Why should anyone care?
If you have a high positive rep on SteamGifts, it is very likely that you will be a target at some point. The scammer copies your Steam profile (including profile name, any descriptions, backgrounds, etc) and uses your SteamGifts link to convince innocent people to trade first (based on having higher rep) and then steals their items. The end result is that you get negative rep added to your SteamGifts page since the victims believe that it's you who scammed them. The impersonator is already banned on SteamRep but that doesn't seem to stop him since many people don't search on SteamRep before trading. He also has Steam level 100 which tends to fool some people into trusting him without checking. He targets mostly CSGO traders. Here is someone (http://steamcommunity.com/id/k24xtc/) who warned me about the impersonator who tried to scam him by cloning my profile and provided proof: http://i.imgur.com/Cjh2t1Z.png

Please consider helping the community by tracking the impersonator and warning his new victims.
The impersonator's SteamID64 link: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198144135462
The impersonator's SteamRep link: http://steamrep.com/profiles/76561198144135462
These are the 2 easiest ways to track him. You cannot monitor him by using his normal profile link as he keeps changing it (up to several times a day) to match traders with very high positive rep from SteamGifts.

How to fight back?
If you think that changing your Steam profile name/description/appearance will stop the impersonator, you are wrong! He will simply copy over any changes that you make to your profile.
In my case, i was able to scare him off by using a profile picture which explains to all his potential victims how to check if the SteamGifts rep page really belongs to that person. Future victims should find these very useful. I have uploaded my improved version of the profile picture as well as the versions created by SteamGifts trader "Shogun" (http://www.steamgifts.com/user/ShogunOnSteam) who was another recent victim:

  1. My improved version: http://i.imgur.com/SUMTZGB.png
  2. Older normal version: http://i.imgur.com/HESP8HD.png
  3. Another version with the impersonator's permanent SteamRep profile link: http://i.imgur.com/WRH123f.png

But make sure that you sync your SteamGifts profile after uploading the new profile pic on your Steam profile. To do this, make sure you're logged into the SteamGifts website, then at the top-right corner click on the down-arrow found next to where it says "Account" and click on "Sync with Steam". On the next page, click on the button "Sync Account". Your Steam profile picture will be instantly carried over.

Usually, the impersonator will respond quickly by changing his Steam profile as he finds another high rep trader to clone.
If you have been a victim, please consider monitoring the impersonator's Steam profile and then warn his new targets. You can provide a link to this thread to avoid having to explain everything all over again to every new victim.

It is not possible to prevent the impersonator from repeating his profile cloning attempts indefinitely unless his level 100 Steam account gets permanently banned by Valve. To help achieve this, go to his Steam profile, look at the top-right corner and click on More > Report Violation > Impersonating another user. You can also report him for scam. Valve won't do anything until they get enough reports since their system is automated.

8 years ago*

Comment has been collapsed.

In before "no calling out."

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Report impersonators to support.

8 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Closed 8 years ago by SleepyCat.