A Scam or Scammer is somebody who does everything in his/her power to steal from another, this is usually done through trickery, deceit or by force, using trades / gifts/ market transactions/ Online payment systems.

1.Steam URL scammers
Steam URL scammers are often mistaken for legitimate traders, however will almost always start their chat with you along the lines of "Hey, my friend wants to trade with you...(some form of excuse such as friend list error) please add them http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/id/One1Two2Three3For4" (not actually link)

This may look innocent enough to the first glance, however unless you are opening it up directly through steam browser, may not prompt you that you are opening a non steam page.

Scammers will often make an identical website to the steams URL but with a minor difference such as spelling "community" with "communlty" or similar spelling flaws, these links will not direct you to steam user, but to a malicious website, that will likely infect your PC/ Laptop with some form of virus.

95% of people adding you on "behalf of their friend of Vault account" will be scammers.

2.Steam wallet codes
Steam wallet code scammers will often but not always find you through ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

These scammers often rely on you Not knowing how steam wallet codes work and often rely on your inability to think logical when under pressure and faced with a Far to good to be true offer.

For example, you have a lovely FN Vulcan, worth £60, the scammer will likely offer you £80-£100, in hopes you think that is a very good deal and not question them, so as not to push them away, and attempt to give some sort of Fake code, that has no use.

These scammers will Always tell you to send the item first, Or ask to use a middleman (refer to number 3 below for middleman scams)

3.The middleman scam
Middlemen have always been controversial part of trading, However there are some that are legitimate, which causes a loophole in the area of middleman system.

What happens is, often when you mention using a middleman, or the person you are trading with offers a middleman, 70% of the time, its not actually the person who you think they are, but is actually somebody Impersonating the user, this can be done in a variety of ways...

• Copying all previous names used by the middleman
  
• Copying the Users Current name
  
• Copying the persons Unique steam Id, with minor changes
  
• Copying all relevant profile information available to view
  
• Copying any artwork / screenshot pictures
  
• Having a link to the real users inventory on the fake impersonators profile
  
• Having a Private inventory but Lots of +rep's in steam comment section

Do not be completely put of by middleman trading however, there are some legitimate users out there, but spend lots of time checking up on the person you will be using, maybe speak to them over a few days, monitor what they do, and check STEAMREP, to view other users comments about them, unedited from steam profile.

Middlemen often charge small commission for being the 3rd party in a trade.

4.Paypal scams
Unfortunately Paypal scams are increasingly common, as more and more people are looking for Fast Trade-able items without having to wait steams 7days.

As with any form of Trust trading, there are lots of risks involved, Not everyone is out to scam you, but being aware of how they will attempt to is the easiest way to avoid it.

The most common Payal scam is the ChargeBack, Paypals "buyer protection" has many flaws, when purchasing Virtual content / items, and Paypal if a disputed transaction will likely favor the Buyer, and refund the money back from the sellers account regardless if any items had actually been exchanged or not, These charge backs can happen up to 30days after the trade was done.

Another form of Paypal scam is the "invoice" scam, Here the Buyer will often say they will go first to make you feel more secure and lower your guard, they will then send an Invoice "Requesting" the money from you, with some text along the lines of saying "you have received XX amount of money Click to accept", Without thinking much, you will accept it assuming you have been paid and send them the item. This is when you find out, that not only have you given your item away but have actually paid them to take it from you as well, so you lose double.

5. Bulk junk trade hide's
This is uncommon, and often with large inventories with a lot of low tier items people will often send a trade offer for 1 key -> in return for 10-20 junk items...seems fair? However somewhere in the junk pile there will be 1 or more Expensive high tier item.


Most people with Large inventories welcome the chance to get rid of large junk at once, however rarely check the trades.

Easiest way to avoid this, is to double and even triple check what you are trading, or simply make a trade yourself, with the junk items.

6.Teamspeak client scam
A rather old scam I've come across is the "Team speak communication server scam"

In some form or another, you will be approached and invited to join a Team / clan / game of some sort, but told you will be using team speak...seems fair right?

