Steam is a nightmare to deal with (gaming)

[ChocolateCakeOverspill]

My son’s steam account has been hacked, someone had changed the password and payment details. He can’t access anything in his account anymore. He’s frozen his bank card and changed his email password but he can’t recover his account as they’ve changed the email address. He’s now been stopped from trying as he’s had too many attempts and is understandably really upset about potentially losing access to all his games. Isn’t it ridiculous that you can’t speak to a human to sort this out? Can anyone help with advice?

Also he’s fallen out with a friend who has now set up an account in his full name and released some personal details including location. Is there any comeback for this?

Summer holidays, get him outside

Is the money in his back account safe?

He’s 19 and autistic so struggles in lots of ways but thanks for your help.

Did you follow the support guide for them to reclaim it? https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0A94-F308-34A5-1988

He says nothings gone from his account and has now frozen the card so it should be safe. He’s going to order a new card tomorrow.

This was the first thing he did.

What a nightmare. I don't like how once my son has logged into steam it doesn't ask for a password to make PayPal payments. It seems to be the only site that let's this happen!

This is what we were trying but seemed to get stuck in a loop and then it said we’d tried too many times and need to try again later.

I have to admit that I don’t really understand it all, his tutors at college are really good but obviously he’s on summer break at the moment and it’s night time so they’re not on hand! (Selfish 😉)

This has a step by step guide
https://atlasvpn.com/blog/steam-account-hacked-steps-to-recover-and-protect-it#:~:text=Having%20your%20Steam%20account%20hacked,hundreds%20of%20hours%20and%20dollars.
while trying to get out of the loop look for email receipts for purchases. This will help prove ownership

I've always found their customer service very quick and helpful. If you can't recover the account you need to contact Steam with proof that the account is yours (well, your son does). They will sort it out.

This is really helpful thank you, I will share with him.

(it’s scary to see that the email has been changed to what is clearly an overseas email account)

With a bit of good fortune you'll get the account back and this will be a useful lesson in the benefits of two-factor authentication.

You can go into the account settings and change that so that it forgets the PayPal details and will ask for a password next time.

Did it make you feel good saying something completely unhelpful and irrelevant?

Im afraid I can’t help with steam procedures op, but is there anything to be done about the so called friend? Are they also ND, or is this some awful person taking advantage? Hopefully with some better insight into locking down his accounts this can be avoided in future.

Thanks @Invisimamma

He’s logged into a VPN which allowed us to start the process again and following instructions from here we’ve raised a case so hopefully we’re getting somewhere.

I’ve asked him to speak to college about this other student to see if there is anything they can do. Because of the type of course he is on there are a lot of students who are neurodiverse but he’s not necessarily.

Thank you all for your help.

Honestly either way the other student needs to be dealt with, but obviously that means different approaches depending on level of needs. Someone who is neurodivergent is not above the law, and stealing someone’s personal information will get them into a lot a trouble fast. But the key thing is for your son not to lose any more personal information or even any money, sounds like you got on to it pretty quickly thank goodness.

Thank you, absolutely it’s a worry.

Going back to the earlier comment about getting out more, I’d love for him to explore other options which leave him less vulnerable but it’s so hard. He’s very anxious about social situations and as an adult I can no longer try and socially engineer situations to get him physically connected more. Really wish I could help him more but he’s happy with how he lives (till something like this happens).

Sending you love OP. My 11 year old is very similar. People just don’t get it. Hope it gets sorted out soon.

Do you think the 'friend' has something to do with the hacking?

@ChocolateCakeOverspill you don’t need to explain your son’s needs. Many of us get it, believe me xx

I don’t know, the email address was mainly blocked out but I think had a Nigerian suffix (although I think that doesn’t necessarily mean anything).

@Gerrataere and @Capturetotalelotion thanks, it’s hard isn’t it? I think a lot of people just don’t get it.

I would love for him to feel confident enough to go out and do a sport, or join an activity group but it’s not his thing and who am I to push him into something he’s uncomfortable with?

I do yoga and meditation which as far as he’s concerned is for losers 😂 so each to their own!

My sons are much younger. One doesn’t have the capacity to even understand partaking in extracurricular activities and one is very very socially anxious. Can’t even do school trips never mind anything other children happily do after school or during summer. It’s bloody tough, you worry about them, wish they could do more. But also appreciate what actually makes them happy and sod other people’s judgement. Unfortunately people will judge (especially with gaming) but they don’t have to deal with the difficulty that comes with a disability that makes socialising near impossible at times.

I started going to the gym and my eldest said ‘you going to look for a boyfriend there mum’. Umm no, that’s not what the gym is for believe it or not 🤣.