How Can I Tell if My Steam Account Has Been Hacked? (and How to Recover It)

After waves of phishing attacks, steam account security has recently gotten some attention in the community. Valve has established several protection mechanisms for you to use against stolen Steam accounts. It's just as frustrating when a Steam account is hacked, especially when you've invested hundreds of hours (and a lot of cash) in games.

If you've lost any access to your account, your best bet is to go [directly to Steam Support] and get your account back with their assistance. There is also an unofficial how-to page on Reddit with the latest tips and tricks for recovering and securing your Steam personal account.

How to Prevent Account Theft in the First Place?

Cybersecurity risks are everywhere, it seemed that connecting to the internet will make you a victim in no time. This time, I would like to focus on Steam account security, which has recently gotten some attention in the community after waves of phishing attacks.

Imagine the following scenario:

1. When you are playing your favorite game on Steam,
2. Suddenly jump out of the game and return to the desktop;
3. At first, you think it was just a mistake and try to log in again,
4. But you can only face the Steam login screen tried and tried but still failed to log in.

By that moment, you will have many questions in your head. To prevent this from happening, read this article and learn something that you can act on immediately.

What Is the Reason? How Can I Tell If My Steam Account Has Been Hacked? What Should I Do if I Have Been Hacked? How to Prevent Account Theft?

Continuing what I said earlier, when you encounter this situation, you will check your public information online, but after seeing the activity logs, you can't help but cry out in your heart.

• The public profile in your account seems to be different from what you initially set up.
• There are some activities on the account that you have not authorized, and;
• There are even some inexplicable new faces on the friends’ list.

Yes, your account is hacked. If this happens to you, don't despair yet, because you are not alone. From time to time, you may receive strange messages from your friends on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram - indicating that this account hacking happen for a while already.

For gamers, it's just as frustrating when a Steam account is hacked, especially when you've invested hundreds or thousands of hours (and a lot of cash) in games. Like the other platforms mentioned earlier, Steam is also likely to be the target of phishing and other intrusions by malicious actors.

How Do I Recover a Hacked Steam Account?

Valve has established several protection mechanisms for you to use against stolen Steam accounts. If you've lost any access to your account, your best bet is to go directly to Steam Support and get back your account with their assistance; you'll have to provide proof of having this account, though Valve recommends that you have other information, such as:

• Email addresses used in the past,
• Credit Card used to make purchases on the platform (Do not provide the full card number)
• Login credentials (previous usernames and passwords, especially if hackers change your account username) etc.

There is also an unofficial how-to page on Reddit with the latest tips and tricks for recovering and securing your Steam personal account. Whenever you feel that your Steam account is a little weird, you should take the time to do the following:

1. Use an antivirus tool to check and clean your computer for any malware that may be present. Either Avast or BitDefender can help (although both are somewhat controversial), offering a free trial period that you can cancel after completing the check-and-clean process.
2. Reset the password associated with your email address and keep your other accounts safe.
3. It's best to switch to a new, never-used password that contains more than one word and at least one unique character that is more secure. Remotely lock personal Steam accounts on their own. This can be done from any email address associated with your Steam account. More instructions can be found on the official support page.
4. Collect proof of account ownership, including CD keys, Steam gift cards, Paysafe cards, PayPal account information, credit cards, or payment methods associated with purchases made on the associated account.
5. Retrieve your account through the official customer service forgot password page.

How Can I Prevent the Theft of My Steam Account?

It's impossible to completely prevent phishing or other malicious activity that could put your account at risk once and for all. Still, there are several ways to keep you on your toes and Actively block hackers from unauthorized access to your account.

Phishing Protection

The first line of defense against hackers is your awareness. When you see a suspicious-looking email, such as a statement from Valve. Because most phishing attack requires the victim to fall under pressure, they are most likely driven by FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt). The fake newsletter may describe something absurd or shocking, for example:

• Ask you to scan your system for malware by double-clicking the link in the letter and;
• Enter your login account password on the page to which you are directed.

In that case, you should then go back to your personal inbox and mark the message as a phishing scam.

If, unfortunately, you clicked on the phishing link, check with caution that all official Steam login pages should be under the following domains:

• www.steampowered.com
• store.steampowered.com
• steamcommunity.com
• help.steampowered.com

If you suspect a web link asking for login information is fake or not an official one, close the browser and do not enter any information on it.

Steam Guard

Valve also provides a tool to strengthen the account security - Steam Guard. It is an extra layer of safeguard that can be enabled. When it is turned on, anyone who attempted to log in to your Steam account from an unrecognized device must provide additional authorization. It is a special access code that will be sent to your email and need to be entered to complete the login attempt.

Final Words

Keeping your Steam account safe is also essential. Steam itself provides some security options through SteamGuard. You should enable the security options in Steam:

"Settings >> Account >> Manage Steam Guard" 

to ensure personal account security with as much information as possible and allow as many alternate options as possible. In addition, it improves the chances of recovering your account from an unfortunate theft in the future.

In any case, the Steam administrator has no right to ask you to provide your login credentials through email or any means on the Internet. If someone claims to be an administrator and asks you to provide personal sensitive login information and confidential information, please ignore them immediately and Flag this email as a phishing scam.