Whether phishing attempts or fake shops: the scams in the gaming sector sometimes hardly differ from other scams on the Internet.

Our cooperation partner Watchlist Internet collects the most common scams and explains how you can recognize them and take action against them. The first part is about the fraudulent tricks surrounding phishing and account theft, especially in the gaming sector.

Phishing attempts within gaming platforms

Phishing with fake websites is a popular and dangerous online scam. This also applies to the gaming sector, especially to gaming platforms such as Steam, Origin or Battle.net. The criminals are trying to get your access data for these platforms and thus also your account.

To do this, the fraudsters write private messages in which they ask for help, point out exciting articles or game instructions, suggest an interesting exchange offer or offer another supposed service of friendship. No matter what the reasons are, what these messages have in common is that they contain a link that leads to a fake page. You should log in there with your access data for the respective platform.

[mk_ad]

Since Steam is the largest gaming platform, the Steam website is particularly popular. The name of the website also reminds us of Steam at first glance. For example, fake sites called steamcammunitty.com or steamcamrnunity.com (instead of steamcommunity.com) have been used in the past. The data entered there ends up directly in the hands of the fraudsters, who then gain access to your account.

Tip: If unknown people send you a link, do not click on it, ignore the message. Also check that the URL is correct before entering your details. On Steam you can also activate two-factor authentication using the so-called “SteamGuard”. This means that your access data alone is not enough to log in.

Phishing attempts outside of gaming platforms

Fraudsters are also trying their luck outside of the major gaming platforms to get their hands on users’ data. The creativity doesn't seem to end there. Articles or YouTube videos with valuable insider information are published and lured with special character abilities, loot boxes or cheats. These articles or videos also contain various links that are dangerous. These are usually fake websites through which the fraudsters want to get your access data.

Tip: When looking at links you find on YouTube or in articles, ask yourself how trustworthy the source is. Only click on advertised links if you trust the authors or YouTubers. If you're not sure, search for the source name. Maybe there are already negative experiences about the person.

Account theft

The most common reason why criminals want to get your access data is account theft. Accounts are valuable in the gaming sector and can be resold on the black market or on fraudulent online shops. This particularly affects users who have a lot of games and achievements. However, even “smaller” users cannot feel safe. Every year, numerous accounts are stolen at random - even if a single account can only be sold for a small amount, it pays off for the criminals in total.

Phishing is not the only way to steal accounts! Sometimes fraudsters try to crack your password by closely analyzing your profile. Another popular option is so-called “credential stuffing”. This means that criminals try to enter leaked passwords that were actually used for other online services.

Tip: Always use a strong password to make it a little more difficult for fraudsters. This also means that you should never use one password for multiple websites! If your account has already been taken over by criminals, contact the respective gaming platform. The chance that you will get your account back is quite high.

You might also be interested in: This is why fake competitions are still worthwhile for fraudsters!

Source: Watchlist Internet
Article image: Shutterstock / By Dean Drobot
Sign up for the Mimikama newsletter

Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )