- A new scam is circulating on Steam that could put your account at risk
- It takes the form of a fake playtest invitation.
- Protect yourself by not clicking on any suspicious links
PC gamers beware: a new scam is circulating on the popular Steam platform that could compromise your account and put your entire game library at risk.
As some eagle-eyed Reddit users discovered, it takes the form of a phishing link sent via direct message. It is intended to be an official invitation to playtest, in this example supposedly for the next game. Mafia: the old country. The text accompanying the link says: “You have been invited to join a Steam trial!” and you need to “Visit the invite link below to add it to your Steam library!”
The link preview shows the game logo and reaffirms that “You have been invited to join the open playtest for Mafia: the old country.” At first glance, the link looks quite legitimate, with the first half being the official Steam store URL, but if you pay close attention, you can see some additional text added that reveals that it is not the genuine domain.
Fortunately, it appears that the page for this specific scam has now been taken down, but it’s not hard to imagine what it could be. Of course, you should never click on any dubious links, but if you did, it would probably lead to a fake login page which would then collect your Steam account details or even initiate a download of some malicious software to hijack your PC. .
The repercussions of falling for this type of phishing attack could be serious, locking you out of your account or risking exposing your personal data to cybercriminals. Always treat any message containing a link with suspicion, even if it comes from someone you trust – your account could have been hacked. Fortunately, Steam will also warn you if you try to open an external page, which should make you think twice.
The platform has its own playtest invitation system, but it is rarely used and such invitations will appear in the Steam notifications tab rather than as a message.