Wrong, many times when you try to connect to the team speak server, it will automatically kick you, with the Message "you do not have the latest version CLICK TO DOWNLOAD"


However this link is not anything to do with team speak itself, and will take you to some form of malicious website.

If you are joining team speak, do some research on the server first

7. Jackpot Gambling scam
A more recent scam that I've come across, to the csgo skin betters out there, somebody will approach you claiming to be a jackpot site owner (insert random jackpot site) and offer to "rig" the winner for you if you help to promote their site.

Seems too good to be true?

Correct, it is too good to be true 95% of the time, the site will not be a live jackpot site, but some form of video loop giving off the impression its pretty popular, with large pots making it all the more tempting to accept the offer.

However, when you go to deposit a bet, swiftly the owner will disappear.

Always research if you want to try jackpot betting, although betting itself has various other risks.

This is a new scam I have recently come across, where a random user will contact you via your steam profile comment section.
This user will have nothing on his profile apart from a few fellow scammers, and a link to a "main Account".
(Image of steam user : 76561197984932660 This is a scammer ).

Should you choose to visit the "main Account" they will have one of two low value skins $20-$40 in their profile showcases somewhere.

This is where the scam takes place, Everywhere on their profile page, will be "trade links" THESE ARE NOT TRADE LINKS,
(Image taken of steam user : 76561198106712049 This is a scammer ).


They are infact Phishing links that when clicked, will do various things to your PC or laptop, with the ultimate goal of Stealing all your items.
---DO NOT CLICK ANY TRADE LINKS ON THESE PROFILES---

And Immediatly report them to Steam and/or Steamrep, to help others avoid being scammed/

So...I'm sure everyone has heard the saying, It sounds too good to be true...well, in this case, it definitely is, here are some examples of the situation that sounds too good.


Steam profiles of the actual phishers above: 76561198165071954, 76561198336921630, 76561198179456294

Here are a few examples of what their profiles info boxes will say.
example 1,

example 2,
example 3,
Now, Lets assume you couldn't resist the temptation still for the Free items, worth a lot of money, should you click on any of the links posted on these profiles, you will get the following message or one very similar, assuming you are ALREADY signed into steam, as the "steam profile trade" that you are trying to click on Is NOT apart of steam,


This is immediately a red flag, and you should close it immediately and report the user, However, this is where a lot of people do not, and continue regardless, despite the link appearing to be a steam link displayed on their steam profiles they are Filtering the link, to appear like a steam link.

When you visit the actual website if you do not have a good protection on your pc, or are not signed into steam already, it will appear to be a genuine steam webpage, HOWEVER the Steam page you are viewing is NOT an official steam site, and is a Fake version set up by the company of phisher's, the moment you click "LOG IN" like steam, they will hack your account, and steal your items, and data.

To prevent these types of scammers from succeeding you must report them to steam, and do not visit their websites, OR ANYONE ON THEIR FRIENDLISTS.

• Nobody is going to give you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, either themselves or Via a 3rd party proxy, stay away from anything that sounds too good to be true.
  
  
• Never Give into pressure, do not rush your trade. Scammers will often try to force you to make quick decisions to not allow you to question whats happening.
  
  
• If you are being pressured into getting a 3rd party involved saying that they are "trusted" (please note +Rep comments can be generated easily through Bad steam groups) are most likely scammers, just avoid them and search for somebody else.
  
  
• Double and Triple check Every item you have in a trade offer, before confirming the trade to make sure its what you expect it to be.
  
  
• Ensure you are trading with who you think they are, and not an impersonator, Many high tier traders will often be Very high steam level, this is not easy to fake as costs a significant amount of money to achieve levels.
  
  
• When somebody you do not know asks you to do something either visit a website or joining a chat client, Think twice and research beforehand.
  
  
• Frequently check your account is protected and nothing has been modified without your knowledge, as well as trade history.
  
  
• Use the Steam Nickname Feature for EVERYONE on your friend list, to avoid anyone pretending to be your friend.
  
  
• Account security is never enough. Ensure anything linked to your account is Also secure...Emails etc.
  
  
• Do not click on any links anyone sends you, or link to somebody's profile, always copy the link and check the link first.