Steam has become a very popular gaming platform among players as well as scammers. Cyber security company ESET shared information on how to recover the stolen Steam account.
The video game industry continues to grow. It is estimated that the sector will reach a market value of 197 billion dollars by the end of 2022 and this value will exceed 250 billion dollars by 2025. This not only creates an irresistible attraction for younger gamers, but also contributes to an increase in scams and cyberattacks targeting platforms and their users. A recent survey by ESET Latin America revealed that one in three gamers has experienced a scam attempt on a video game platform. Cybercriminals often use social engineering tactics to seize other people’s game accounts and sensitive information that they can sell on their off-the-record forums or use for fraud. Steam’s customer support receives more than 20,000 requests per day from people who have security-related issues or have lost access to their accounts.
Keep calm and change your password
ESET experts have listed what you should do when your Steam account is hacked: When you realize that someone else has accessed your Steam account due to login warnings or suspicious account activity, the first thing you should do is stay calm. Change your account password whether or not the criminals have changed it. This can be done in the Steam app or on the Steam website. This terminates all existing user sessions on all devices, including devices that you haven’t started a session with. It is very important that the new password is not related to your old password, but is unique and strong. If you are unable to regain access to your account, you will need to contact Steam’s customer support directly and prove that you are the account holder. Note that you may be asked to submit payment details that were previously used to make purchases from the account.
Second, you should review the list of transactions made on the account, such as content purchases or sales. If you detect a transaction that you do not recognize, you can report the situation using the same form.
Third, you should consider what kind of information the criminal may have accessed after logging into your account. In this way, you can take precautions against what may happen when your account is hacked. For example, they may know your full name, contact information, and other information that could be used for phishing attempts.
Also, if you use the same access credentials to log into another application or online service, you should immediately change the access details for those services.
Finally, you should also consider the potential collateral damage that may result from illegal access to your account. More importantly, watch out for warning signs of identity theft, especially if your personal and payment data has fallen into the wrong hands.
How do you keep your Steam account safe?
Changing the password to a strong and unique one isn’t the only precaution you can take to protect your Steam account from now on. The platform offers a two-factor authentication (2FA) system called Steam Guard, which adds an extra layer of security to your account in addition to password protection. 2FA is especially useful when a criminal tries to log into your account from a device that doesn’t belong to you.
With 2FA enabled, you’ll receive a one-time code via email or the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator (a feature available in the Steam app) every time you log in from a device you haven’t previously marked as “trusted” or used to access your account before. It is also possible to set all devices as untrusted and request that the access code be generated and sent to you on each login attempt. This way, you can prevent fake login attempts, for example, where someone else gains access to your email account.
