Valve will no longer restore in-game items people lose in Steam trade scams, as it just amended its policy on the matter.
So far, when various individuals got ripped off in Steam trade scams and lost in-game items such as weapons, skins or other, they could ask Valve for help getting it back and see their items restored. From now on, however, this will no longer be an option.
Valve just implemented a policy change related to such Steam trade scams. The company says it feels sorry for those who fall victims to scams, but they should be more careful in making their trades. Because users could identify scams without much effort, and therefore avoid them, Valve has decided that it's time to stop reimbursing scam victims.
The company further notes that it posted sufficient information on its website, as well as within its trading system, designed to help users identify good trades from scams and make their trading decisions accordingly. Users can avoid all trade scams if they pay enough attention, according to Valve.
Not only was the company's customer service likely bombarded with reimbursement requests following trade scams, but restoring lost items also affected the market value of other items of users.
"Our community assigns an item a value that is at least partially determined by that item's scarcity," Valve explains.
"If more copies of the item are added to the economy through inventory rollbacks, the value of every other instance of that item would be reduced."
To make things even clearer and further help users identify and avoid trade scams, Valve posted a slew of examples of common trade scams on its Q&A page. The company lists the typical scenarios and advises users on how to proceed in order to avoid falling victim. Examples include verification scams, item switching, fake CD keys, desktop control malware, fake website scams and more.
Consequently, Steam users are advised to be extra cautious when considering trades. If they don't manage to avoid scams, however, their lost in-game items will remain lost, with no rollbacks from Valve from now on. Accounts that are behind scams, meanwhile, will receive a trade ban that blocks their Steam account from using the Steam Community, which means they will no longer be able to trade or use the Steam Market.
