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IndieGameStand blog post on Steam key reselling, plus my thoughts

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It's always a shame to hear about scammers, especially when it comes to indie developers and smaller stores. IndieGameStand has written a blog post about it and it doesn't paint a pretty picture.

I didn't think it was as bad as that blog post makes it out to be, but wow it really is a problem.

QuoteIndieGameStand has had $30,759.42 in fraudulent credit card charges and transactions.

Considering most of that was in the last year, that's a flipping crazy amount of fraud for a smaller store to have to deal with.

I've seen lots of comments over the past few months about people using resellers to get cheap deals: I hope this is a bit of a wakeup call. It's why we always shoot down people suggesting we have our own store on one of these websites reselling keys, as I refuse.

QuoteThe problem with these sites like G2A, Fast2Play, Pingwin, etc. is that they have created an ecosystem for hackers, scammers, identity thefts and other internet assholes to steal from indie developers and other small websites.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

I think part of it is down to developers too though, if you're going to give out multiple keys you should keep accurate records of how many went where.

You have to think: why is it so cheap here, yet higher on the developers official website and other main stores like Games Republic, GOG, IGS, Itch, Steam or Humble. The answer is usually: It's not a legitimate key.

You should always try to support the developer on one of these better known websites, and not key resellers. It's just a simple fact.

The real issue is the checks all the stores end up having to do, as they end up hitting the legitimate customers and the store suffers overall.

It's a problem that won't really go away, and that's a shame. I'm sure there's more Steam could do to help though, but we know how long it can take Valve to get moving. It's also a tricky issue, as measures Valve put in place could end up hurting developers as well. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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Teal Mar 9, 2016
Quoting: psyminQuick fix: Only accept Bitcoin ;)

Because Bitcoins aren't massively used for fraud, money laundering, and literally collecting ransom, right?
Oh wait, no, they are. In far bigger relative volume than paypal or generic credit cards are.
This is just conveniently moving the responsibility for avoiding fraud off the seller. Convenient, sure, but it only helps the actual culprits of this even more.
Comandante Ñoñardo Mar 10, 2016
Quoting: pedrojmartmI did not know that G2A is a bad store, it is almost the only i use for buying games. :S

I don't know why they complain about G2A..
Is the only store where people can get steam games that are not available for sale any more on the steam store or important resellers like Greenman or Gamersgate. Example: The original Metro Last Light with all the DLC's that I purchased last night for my new 100% Linux steam account.

The original Metro Last Light works better on Linux than the Redux one... Example, in the original MLL I have Vsync, in the Redux version the Vsync doesn't work... In the original MLL, the image is perfect. I don't have those gray dots...

Anyway. I'm not really a BIG fan of G2A. I only use it for this particular problem and for to purchase Steam Wallet codes.
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