You have all probably seen this group "network" at some point. They send out invites to everyone. They giveaway bundle games here in mass quantities as part of their recruitment. They also advertise giving away AAA titles to whoever invites the most people to their groups. Sadly those giveaways are rigged, as they are not done on SteamGifts, but rather in his group's forum, and no winners are chosen truly at random as the system here allows.

But that's not what I'm here to tell you about.

First, let me show you exactly what I am talking about, in case you are unfamiliar with the OTG Network.

Original Traders Group
Original Curators Group
Original Giveaway Group
German Giveaway Community
Original Society Club
Duck Society

The above 6 groups are what's known as the 'Original Network'. It originally started as just the top group. It's recently expanded unnecessarily into the other groups. You can do everything the 4 groups do with one group, after all. The groups are also all populated by the same people, so don't let the numbers fool you. The Original Society Club is for the most loyal of his followers, where he supposedly does non-bundle game giveaways. Duck Society is...I don't even.

They are all run by a lovely fellow named SalzStange. His username here on SteamGifts is AngryErpel.
Confirmed with SteamGifts Support that this is not calling out..

SalzStange was recently outted on Twitter for trying to blackmail a developer for a free Steam Key. This kind of activity has been known to occur in this "network" but was covered up by his loyalists. When things like this happened in the past, or someone wrote a negative review for a game SalzStange obtained keys for, he would ask his loyalists to downrate the hell out of the review, which they sadly did. According to other 'victims', his loyalists were also asked to harass people that did not agree with SalzStange's methods or people who called him out on his bullshit. It's safe to say some are blindly following him in the hopes of free games. This is, of course, unacceptable, and since this was brought public, some of his loyalists left the group. Namely a few (most) of his admins and even a co-founder. He now has a new set of followers and Admins/Mods, and they are still up to the same routine.

SalzStange thinks giving away games is charity, and refers to his groups as "the biggest charity groups on Steam".
Charity is helping people who are less fortunate (IE Homeless, starving, etc), donating clothes and food to homeless people, or volunteering at a shelter....things of that nature. Not giving away games to privileged people on SteamGifts. He lists hundreds of giveaways for bundle games and games he's received from devs here on SteamGifts. The bundle games he asks members to donate to him so he can give them away here or in his group's chat (this has been confirmed by many former members). Either way, he is unfairly benefiting from contributor value here on SteamGifts because of this. He is currently a LV 9 contributor here on SteamGifts.

There is a reddit thread where a lot of people have come forward to share their experiences with SalzStange and his groups. and there is also a NEOGAF thread.

Proof, evidence, chatlogs, examples of his behavior and other things.
Take a look at these and find out for yourself what kind of person SalzStange is. Don't listen to his long-winded excuses or lies he's posted here and elsewhere.

2706 line OTG Group Chat Log
Full email conversation - This is the 'unedited' screenshot SalzStange provided that he claims absolves him of all accusations. It, in fact, makes him look worse.
My experience with SalzStange and his group
Chat harassment
SalzStange's SteamRep Report
SalzStange's "apology" to the dev he blackmailed
SalzStange thinks there's no proof
Valve is at least aware of this situation
SalzStange thinks those "against" him are all trolls
SalzStange denies allegations concerning his rigged giveaways, which were already confirmed as true
SalzStange's official statement after he was caught
Former Mod's response to his 'official statement'
SalzStange's post history on the Steam forums. A great example of his attitude and how he talks to developers
OTG Head Admin is okay with SalzStange's actions.
SalzStange has been permanently banned from SteamCompanion.
SalzStange calls those who caught him and spread awareness of his lies 'troll' and 'haters'..
SteamCompanion Group Chatlog where SalzStange was invited to discuss his ban

If you are still a part of this "network" I advise you all to leave to avoid being dragged down with him. It will happen eventually. WGN got shut down for doing less than this.

If you would like to combat this network and it's practices, there are a number of things you can do.
If you are a member of any of their groups, or any of the groups that SalzStange associates with (Such as Hookups where he is an Admin), simply leave them. You can also share this thread with people on your friendslists who are members of these groups and advise them to leave as well.

TL;DR:

SalzStange threatened a dev, got caught, and is still trying to lie and cover up the facts, acting like he did nothing wrong.

He claims to be an adult, but is refusing to own up to his actions. Everything we do in life has consequences. It's time he faces them.

View attached image.
8 years ago*

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Bump

6 years ago
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6 years ago
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Bumping for reasons.

6 years ago
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+1

6 years ago
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Once again giveaways are popping up, so a friendly bump to let everyone know: Stay away from those guys!

6 years ago
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Bump.

6 years ago
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6 years ago*
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I searched the word Trove cause I was looking for the HB Treasure trove thread and this was at the top, not sure why..

"...ConTROVErsy..."

5 years ago
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Bump. SalzStange is active again.

6 years ago
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This is seriously f*****-up!! Thanks for the info. Appropriate actions have been taken.

6 years ago
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Neccessary bump.

5 years ago
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bümp

5 years ago
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I'm not sure if this has been mentioned but Salz has acquired or merged with the SirAlexander group.
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SirAlexandersClub#announcements/detail/1643131584346020262

For the last few years i had that feeling that he was up to something.
I can see why he averted his so-called giveaways away from SG.

I can also confirm he has taken over Sir Alex's associated groups as well.

5 years ago*
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Wow, I've never seem this thread before.
Thanks NerdHouse

5 years ago
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Time for a reminder. Bumping.

