they R usually scammers who find their targets from trading forums, they like people with csgo/dota items!
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I always get invites only for my CS:GO inventory, because the person inviting me has only 1 game(CS:GO) and when i talk to them they ask for my cases. Now i just block them and don't think about it.
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I usually just accept them and then ask them what their reason was for adding me.
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I've just been blocking anybody with a Steam Level lower than 5, unless they say something on my profile that isn't CS:GO related.
It may stop a few decent people, but I'm done dealing with bots.
EDIT: Do you share any groups or friends through Steam? I've received a few friend requests from people from groups that I was in, however most have been deleted because they were extremely bothersome and cringey. I don't want spammed CS:GO invites or hentai links while I'm trying to play other games.
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If you don't mind a spammy comment section, do what I do on my profile.
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How's the actual "spam" situation? Last time I turned my comment section public I was getting links to skin betting or phishing sites. But that was long ago back when I would receive a ton of friend invites from low levels i haven't gotten any like that in a while.
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Except from friends posting stupid shit (which I don't mind), non-existent. I think Valve took care of the bots system with new accounts limitations.
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Right, I totally forgot about the limitations, guess I'll try and set it to public not that it changes much for me but I've been getting invites lately so it might help figuring stuff out earlier.
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Probably one of the best things Valve has done in recent years. Haven't received a random bot invite in months.
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Do you do any trading? I have had random people adding me for trades, since I have a post up on Steamtrades. I usually accept and ask them right away why they added me.
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"Random" invites... Every time I read this, I am wondering what you expect? That someone writes an article in your "guestbook"? Only way to contact someone properly is to add him and write with him. Personally I love people who write down in the description, that they dont accept random invites and you should go and write why you add someone even if they are to stupid to read a description here at steamgifts where you say, that if people join the private giveaway you will add them to verify the rules for the private giveaway... To think that all are scammers are just stupid.
Accept them, ask them what they want and delete if you dont want them in your contact list... Fast and easy
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A faster way is just ignore them and, if necessary, just use the block hammer. If I don't know the reason someone is adding me, it's not crucial to add them.
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Actually, this just got a whole lot more interesting, the person who sent the invite in question was in fact you.
Now I can just ask here right here ... why did you send me an invite? If you want to check something related to steamgifts, just say so and I'll accept. :-)
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The fact that he refuses to answer here, kinda confirms my suspicions. I always wondered why Steam wouldn't at least let us specify a reason when requesting to add someone (e.g. like that form to add a personal message when sending a gift, which is in fact required). I don't mind accepting requests from SG when I know the person sending the request (I'd accept yours anytime), but in this case I only found out through this thread that he's on SG, so I think it's only fair that he provides me with a reason here.
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I used to be an adventurer like you, then I just stopped accepting invites from people I don't know and put a comment on my profile to that effect.
Usually it's real obvious you're dealing with a spammer of some sort, but between beggars, scammers, bots and people who try to sell you their brand of religion, I've literally never found it worthwhile to accept these.
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Wow... Do people really add you for the purpose of proselytizing? That's pathetic.
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It was just one dude, and I actually had a polite conversation with him. The occasion is rare enough that I remembered it. :-) I wouldn't call it pathetic, any more than people handing out flyers on the street about some cause or another are pathetic. Whether or not it's a good use of anyone's time is another matter.
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Well, it is just an opinion of mine. I feel that if a person actually believes in and practices his or her religion, it should have more dignity than comes with a flyer stuffed under my windshield wiper. Why force something on a person who doesn't want it? At the very least, an inquiry should be treated seriously and given the courtesy of personal communication so that questions may be raised and answered.
But it seems many people think otherwise. P
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I've had something close to a religious debate with someone who approached me as I was loitering in front of a liquor store. I'm guessing he mistook my sheltering in the only place with a bit of warmth for someone desperate for some booze, and thus as a good candidate for a dose of the good word. Again, polite conversation, but not particularly productive, except as a rare opportunity to practice debating. In the end, of course, neither side was convinced and I got a flyer for a meeting. So, best of both worlds I guess? :-P
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I could picture a suicide hotline flyer tucked under a windshield wiper. It might be unwanted, it might be worthy of a more serious, personal approach, but I can still see people trying a scattershot approach on the chance it reaches one person who needed it at the right place and time...that's even before believing in divine providence working through human action.
