Before I start writing this guide, I would like to state that I have been scammed, ripped off, phished, you name it.

This guide is written from my errors, and I want you, the reader, to learn how not to get scammed, so you can become RICH AND FAMOUS!

NOTE: I can not help you with external trading, such as pay-pal trading!

My sources/qualifications as a guide-curator today include the ~$600 in trading that I had lost.

First of all, what is phishing?

Originally posted by Wikipedia:

Phishing is the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Master phishers generally tend to create bots to act as people and they typically say something relative to the following:

Originally posted by General_Phisher1:

- Hey, you there? My friend would like to trade with you, but there is some sort of error, add him here: [INSERT DODGY LINK HERE]

Bots and humans almost all the time change a couple of letters, so you won't notice! For example, [NOTE THAT THE TEXT IN CAPS IS WHAT THEY CHANGE]

Originally posted by General_Phisher2:

- Here's his profile: st-AE-mcommunity.com/id/GUY
- OR: Here's his profile: steamcommun-ITITY-/id/GUY

I don't know how many times I have to remind people, don't click that link! The hyphens are there to show you what they might do to trick you!


What I'm trying to say is that, before trading with anyone who provides a link, fully assess the link before clicking it! And even then, I would hesitate clicking any link, even from a friend! There are many other types of phishing links, and the dodgy looking steamcommunity link to trade with his 'friend' is never legitimate!

Originally posted by General_Phisher3:

- Hey, here's a gift from steam for FREE!!!

This is following with a link like the following:
steam - gifts.com


♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥! Steam doesn't give free gifts!


I'm not sure about Mozilla Firefox, or Internet explorer, but this is a url of logging into steam in Google Chrome.
[click the image to see full resolution]

Note in this image, what I circled in red (badly): Valve Corp. [US]

Valve corporation owns this security title. Only CONSIDER entering credentials if this is displayed. This is another way of determining whether or not to enter your personal information.

Originally posted by almos, he said: Here's an other type: So a bot adds you, and he/she/it has a private inventory. And the bot provides you with a link, claiming to imburse you a ridiculous offer for your item. DON'T CLICK THE LINK. Bots are very sneaky, and they can change even some little things to what they will 'offer you', but its masterfully hidden to be a third party virus/trojan.

Originally posted by General_Phisher4:

- Hey man, I wanna offer u this: http://img-ER-.com/01312ds.

Yeah, don't click it thanks!

Conclusively, in the case that someone of this type were to add me, I recommend immediately removing them from the 'friends list', proceeding to block them on steam , and reporting them for violation under the following heading: 'Suspected Hijacker or Phisher'.

What is a trade offer scammer?
My view of a trade offer scammer is someone that requires you to give them an item, and they leave a note in the chat, or the offer saying something like the following:

Originally posted by General_Trade_Offer_Scammer1:

- If you give me your item, I will give you $50 in steam credit after!

People, you CAN NOT 'give steam wallet credit'. The only way you can add steam credit is either by activating an activation code, by buying a steam card at a general games store, or by adding it yourself!

Amongst the many, one last technique of scamming this way includes of which rather than offering a money reward, they offer an inexpensive item, that he/she will either 'trade' to you, or 'send a trade offer' to you after you accept the trade offer.

Whether you trade on tf2outpost, backpack tf, tf2tradingpost, or just on TF2 servers, there are mischievous people out there ready to take your precious items off you. Remember: the majority of the scammers within this market are people, so the steps taken to prove they aren't a bot aren't perfect.


Scammers generally tend you add you, and say something relative to the following:

SCAMMER: Hey man, I saw your item on tf2outpost, and I was wondering if you wanted to trade your item?
SCAMMER: I'll give you $50 (the reward is usually an overpay to entice you) steam credit afterwards!


SCAMMER: Hey man, I saw your item on outpost :(.
SCAMMER: My dog recently died, and I'm really sad, and I really like your item, can I have it?
SCAMMER: PLS? I am really sad!!

Remove and block.


SCAMMER: Hey. I saw your item on outpost.
SCAMMER: Give it to me or I'll kill your best friend legit 100%!!.

Remove and block.


SCAMMER: Hey I saw your 3 bud item on outpost, I'll pay a full 3 buds for your item.
SCAMMER: But first, could you trade it to a friend, let's say, tonight, so I can check the history of your item?

That night, when your friend goes away/offline, he'll change his name and profile picture to your friends, ask for your item, and you will [not noticing] trade your valued item to the scammer!


Originally posted by -[FF/ Army Duck]- Luka: you should also be aware when using trade servers. Sometimes, (this has never happened to me), the server admin programs the servers announcement plugins to say something like: 'Get premium on this server for free!' or '$10 free steam credit!' and inserts a phishing link / a link to a virus.

