, and if the good Boss or any other members suggest I should move it or they think it is better served elsewhere here in the group, feel free to move it or let me know.

Does VAC work?

Reality: The simple fact is, for all intents and purposes VAC does work. Even community measured metrics show that[steamdb.info], relative to the growth of Steam and the popular games, so have the amount of cheat bans. The real number is likely even bigger.

For further discussion please see this thread:
http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/730/discussions/0/1621726179584501164/

Quick FYI on the VAC forum today. If anyone is interested, I thought this was one of, if not the, most uncommon and kindest replies I have ever read in VAC, and it ranks pretty high for all the forums in my opinion actually.

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/9/1496741765125161121/#c1496741765125212299

Maybe the user thought he/she was talking to support or Valve.

Hope it was ok to pass that on here in this thread. Thanks.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Bumbefly Sony Test םו:

+ message

'SECURE CONNECTION FAILED'.

Perfect ! Thanks, as I have not seen that one in a while, thus I forgot about it. Added to the list. Much appreciated !

Oprindeligt skrevet af Lady Of Trades & Blades:

maybe you and me can work on my start of a VAC errors thread that i posted a while ago.

You mean number 2 from my list ?

This ?

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2117-ilzv-2837

I'd be happy to help if I can, but the one I have seen you post is pretty helpful, and the one from the good Commander Makara is very inclusive also.

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=532288039

But new conflicts/problems may come up over time, that cause the error, so it's good you want to stay proactive. Thanks.