Like any unsolicited mass communication, it matters less that you have a lot of misses, and more that you believe you may score a hit, and that's not necessarily based on hard statistical evidence.
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I understand the concept of "spam everyone and maybe you'll score a hit." After all, that is how scammers and hackers operate. A person's belief system, however, is not something that changes on a whim. The only people who change their religion as often as their underwear are those who use it as a fashion statement without any real regard for it. Most "religious people," however, not only have deep-seated convictions, they are only comfortable discussing those convictions on their terms. When they feel insulted or attacked, they are unwilling to participate in a discussion.
The reason "junk mail" is annoying is because the majority of it is unsolicited and unwanted. Relegating a person's belief system to that same "junk" status may not seem like a big deal to those who view religion as a vague notion, but to those of us who actually take it seriously, it is an insult. A suicide hotline "in case you're feeling depressed" is far removed from a religious flyer "in case you feel like changing your view of reality."
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and people who try to sell you their brand of religion
wowo that almost sounds like sg! :O
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I was never personally contacted by someone to join SG. In fact, now I can't remember how I did end up here, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't on the road to Damascus.
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A comment on my profile wouldn't do much good, as it's usually (with a few exceptions, when I forget to set it back after sync or such) set to "friends only" for the very same privacy reasons I asked here whether it would be safe to accept. I only open my profile to sync, or when I won something to make it easier for giveaway creators to check that I followed the rules. I don't like the idea that the whole world wide web (including people who don't even have a steam account) could see my wishlist, my games list or details on when exactly I played any of my games. Valve collects way too much data anyway.
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Meh, instead of leading page 2 iยดll rather chime in here :p
1) Bots, not even talking
2) Delusionals, asking to gift them AAA games
3) Can i/you do XYZ with your mod type of guys
4) Someone youยดve played a good MP match with
5) Using SteamTrades always guarantees for a few random invites too
6) SGยดers contacting you, but they read profiles and announce their business beforehand <3
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Since using enhanced Steam I just block those random invites as a lot of them light up like a Christmas tree on Steamrep. ^^
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No one has 'access to your profile' unless you give them your login.
I just accept them and put the alias 'random add' on them. So if they start pretending we're close later down the line or something, it always shows that 'random add' tag.
But often they seem to be into cs:go or something, and respond like 'well we could play together' or something like that.
Only have like 4 hours of playtime in that game. Wonder how they get to my profile. But it does seem the amount of adds does increase the more active I am on SG/ST for example.
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With 'access to my profile' I meant, whether they can still see my profile page, see my wishlist and stuff even after I removed them. It's not like I can do a self test, that's why I figured I'd just ask here.
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I've done exactly that, from time to time. The conversation usually goes something like this:
Me: Heyo... I am wondering why you added me on Steam. What's up?
Other Guy: $$CS:GO CRATES & ITEMS BEST PRICE! CODE AFDQ36 TO FREE 50$ TO TRADE IN SITE!$$
Me: Did you really invite me just so you can spam me?
Other Guy: OUR NEW SITE TAKE.YOUR.MONEY.COM OPEN TO SWEETY CASES! FREE $50 NEW TRADERS!
Me: Right. Goodbye.
<BLOCK>
...and then I get unread messages from the person I just blocked until he finally closes his chat window a month later.
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Lmao, I wanted to comment the same here but you already did. Just check their profiles btw. These kinda people usually have < 5 games, already have the advertisement of that promo code on their profile, or hot girls as their profile pic to attract attention..XD
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So, Nancy has been in touch with you, also? I no longer feel special. P
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Okay, interesting, so people go through all the trouble to find random user names and send them invites just to send spam? I don't think it's about CS:GO this time though, considering that the person who sent me the invite also replied to this discussion. :-)
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Okay, interesting, so people go through all the trouble to find random user names and send them invites just to send spam?
Send enough invites and you're bound to find a sucker---erm---customer.
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P.S.(Since you last wrote, three different profiles have sent me unsolicited invites just to spam me with trade messages.)
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I wonder, do you trade a lot, that you're more exposed to this kind of spam? At least you know what they wanted from you. Guess I'll never find out. Thanks to those new privacy options on Steam, I set my game details to private accepted the invite and asked what he wants, but he just ignored me. So, I kicked, blocked and also blacklisted him here. I really hate people who don't even have the decency to state their business and I am not the forgiving type.