Originally posted by Prohunter69: Sometimes, you'll get an offer of a massive overpay on your item. Let's say for example, he offered a Purple energy Familiar's Fez, for you less expensive unusual. You'll get into a trade, and he/she would sneakily offer an unusual fez, but rather than it being the high class Purple Energy, it's secretly a less expensive 'Orbiting Planets' effect, losing you your items. This is very true, and when trading items, fully assess the items level, effect, and check whether its gifted or not. I once traded a 3 bud unusual for 2 buds, and then 1 bud (gifted), which I didn't notice, so I overall lost .5 of a bud profit.

Originally posted by Indah the Liar™, and Derpy the Scout: they mention that there's a unusual type of scam. This scam is pretty scary, and [they] lost 15 buds collectively.

Be careful with what you share with the internet. People are very good at tracking IP's nowadays. The most information I would give about my location on my steam profile is the country I live in.

There's this type: These are the type of impersonators (typically with private profiles, a red flag) who impersonate a person with power (such as a supposed steam admin), or someone well-known (for example, a youtuber). And require you to give them items.

Steam staff will NEVER ask for you to provide items or credentials.

Also, reality check: Why would this well-known youtuber, for example, add you so you can give them items for your convenience?


And then there's friend-impersonators:

- These are the type of impersonators who add you, and befriend you, find out a friend, or best friend by asking your friends or yourself about you. And then possibly around 1 day to a week, when your friend is offline, or away/busy, they change their profile picture and steam identity to your friends, and they ask something like the following:

NOTE1: If scammers change their name to the exact name then one of your friends, a little (2) will appear next to their name, so they usually HAVE to change their names a small amount to make it to you as if they're your friend.
NOTE2: They most of the time set their profile to private during the scam, so you can not see their information.

Originally posted by General_Impersonator1:

- Hey man, I'm your best friend, could I grab your item for a game? I promise I'll give it back after!

So this guy, called X_FIGHTER_X, lets say, adds you. He starts questioning you stuff associated with your best friend, or friend, lets say his name was 'SWAGKING' which he'll later impersonate. [/b]

Let's say 5 days later, your friend goes offline to sleep (Scammers are better at night, because your more drowsy and less focused)
X_FIGHTER_X changed his name to SWAGKING (or even sometimes to one tiny change in the name, such as SWAGK1NG). He also changes his profile picture to his and says:
SWAGKING: Hey man, can I borrow your item for a game? We'll play one, yeah?

From there, remove and block him so he never tries you again.

Steam support is a group of people who will help you with technical issues, account issues, items and trade issues, and game issues. Although they can provide help with this sort of thing, steam community's discussions page is a good start to answering your questions and replying to your bug issues, and fixing it. [/b]

DO NOTE HOWEVER, THAT:

Originally posted by Steam Staff:

Steam Support cannot add or modify any items in the Steam Economy and cannot return items that have been crafted, deleted, unpacked or traded.

Okay, let's discuss what SteamREP is.

SteamREP is a steam source that lets you determine whether the person your trading with is one to pass a trade on or not. This source can help you determine whether the person your trading with is:
- Trade Banned
- VAC Banned
- Steam-Community Banned
- Their profile is public/not.

This source is really useful for trading with others, and before completing any trade, I highly recommend you use steamREP to decide whether this trade is worth it or not.

And finally, let's discuss Steam Guard

Steam Guard is an in-built steam security system that protects you from people (phishers especially) from hijacking or gaining access to your account so they can trade, delete and sell items without your permission.

What steam guard does to protect your account from this happening, is requires the hijacker to enter a random code, which would be sent to a certain email, when the hijacker attempts to login.

This saves you your account. 90% of the time. This is why you must never reveal any personal information, such as an email account, to a stranger on the internet. I STRONGLY recommend NEVER EVER turning off steam guard. NEVER. It's the wall between the protection of your valuable items and information.

Sharking is generally the experienced involved with the inexperienced (you): Let's say you are added by this guy, and you are unaware of websites that do price checking (ie. backpack.tf). He offers you these flashy items called stranges.

Originally posted by General_Sharker1:

Hey you there?
I was wondering if you wanted to buy these AWESOME STRANGES!
[General_Sharker adds a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ 1 reclaimed worth strange item]
I give you this AWESOME gun, for your key, so your guaranteed cool stuff!

A personal tale: When I started playing this game, I immediately opened the shop and bought around 4 keys. About a day later, this guy adds me, and says what I wrote above. And for about a month, I was giving him key after key after key, for his ♥♥♥♥♥♥ 0.33-1 refined stranges, until I found a price-checking website and confronted him.

To conclude my guide, I would like to say that more of us should take more precaution when trading with other people/bots.

Sorry for this abrupt ending, I wasn't really sure what to write for a conclusion!

NOTE: Let me know what you thought of my guide in the comments, and feedback is appreciated.

P.S: I love positive reviews <3

P.P.S: I'm sorry! I don't accept friend requests anymore!

This is my youtube channel for more information