5 years ago
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5 years ago
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Well fuck.

I've been in the Original Giveaway Group for a long time and I never knew about any of this until today!

Thanks for letting us know, man. I left the group as soon as I saw this thread.

5 years ago
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5 years ago
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SalzStange... :'D

still remember his logic-retarded way to talk... seems i was right to avoid him completely after that...

5 years ago
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View attached image.
5 years ago
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I've been a mod/admin for Salz for the past 3 years and can confirm a ton of shady things are still going on until today between the higher ranking admins/mods. When I bought attention to it I was blocked and removed from all groups and removed by him without a single word said to me by anyone. If anyone has questions feel free to ask.

5 years ago*
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Make it public for all of us to know. It's no help if only a few people get the info via PM.

5 years ago
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Sorry if this seems rambley or poorly written, I just woke up.

First I'll tell a little something about me and how I came into this. I worked in the video game industry for the past 10 years and I had my own following way before starting working for him. I was referred to by a friend so I figured why not. Right off the bat it started with lies, a totally fake "legal document" which I had to sign and that I would be punished by a law team if broken. I knew it was total bullshit after reading it. I've had to sign many real ones working with other websites. Documents like that have to be signed off by lawyers and when I asked about that he had no response. So I started the group with a document full of illegal false pretenses, nice. Upon talking to him and trying to get to know him personally I could tell there was something "off" with him. He was a bit odd. I also noticed something strange within a month or so of talking to him - he would sometimes talk in perfectly spoken English and other times it was completely broken and impossible to understand. I think he often plagiarized reviews or had someone write his reviews without crediting them at all which is really poor journalist. On every gaming website I work for previously I had editors and it was mandatory they always were credited. Then he started wanting me to review some games. I told him I could get keys from developers but he warned me to never ever do that and he would provide them. It's not hard to understand why, he wants all the benefits while providing nothing to those "employed" under him. He didn't want anyone but himself to have all these great contacts and networks. So he gave me keys and said positive reviews only so I reviewed one game and that's when I stopped working for him and made up some bullshit that I had personal issues I had to deal with and I remained a mod/admin for 3 years doing completely nothing except trying to go down the rabbit hole and talk to other mod/admins. There I learned all this crap in the original post so I figured I could probably learn a lot more than all of these people being that I was a mod/admin

As far as what is still going on, it's pretty much all the stuff already known but it's still going on to this day, he's just more careful ie: using different accounts. The only new info I have that I haven't seen is that he is stealing thousands of keys that were supposed to be used for promotions and reselling on grey market websites like g2a and Kinguin. He making mega bucks while giving his helpers jack shit. Also nearly every review under his network is a total joke. 95% (at the very least) are paid reviews. He really needs to be blacklisted. I would suggest reporting his Steam profile with this thread to Steam and even contacting developers he's in contact with about this. It really needs to come to an end. I will be posting more info and things later but I'm open to questions. If anyone has more info or needs to contact me for any reason you may do so here.

https://steamcommunity.com/id/Saint_Satan/

5 years ago*
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Thank you for your inside info, it is appreciated.

5 years ago
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Also it turns out he did respond in a harassing and bullying way, as he has always been.

[Yesterday, 2:53 PM]
SalzStange:
hi little demon
I will go to the police and law suite you;)
just to let you know.

[Yesterday, 5:32 PM]
SalzStange:
I wonder how stupid some can be. It's easy to proof that you are lying. very easy;) I just have to compare the whole chat screenshots with your lies... Simple as that. YOu must be a very very poor and frustrated little dude. I just hope you do not have childs
goodbye

He will law suit me. I guess using the non-existent lawyer he used for his "legal documents" I had to sign? Oh no. Good things there's tons of proof in this thread. Dodged a bullet there.

5 years ago*
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I'm fairly sure the police won't care about his 'law suite'. Apparently he doesn't even know where to go with it so I wouldn't worry too much...

5 years ago
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Trust me I'm not worried lol. He does not have a lawyer and has made similar threats to people in the past. Even if he did get a lawyer he has no grounds and would get laughed at in court. Total joke.

5 years ago
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5 years ago
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It's still relevant, Razielite. ;)
I must admit that I'm also member of SalzStange's groups and didn't know much of the drama that was going on.

5 years ago
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It's still relevant as long as he's around, we appreciate the input. He thinks by signing off on his fake legal document that he owns you. He ordered me around a lot too but I just ignored him. I wish I could go into the forums to view the "legal document" again because it was hilarious. He claimed it was legally binding and it wasn't, another one of his many many lies.

5 years ago
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5 years ago
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I am not a law professor or anything. But personally I wouldn't go to the police station for a civil lawsuit. I am pretty sure they only handle criminal lawsuits (well not police officers directly of course). But I don't know how the law works in his country. But yeh, I woulnd't be worried :P

5 years ago
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Up until now, Support Staff have kept this thread open. Those responding can do their part to keep it open by making sure their posts are relevant, civil, and informational. As per current SG policy, flaming and other forms of non-civil discourse will earn the displeasure of the Mods.

5 years ago
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Bumping to keep people aware.

5 years ago
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While it could be said that the information contained within this post should be available to the public, it could also be claimed that this is defamation. Regardless, SteamGifts should not be used as a battleground for off-site arguments, especially when competing charges of defamation are being flung around.

In the interest of keeping the SG community healthy, I am closing this thread and issuing a warning against re-engaging in this argument on this website.

5 years ago*
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Closed 5 years ago by Khalaq.