Half-Life Fallout: So a friend of a friend of mine... - Half-Life Fallout

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So a friend of a friend of mine... got their account stole...



Prowler

Posts: 734

#1 Posted 19 April 2012 - 01:53 AM

So a friend of mine is getting a little ticked off with Valve right now. Her brother’s Steam account was hacked and he cannot seem to reclaim it. The issue is most of the games on the account were gifts and the only retail game may have been lost. His email account may have also been hacked. I think there is no hope at this point as there seems to be no easy way to prove the account is his.

Right now she is ranting about how Valve could track the IP for the account and trying finding a “working hacking program”. Personally I do not think having his account hacked and having no proof is Valve’s fault. I feel bad for him but what can anyone really do at this point? Am I just a blind Valve fan boy or what?


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Hupsakee!

Posts: 20,592

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#2 Posted 19 April 2012 - 08:18 AM

Well he could have used steam guard...which is on by default I think. But hindsight will get us nowhere.

On the plus side, he didn't lose a lot of money since most games were gifts, and he learned a valuable lesson in responsability: use proper passwords and different passwords on different services.
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Prowler

Posts: 734

#3 Posted 19 April 2012 - 12:02 PM

View PostBrumisator, on 19 April 2012 - 04:18 AM, said:

Well he could have used steam guard...which is on by default I think. But hindsight will get us nowhere.

On the plus side, he didn't lose a lot of money since most games were gifts, and he learned a valuable lesson in responsability: use proper passwords and different passwords on different services.

She swears to me Steam Guard was on, email was verified, etc... I gave her the old lecture about these things and she still seems to be pissed off at Valve. When I went to bed last night she was trying to find ways to get more info on her brother’s account. She said Steam was flawed because there was no way to find out what IP was being used, view the last trade transactions, current email etc... Of course she wanted them to be publicly visible so she could see them on her bothers profile.

It looks like his friends list has been wiped and his TF2 items already sold. We see this stuff a lot on this forum but is a little different when it happens to someone you know. Frankly she never really liked Steam to start with and I had to help a lot in the past. Heck she even says Origin is better... Maybe Valve could add a text/phone based system to add another recovery option. If I feel generous maybe I'll pitch it to the Steam forums. I love Valve but I do hate it when these things happen...
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We could have a super headcrab epidemic on our hands." -EatChildren



Poison Piealicious

Posts: 4,037

#4 Posted 20 April 2012 - 09:06 AM

It's pretty shitty when this happens to you and Valve's customer service could be a lot better, but you can't just go granting everyone an account without proof.

Can't he use bank/credit card statements to show the few transaction he did make? That should be solid proof.
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Ivan the Space Biker's Personal Aid

Posts: 6,217

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#5 Posted 20 April 2012 - 01:04 PM

Its really not even Valve's fault at all. I mean, there is up to a point that a system has to trust that the user is who they say they are. All of these guard systems are there as a benefit to the users, but once your passwords/accounts are compromised there isnt much Valve can do because its ultimately your responsibility to keep your account safe.

Second, there were atleast 2 layers of security that were compromised, both his email & steam password, you could add text or phone numbers, but thats just another layer that can be bypassed given that the two strongest measures have already been defeated.

Any more security and its just going to annoy the rest of us. On another note, I should remember to remove my card details from steam...


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Prowler

Posts: 734

#6 Posted 20 April 2012 - 01:55 PM

View PostBerrie, on 20 April 2012 - 05:06 AM, said:

It's pretty shitty when this happens to you and Valve's customer service could be a lot better, but you can't just go granting everyone an account without proof.

Can't he use bank/credit card statements to show the few transaction he did make? That should be solid proof.


He only had games bought at retail and gifts so it does not appear to be an option.

View Postsuicide_mission, on 20 April 2012 - 09:04 AM, said:

Its really not even Valve's fault at all. I mean, there is up to a point that a system has to trust that the user is who they say they are. All of these guard systems are there as a benefit to the users, but once your passwords/accounts are compromised there isnt much Valve can do because its ultimately your responsibility to keep your account safe.

Second, there were atleast 2 layers of security that were compromised, both his email & steam password, you could add text or phone numbers, but thats just another layer that can be bypassed given that the two strongest measures have already been defeated.

Any more security and its just going to annoy the rest of us. On another note, I should remember to remove my card details from steam...


That has been my main thoughts on the matter. She also complained about how too much security makes it harder to get your account back... It also turns out she forgot her Steam password and went was far as to ask me if there was a way to get it back "without going through a lot of hoops". You cannot have it both ways. I am glad I am not the only one who thinks her requests are unreasonable. I understand that she is mad but I think her anger is misdirected.


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"Now, if a unicorn can regenerate magic faster than the headcrab can suck...
We could have a super headcrab epidemic on our hands." -EatChildren



Citadel Elite Guard

Posts: 1,327

#7 Posted 20 April 2012 - 03:11 PM

Steam guard cannot do anything for you if your email address is used as your guarding device and its been breached before steam. i thought steam guard did have an option for cell phones? or is that not out yet. your friend needs to keep blaming valve for something that is her fault. this friend probably was downloading illegal software or something and got a keylogging virus that stole their idenity!

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