SINGAPORE - Scammers are using video gaming platform Steam to trick victims into paying to unlock their accounts.
The police on Sunday (May 9) said that the scammers have been using compromised accounts on the digital distribution platform where players and game developers buy and sell video games online.
"Scammers would approach the victims through compromised Steam accounts and would claim that they had accidentally reported the victims' Steam accounts while trying to report another Steam user.
"Thereafter, under the pretext of rectifying the wrongful reporting, the scammers would request for the victims to contact a specific user who was purportedly a platform administrator," said the police.
The fake administrator would then tell the victims to log out of their accounts and provide their account log-in details, including their one-time password (OTP), to verify their account.
Victims are then required to make game-related transactions or make purchases on third-party websites as part of the verification.
In some cases, the victims were asked to purchase Steam cards and hand over the redemption code to the fake administrator to unlock their accounts.
The fake administrator would also claim that the victims will receive a refund after their accounts have been verified.
But victims later find that they are unable to log in to their Steam accounts. They also did not receive a refund.
Police say members of the public should never give account log-in details and OTP to anyone, including family and friends.
They should also always verify the authenticity of the information received with official sources and report any fraudulent credit or debit card charges to the bank and cancel the card immediately.
Those with information related to such crimes can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at this website.
Those who require urgent police assistance can call 999.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit this website or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688.
