(This would be nauticals, posting from my open alt)

It starts with a message something like this.

This is the embedded image.

If you get a message like this, contact your friend through another trusted means. Maybe more than one, in case their other accounts got hacked.

While there shouldn't be any risk to you from receiving the message, if you're concerned, it's never a bad idea to change your password periodically.

There are a couple red flags that came with this particular scam.

- This particular friend does not initiate conversations often, and if they did, would not do so through Steam. This is also not how they talk.

- The message has some typos and awkward grammar.

- They are sending this to the person who supposedly made the report, not the target of the report.

- They are asking you to contact them through a third party site. (Discord)

- They are talking in detail about taking severe legal action if you don't respond. (Admittedly my weak area-- but I feel like any company worth their salt wouldn't threaten legal action in this manner. It's meant to frighten you.)

Aside from changing your password and contacting your friend through other means, if you do have concerns about your account having action against it, reach out through already established means, such as an official phone number or contact form. Go directly to the site by typing the URL, and don't click any links.

Another method they use is to leave a message in a picture you have posted from a game (which makes it even weirder)

God that is... even weirder yeah.

I think the message on a posted picture is for when they don't have the account friended but sometimes it seems they miss that memo and it's ridiculous, but yeah all this "I accidentaly reported you" stuff is just a scam 99.99% of the time, no matter who it comes from

But yeah, anyway, this stuff is designed to frighten you into not thinking too closely about it. I even knew, from the very first message, it was going to be a scam, and I still had to take a moment to stop and think about it when they followed up.

i'm pretty sure--i could be wrong, natch - that companies don't threaten legal action as a general rule, you just get something in the mail or an official email or something like that

telling you about it

thanks for the heads up anyway

there's also the little detail that Steam DOES NOT ban IPs, as those can be dynamic so it would be a wasted effort at best and an annoyance at worse if someone were to end with a banned IP due the dynamic system

so if they go on about IP bans that's a dead giveaway too

chocoballs: Yes that would be my assumption, but I couldn't say it with any certainty, so I didn't want to misrepresent! I feel like they certainly wouldn't send it to someone else either.

Serilia Also very true!!

Anytime you get a message like this, open a fresh browser window and manually type in the url of the site that it's referring to. Never, ever direct click links for this crap

I had a complete stranger leave a comment on a screencap I posted to Steam asking me to friend them, only to find that they claimed they had reported me for suspicious activity/scamming in the marketplace and they wanted to know what the heck I thought I was doing. I told them I had no idea who they were or what they were talking about.

no response. they unfriended me afterward.

I found the comment they'd made: "Good day, sorry to bother your time but can you please add me on steam we need to talk on private to discuss something, I'm waiting for your responds not about a trade." then the PM turned out to be the accusation.

inthetatras: I got that too didn't even reply tho, as a search of the message lead to information about the scam so I just deleted, reported and blocked

it's funny they say "not about a trade" yet then the accusation is about trading

Yep. Got this bs on discord a few days ago. I asked for proof of the report in a screenshot and got blocked from the person claiming to be Liam Lavery, one of the customer service reps

if this person tries to contact you, they are NOT the person they're claiming to be

the funniest part here is that they claim it involved federal law enforcement(s). pretty sure the FBI has better things to do that get involved with steam disputes.

I've been messaged out of the blue by a stranger with this method. quick Google searched confirmed my gut instinct thankfully.

so definitely a Thing, be careful

I also think the overall likelyhood of an actual company telling you to reach out on discord for something involving actual serious stuff is pretty small to nonexistant

It's like the scammers who call pretending they're from the IRS, and they want you to pay off your fine with a gift card.

shadowfire1986: not only that, Steam in particular has stated time and time again that they won't contact users through the chat system, it will always be by emails

just want everyone in here to know that I accidentally reported your plurk accounts and that the secretary general of the united nations is going to delete all of your custom emoji by hand if you don't fax me 20 buckaroos and a holofoil charizard by Monday

A friend of mine had a fun experience where they were contacted in English by an account belonging to someone who only knew French.

good tip thanks op I replurk

The actual peak experience is if you politely explain to them how Steam responds to and processes reports so they don't worry about it, at which point they proceed to go on a 40-minute effort to explain to you how this case is incredibly unique and you are generally a unicorn to whom normal reporting rules don't apply.

Second favorite; "omg I'm so glad you messaged me! I have something to confess first." Then copy paste their stuff back to them.

Ideally before they can start their spiel

inthetatras: oh someone left me a similar comment recently. i didnt accept the request

good thing, you likely dodged a bullet

a good way to dodge the discord ones is to turn off your friend requests from people in servers you share

i think you can shut it off by default but i don’t remember, I’ve had it set like that for a really long time

cyber with them immediately

no dont do this

AHAHAHA

but who cybers (with) the cyber criminals? 🧐

also this scam we initially started with happened to kingsrow

nauticals we have a bot