The ‘Vote for My Team’ Scam Is One Way to Lose Your Steam Account to Criminals

Voting for your team sounds like something gamers would typically do, right? Unfortunately, this is a common tactic used by criminals looking to steal login credentials, particularly for Steam.

Your Steam username and password are precious commodities on the black market. If criminals compromise a Steam account, they might ransom it back to the owner, but in some cases, they might sell it to someone else willing to pay for a stolen account.

While gamers tend to be more technically savvy, the sheer number of people using Steam and other similar platforms ensures that criminals always have victims willing to click on a malicious link or open a dangerous file.

No, your team doesn't need your vote

The meteoric rise of e-sports is one reason people know about gaming tournaments, teams, and ongoing competitions. People watch them on Twitch or YouTube, and some gamers are part of large communities supporting the teams' efforts.

Hackers know this all too well, so they devise well-crafted messages asking for something that seems easy -- a vote for a team or teammate. They don't ask for money, they don't mention crypto, and they don't want to make trades. People might not suspect them of anything untoward.

You might receive a message on Steam Chat or Discord, but links posted on forums are also used. This scam is straightforward. The attacker wants people to vote for or support their account or team in a tournament or contest.

If the victims agree to the request, they are redirected to a phishing website that looks familiar, such as Steam, Discord, Twitch, and so on. They voluntarily offer their precious credentials, and if the account is not protected by multiple layers, such as multi-factor authentication, they quickly take over.

The best way to stay safe is to remember not to enter credentials anywhere except for the official apps or online services. This means people shouldn't mindlessly follow links received through chats or posted on forums. Deploying multi-factor authentication on all gaming accounts is recommended and mandatory.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a powerful security solution installed, such as Bitdefender Total Security, which can help users quickly detect phishing websites, scan malicious files, and run in the background efficiently when you're gaming.

If you're unsure if the message you received is part of a scam, you can check out Bitdefender Scamio. This AI-powered scam detection tool helps users quickly identify scams by uploading the text, image, or QR code they've received.