Steam and You: A Supplementary Guide

===Steam and You: A Supplementary Guide===

Non-profit and free for redistribution
Written on June 15th | 2017
Published on June 16th | 2017

For entertainment and research purposes only

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===DISCLAIMER===
The Paranoid's Bible and its writers hold no responsibility for the acts of others.

The Paranoid’s Bible is for research and entertainment purposes only.

Please visit our blog for more guides and information: https://www.paranoidsbible.tumblr.com/

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===Preface===
Due to the subject of the original guide, we’ve decided to release this one as a supplementary guide in order to address some concernS some of our readers have made. This will be quite brief however that doesn’t take away from the fact that these things do make the difference in the long run. We also wish to say that while we make some speculations, it doesn’t mean that it won’t make the difference when it comes to security and privacy.

Please read the original at https://pastebin.com/CTwE0Upp  or https://paranoidsbible.tumblr.com/library

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===Expanding on the Steam Market===
Steam’s market has a limit of 200 items or $20,000 in gross sales within a year. This means once you hit 200 items, which is the most common cause, you’ll be forbidden from selling items on Steam unless you provide a social security number or they’ll report the sales to the IRS and provide you a 1099 form (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6088-UDXM-7214#addldocsemail). Because of this many people give out their SS# and are blissfully unaware they can’t remove it and that there exists people who’re keeping tabs of accounts that might’ve sold more than 200 items within a year. This is due to several reasons, the main two being social security numbers are valuable and that there may exist money in the account that can be used to buy things and shuffle them about other accounts.

Steam tried to prevent this type of attack VIA the 15 day waiting period for those who won’t give up their phone numbers or enable two-step authenticity on their accounts. While semi-secure for those who want to play in the Steam markets, it isn’t 100% fool proof due to people always looking for ways to try and gain access to things that aren’t theirs.

The above is only one of the reasons as to why you shouldn’t sell anything on the market or give up your SS#, there’s also speculations of 3rd party or offsite merchant guilds/groups that try to play and control the Steam market for their own gain, which means through the use of scripts and bots that people can modify and try to fix a price in their favor which amounts to them most likely keeping an eye on those who sell more than 200 items and are doing so in any specific patterns.

So, yes, you should avoid giving Steam your social security number and selling more than 200 items on the market. By doing so you increase the chances of your account being targeted and/or being assaulted by countless friend requests and invites to various groups.

Ultimately, you can avoid a lot of account intrusions by doing the below:
• Avoid clicking on links on profiles.
• Avoid going to profiles of people you don’t know.
• Ignore any friend, chat or trade requests from people you don’t know or trust.
• Don’t click random links in general online.
• Ensure your password is strong and unique for your account.
• Ensure your username is unique to your account.
• Ensure your e-mail address is unique to your account and not used anywhere else.

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===Avoid Profiling===
Even if you’re not afraid of your account being hijacked, companies and people do profile accounts by what’s in their libraries. This means that if someone did want to do something malicious, they could use your library like a fingerprint to help track you to other accounts online VIA discussions or screen caps of things like your achievements or inventory or most commonly played game. So, besides putting your profile to private and hiding your inventory, go the extra step and buy games you’ve no interest in playing if they’re cheap enough or for free.

A lot of games are cheaper than 45 cents on Steam, especially when you find a cheap bundle or two that gives you a discount for buying said bundle or for owning games already in the bundle. Don’t be afraid to pickup several bundles when on sale and under 10 dollars or less, especially since you can find a few hidden gems within the bundles or even gain extra games in the long run when publishers and studios add more content or games to these bundles.

The same applies to your inventory. Buy a bunch of useless junk items for .03 cents or more, avoiding anything above .10 cents. You can pollute your inventory and library, boosting your +1 on your Steam level’s experience, and make it absolutely worthless to profile you. If someone has to scroll through several pages to see if you own any specific games, they’ll most likely just give up after 10 pages of nothing but some shovel ware and Indie titles that were better left on the scratch pad.

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===Avoid Playing Multiplayer Games===
Connecting to a server means you leave traces of your activity, which can and will include your IP. Some people will setup trap servers for the main purpose of collecting information to either track a certain game’s players or to try and trick a few players into installing or clicking things they shouldn’t. This can be avoided by ensuring you play on VAC enabled servers and always using the official servers, however if that isn’t available take the extra step and monitor what’s needed to be downloaded or used. If they demand 3rd party scripts or things that seem fishy, simply avoid the server.

Another step to take is just not play multiplayer games. You can avoid the headache altogether by simply learning to lessen your escapism VIA video games and online content. Instead pickup a hobby and go outside, hit the gym and make massive gains. Lift weights, do some cardio, maybe even learn a talent like archery while riding bareback on a Mongolian pony. Simply not relying on video games so much to de-stress and relax can help cut down on potential hiccups that lead to your account or information being hijacked.

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===Steam Fund and Your Wallet===
Adding a debit or credit card to your account is another way to royally ruin your day when someone finds a way to hijack your account. Not only can they use it to make charges on your behalf and wreck your credit score but also use it to open accounts and plans in your name that can be used against you further down the road. Most of this can be avoided by not using any cards or accounts on your Steam account. Instead purchase steam gift cards and purchase games accordingly. This is also a great way to prevent impulse buys and running up charges that can potentially cause charge backs on your account, which can cause some trouble on your end and cause Valve to lock you out until things are cleared.

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===Make a Dummy Account===
One of the easiest ways to prevent an account being hijacked is making a totally separate and isolate dummy-account to use for connecting to websites, 3rd party programs and similar items. So instead of using your main on a survey site that promises free games or to get a freebie from a giveaway, you can use the dummy account and then use the key or code on your main account to prevent profiling and any potential malicious actions against you and your digital property you don’t really own but rent.

You can also use the dummy account as a way to double check the authenticity of a website or anything requesting you to connect your account. This way if it’s malicious or broken, your main account isn’t put at risk and you can breathe semi-easier knowing that if it was hijacked, they’d end up with an account with nothing attached to it.

Yes, don’t add any keys or games to the dummy account. Don’t give it a phone number, either. Just let it sit, empty and dead. You have it completely isolated and separate from your main. This way you have something you can sacrifice in case you don’t trust a website.
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===Afterword===
There’s really not much else that can be done to secure your privacy and security with Steam outside of requesting Valve to do things like improve encryption and security without being too intrusive. Really, just use common sense and avoid clicking on strange links and accepting invites from strange people, especially ones that promise you “much games” for your CS:GO knife.