Gamer’s Guide: How to Avoid CS:GO Scams 

Counter Strike: Global Offensive is one of the most popular games that has attracted a large community of players from all over the world. The market for trading items has been a major driver of Steam’s economy for years, and as a result, many transactions are conducted on Steam every day. With so many purchases, sales, and trades taking place daily, the risk of being scammed is very high. Unfortunately, there are many people in the world who are willing to take advantage of others. This article is meant to prepare you for such instances so you don’t have to worry about the safety of your items or money when trading CSGO skins. Read what we have put together and familiarize yourself with the various CSGO scamming methods so that you can be ready for whatever may come your way.

The Basics of CS:GO Trading

Trading has been an important part of CS:GO practically since the beginning of the game’s existence. Players are always on the lookout for new and interesting cosmetic skins to add to their inventories, or interesting selling opportunities to make some extra cash on the side. What’s great about this process is that exchanging items with other community members is extremely easy and anyone can do it. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been playing CS:GO since yesterday or for five years and how good your skills are. All you need is to read a few short trading guides, own a Steam account and have something in your inventory that can be swapped for other in-game items. If these conditions are met, then you are practically good to go.

When it comes to making a profit, it’s partly based on luck and partly on your knowledge of the mechanisms that operate on the Steam market. It is important for you to remember that, as with any other form of trading, everything depends on the good old law of supply and demand. As long as you keep an eye on what’s going on in the market and what the current trends are, you should have a good chance of making significant gains, whether we’re talking about adding interesting items to your Steam inventory or generating financial returns.

What Are the Best CS:GO Trading Sites?

Due to the growing popularity of CS:GO and Steam games in general, the number of trading sites has been growing for some time. There are now tons of different platforms available, and with so many options, you may be wondering which is the safest and most reliable. Here are two recommendations that we think will never let you down.

Steam Community Market

Anyone who has ever played any games on Steam should be familiar with this site. The Steam Community Market is the official marketplace of Steam, founded by Valve Corporation (which also happens to be the creator of Counter Strike: Global Offensive). If you’re looking for a reliable place to start your trading adventure, it’s always a good idea to go to the source. With Steam being such a large enterprise, you can rest assured that any attempts at fraud will be dealt with by one of the many Steam employees. Of course, there is no guarantee that the problem will be solved. However, you can be confident that Valve will provide you with the greatest possible level of protection. 

Unfortunately, exchanging items on Steam does come with certain drawbacks. First of all, the only accepted form of payment on the platform are Steam Wallet funds, which can then only be used to make other purchases on the website. On top of that, Valve Corporation charges a hefty percentage for each transaction conducted on its platform. This may not be that significant to you if you are just starting out in trading. However, once you start dealing with some expensive items, giving away a significant chunk of your paycheck will come as a huge blow.

SkinsMonkey.com

In the course of our years-long adventure with CS:GO, we’ve had the opportunity to test a number of trading sites, both those that involved player-to-player exchanges and those that relied on exchanging items against a bot. SkinsMonkeybelongs to the latter category. It is a platform that has been on the market for years and has won the trust of a vast number of players from all over the world. It provides a very fast exchange process, favorable prices, a wide assortment of items (even the more sophisticated ones), and lower fees than the Steam Community Market. On top of that, since you’re trading against a bot, there’s no way for you to run into a scammer. Even if you encounter any problems during the exchange process, the 24/7 Customer Service Team is always there to help. SkinsMonkey is a great place for any trader, whether you’re just getting started on the Steam Market or have been exchanging items for years. Even if you’re not interested in making a profit, but would simply like to upgrade your inventory, this is also the place for you.

What Are the Most Common Scam Methods in CS:GO?

The Internet is full of scammers who come up with new eloquent methods of extorting money and items every day. Here is a list of the basic tactics that players are most likely to encounter during their CS:GO trading adventures. Have a good look at them so that you always know what to watch out for. 

Steam Wallet Scam

This is one of the less sophisticated types of scams in the CS:GO world, but also unfortunately one of the most common. It consists of a player offering you a trade, however not for items, but for Steam Wallet funds. When you see anything like this, RUN immediately. Every Steam user should know that it is not possible to transfer Steam Credits between players. Therefore, such an offer is guaranteed to be false and will always lead to either loss of an account or items. 

Fake Gambling Site

In general, CS:GO gambling is not something we recommend to our users. Much like with real-life gambling, the player has no control over the outcome of their bet and everything depends on fate (and that’s only if they use legitimate sites). Unfortunately, there are many platforms that predestine users to fail by default. When this happens, the site seizes the player’s items and/or money. On top of that, there are also platforms that don’t even try to pretend to run the gambling process. The only thing they care about is the player’s data. So if you actually decide to take part in CS:GO gambling, make sure to always use only verified platforms. 

Phishing Scam

This is one of the most common methods that scammers use to fool players. It is usually used by people who want to obtain someone’s personal data, such as passwords or contact details. The idea is that someone sends you a link (a phishing link) leading to a fake website or a copy of a well-known site, where you will be asked to log in using your real information. Typically, these websites lure people in by offering attractive discounts or free items. However, it is important never to trust such scammer promises and not to click on any suspicious-looking links.

API Scam

The Api Scam works on a similar principle as the Phishing Scam. Usually, you will also receive a link that will redirect you to a fake website where you will be asked to sign up. The difference between this and a phishing link is that you do not immediately realize that you have fallen victim to a scam. Instead, the scammer simply copies your API key without you even noticing. Then, the next time you try to make a trade on the platform, the fraudster will be able to cancel it and seize your items by simply creating a new fake trade offer. At that point, your skins will be gone, and you won’t have a clue about it. 

These are the four basic types of scams you will encounter in the CS:GO trading world. However, these are not all of them. Other common scamming methods are the middleman scam, the impersonation scam, trading with fake skinsand many others. No matter which one you encounter, always be cautious. 

How to Avoid Scams When Trading Items?

As you can see, there are many CSGO scamming methods that can be used as a tool to strip a player of their items, or their money. The key when conducting online transactions is to remain alert and to follow basic safety rules. The following are some key tips that you should apply when trading:

1. Use ONLY legit trading sites such as the SCM or SkinsMonkey.com
2. NEVER press any suspicious links sent to You by other players
3. Don’t give out any personal information to ANYONE
4. ALWAYS double check the Steam profile of the other party
5. Make sure that the Two Factor Authentication (2FA) is activated Your Steam Profile
6. Don’t accept cash trade offers from ANYONE. 

If you follow these few rules, the chances of being scammed will decrease. However, it is important that you remain alert at all times. Remember, if it’s too good to be true, it probably actually is.

What to Do If Someone Scammed You?

Unfortunately, sometimes following all possible security measures is not enough, and eventually one becomes a victim of Internet fraud anyway. In such cases, it is important not to panic, but to take some basic countermeasures to reverse the effects of the scam, or at least significantly reduce them. In the worst-case scenario, they will at least lead to the user who scammed you being reported and blocked in order to prevent a similar situation for other members of the community. 

1. Contact Steam Support and/or the Customer Support Team of the website You used for trading
2. Change the password of Your Steam Account and create a new Trade URL
3. Scan your computer for a virus or any other signs of tampering

Hopefully, you will never have to do any of these things, but if you happen to be a victim of an online scam, it is always better to know what to do.

Conclusions

The world of CS:GO trading would be a beautiful place if it were free of shady people who try to cheat you at every turn. Unfortunately, this is not the case and players have to be careful at all times. However, this doesn’t mean that it takes away all the fun of the game. The key is to outsmart all the CS:GO scammers. This is why you should read our article and follow our tips to make sure you are always one step ahead of them.