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So, they poke you until you respond, and then they refuse to communicate? Yeah, I can see how that would be annoying.
As for me, I do a lot of trading (within specific groups), I belong to various gaming groups, AND I'm a Mod of SG. Not only is my friends list very full, many of the people who contact me are people I don't recognize. That is why I ask people to post on my Steam wall (many do not), and that SG-related questions be restricted to the website (many are not). It seems some people hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest. P
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I always accept everyone and I don't delete anyone xD
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+1
Can't understand why people complain so much about random users on their friendlist.
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yeah.. who cares?
as long as they don't spam chat messages begging for something or sending you viruses or anything else, I really don't care.. and this happens very rarely in my experience..
I accept every request and I don't mind about random users in my friendlist
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I am pleased to hear it is a rare occasion for you. For me, it is more like 90% spammers. And since my friends list is often full (due to trading), I do not have the luxury of keeping such people on it. C'est la vie....
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I'm the opposite.
I prefer to keep my friend list relatively small, for a couple of reasons. I like to get to know the people on my friend list, and while I'm not the "chattiest" of people on Steam, I do enjoy the conversations I have with my friends. They're all great people, and with many more people on my friends, I probably wouldn't have enough time for them all. I am also one of those people who actually reads and pays attention to the Steam activity feed - I like to see what games interest my friends, or catch some new games I may have missed (several of my friends are rogue-like lovers), or share my own experiences with games I've played - so too many friends (and even too many groups) overload it with activity.
To each his own, of course. It takes all kinds to make the world go round.
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Me too, I really like to see screenshots and random achievments from games I don't know, so I always add whoever invites me xD
I think I only had to delete someone a couple of times because of spam, but it's really the minority.
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+1, I just accept everyone and block those who turn out to be spammers: I can count those on the fingers of one hand (maybe some removed me after being ignored for a while though)
It's funny how many people get so paranoiac about an unknown person adding them on Steam and yet find no objection in getting their private data siphoned by Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, etc. Weird threat model. ๐ There isn't much to gather from accessing someone else's profile, particularly now that sharing game playing time is dissociated from sharing one's games list...
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yeah I had too to delete someone but just 'cos they added me repeatedly asking for cards or sending invitations for CS or other games I don't play, I really have zero problems with the Steam friends list and as you all said there's very little to take from a Steam profile, there's no personal data or anything else..
of course everyone's different and had its own experiences (unfortunately bad for someone if they got repeatedly added by scammers spammers and such people), or simply wants to keep a friend list clear for trading and other things.. if one uses his/her Steam friend list for other purposes it's completely their right to keep it short and not accept anyone or do whatever he wants with his profile :P
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Depends on how much trading you do, if you or they play CSGO, and what your privacy settings are. Since your comments are not public, the only way to contact you might be to friend you which is why I set my comments to public, since comments can be deleted later anyways. If it has nothing to do with CSGO then it should be fine to friend and if you want delete them later. If your inventory was private or anything then at most they'll know what you have or whatnot, all non-friend privileges are revoked afterwards that I know of upon deletion.
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I don't mind random invites, but if profile is private it's instant block hammer from me - too many scammers/beggars/bots these days. My time is to precious for such folly.
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Not many, less than 10. I probably could just leave them all. I don't care much about groups. The person who sent me the invite only has one group in common with me and it's a big public group with more than 10k+ members, so I doubt the invite is group related. Well, I still hope I get an answer concerning his motives here.
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Any advice, when I accept now and remove them later, is that save to do, or will they still have access to my profile?
If he is not your friend anymore, the hell he will see. But why you are worried about it? Is there something valueable on your profile? credit card number? Maybe the steam name + password? O.o
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But why you are worried about it? Is there something valueable on your profile?
I like privacy. And all data is valuable to someone. Like the information, how many games I have on my account, how long and when I play them. Sometimes I can't sleep and play something in the middle of the night, which really isn't anyone's business. I tend to use Steam in offline mode for that very reason, but I might be online accidentally after updating or installing a game, so it's always better to not have people I don't trust on my friend's list.
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I like privacy. And all data is valuable to someone.
Actually, this is why I like having random "friends": it hides the data of my real friends network, by diluting my real friends among people I don't know ;)
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i got an invite some days ago to help someone with idling...
no idea why since i have ~300 games and i don't even need to idle cards. โ(ยดใผ๏ฝ)โ
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Last week, someone I don't know added me, so I asked him why he added me (and asked again 1 day later) but I got no answer yet, and he never talked to me.
I know he is user of steamgifts but that's it, I never played or talked with him before. I still don't know why he added me.
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It used to be to 90% a bot in the past. Today I cant tell anymore
whether it's a bot just an idiot, a scammer or someone who really wants something
(won GA,Trade or just one who is too lazy to write a short message why he/she adds me)
From the perspective as a trader I get every day random adds 1-20 -.-
Bots will find you pretty fast as soon as you bump a post somewhere, sometimes also via steam groups
less often if you have one of the highest steamlevels on the profile of other people (Top6)
What interests me more, why!!! Those Bots not even working
I have tested a lot already (accepted the invites, talked to them, let them on my FL for weeks)
Even if you accept invites where you are 100% sure that this is a bot. Nothing is happen
they do nothing - they wont send you tradeoffers - dont try to scam you - post anything - they just
idle on your friendslist forever
It is rarely a spam bot which quickly post his Phishing links or advertising and immediately remove you
What happens very often and that always amazes me a lot because its so weird - are strange people who really want something.
I already had everything possible
especially asians which are looking for products from my country and if I can help importing them xD
baby food and skin care products seem to be a bestseller ;O
I also had a music video linked on my profile at least 5 different people asked me which I never got in contact with before
if I can not recommend more similar music to them
or people who just wanted to know where my avatar or something similar came from
Here you have to ask yourself ....is that not often just a try first to build a relationship to try a scam later???
I already had something like that ....which after weeks of nice talks and people start to try borrow things,began to beg,
or asked why they did not get a birthday present ;O
Most non bot random adds come from people who are not on sites like Steamgifts/Trades or other major Steam related sites
and do not know how to behave because it's often the first Invite send to a person they do not know personally
Most because of a trade and a friend told them to add me for a game or so...they are usually too shy to say anything
often after a while you hear from a other person of your friendslist if person xxx has contacted you ^^
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Most non bot random adds come from people who are not on sites like Steamgifts/Trades or other major Steam related sites and do not know how to behave because it's often the first Invite send to a person they do not know personally.
In this case, the person sending the invite replied here ... I'm still hoping to get an answer here as well.
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I used to accept them out of curiosity in the past, especially the ones with 0 friends/groups in common, so that I could find out how they found me. Out of all the ones I questioned, none of them revealed how they found me. They seem to troll groups and add as many people as they can. I sometimes see people comment on public group announcements with "Feel free to add me!" so I guess some just want a high number of random Steam friends, which seem odd to me.
I stopped accepting the random low level invites when they started adding those in my friend's list as well, and my friends would ask who this X guy was that was also adding them. Also had some that'd just reply back with phishing links so I decided to just ignore from now on, which is safer. I still accept the somewhat decent level invites that have enough friends and ask why they added me. Sometimes it's about an old game thread with not much of a fan base and they wonder if I'm still interested in playing the game with them (mostly for co-op/mp achievements), which is harmless fun.
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I don't trade, so the only two random Steam invites in my life were good Samaritans giving me free keys. I know, pretty strange.
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I sometimes send random invite on Steam to watch their activity and achievements and have more gamers on my steam.
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I only inst-block private and vac profiles... fi not, I accept them, ask what business they have with me, if they say "I just liked your profile" "Added for no reason".... then is a block xd
Got around 1500 profiles blocked
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And I might just block my first one. Thanks to those new Steam privacy options, I figured I'll just accept and ask what he wants (setting my games/whishlist to private before doing so) - no answer yet. I'll give it a bit longer then I'll block him. Might even blacklist here, since I don't like it when folks just waste my time.
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I just got another random invite on Steam. Usually I just ignore those things, but I really would like to know why someone tries to add a person who they don't know and have nothing in common with? They probably just want to spy one me. I am inclined to accept, just to ask them directly about their motives. I mean, there must be some hidden agenda, right? They're high level, like 200+, so it's safe to assume it's not a newbie who just clicked the wrong name. Any advice, when I accept now and remove them later, is that save to do, or will they still have access to my profile?
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