Steam Account Hacked? Here’s How To Recover Your Games

Worried about your Steam getting hacked? 

You're not alone. A hijacked Steam account is every gamer's worst nightmare. Hackers can steal your Steam games and items and destroy thousands of hours' worth of progress. They can also use your linked payment methods to make purchases. And worse yet, any Steam hack can result in identity theft.

Fortunately, you can learn to recognize such attacks and signs of account hijacking. Using a strong antivirus program is an essential second step. Keep reading to find out how to protect your Steam profile from hackers and what to do if they've already taken over your account.

Best antivirus for gamers

Is your Steam account hacked? Here’s how to tell

You can spot suspicious activity on your account if you know where to look. Here are some of the common red flags that could indicate unauthorized access:

1. Unusual activity: Bold hackers will change your profile image, for example. They can also add new friends and chat with them. Maybe your endgame Tesladin in Diablo II: Resurrected lost all his gear overnight. Perhaps you’ve got email alerts about login attempts from unknown devices. If you see any change or activity you haven’t initiated, you’re probably under attack.
2. Unrequested password reset emails: Hackers will try to change your Steam password and lock you out. If you receive such an alert, you should change your password immediately.
3. Unauthorized purchases: Unrecognized games, Steam gift cards, and other items are strong indicators of a hack.
4. Inability to log in: The end goal of every Steam hack is to lock you out and take over your account. If you’ve lost the race and can’t log in anymore, the account recovery becomes infinitely more difficult. The only way to do this is to initiate Steam’s recovery process and provide proof of account ownership.

How Steam accounts get hacked

Scammers can employ various tactics to compromise your Steam profile. Fortunately, most of them rely on phishing and need your cooperation to succeed. If you recognize these attacks in time, criminals won’t be able to trick you, and their scams will fail.

Here are some of the popular methods to keep in mind:

• “Regular” phishing emails: Phishers will craft emails that appear to be official Steam correspondence. They’ll usually try to entice you with amazing discounts, free trials, exclusive game keys, and unique in-game content. Steam gift card scams are also extremely popular. The primary goal is to trick you into sharing private information or directing you to a phishing website that can steal your Steam login credentials.
• Fake tournaments: Scammers often send private messages on Steam inviting players to join tournaments with incredible prizes. They’ll set up tournament sites designed to steal your private info. Some fake tournaments could also have an entry fee, which is plain stealing. If you receive such an invite, check the sender’s profile on Steam. They’ll usually have a lot of in-game hours without any achievements.
• Malware: Hackers will also try to trick you into installing malware. They’ll usually disguise it as a game mod, trainer, or other program. Once installed, it can steal info directly from your device.
• Data breaches and brute force attacks: Cybercriminals can exploit leaked information from data breaches to take over Steam accounts. They can also “guess” simple passwords using a brute force attack.
• Steam vulnerabilities: Finally, hackers can exploit Steam’s vulnerabilities to steal user info and take over accounts.

What to do if your Steam account is hacked

As mentioned, a Steam hack is a race against the criminal trying to lock you out. We can’t overstate the importance of acting quickly in these situations. You should perform a few self-recovery essentials and initiate Steam’s account recovery process.

1. Secure your email

If a hacker manages to hijack your Steam account, they’ll likely target the linked email next. You can secure it by changing your password and activating two-factor authentication (2FA).

We recommend creating a complex password using a combination of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. A good password manager can create it for you and keep all your passwords in one secure place. Two-factor authentication will add an extra step to your Steam login process. So, even if someone has your password, they won’t be able to log in without the 2FA device of your choosing.

2. Change your Steam password

Once you’ve secured your email, you should protect your Steam account with a strong password. We also recommend enabling Steam Guard for extra security. This feature will add 2FA to your Steam account, allowing you to choose whether to receive login codes via email or through your mobile Steam app.

3. Run a malware scan

Phishing scams can also result in serious malware infections on your computer. We always recommend doing a thorough sweep to check for viruses and other malware. Only antivirus software with real-time protection can detect emerging threats. 

The best antivirus programs to protect your Steam account

After extensive testing, we picked these antivirus tools due to their solid protection and their extras for gamers:

• Norton offers a special package tailored for gamers. This plan comes with the Game Optimizer tool and a full-screen detection mode. It can optimize your game performance and disable unnecessary notifications while you play. You’ll also get superb real-time threat protection, a secure VPN, dark web monitoring, webcam protection, a password manager, and more.
  
  
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  5.0

  AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

  Antivirus Software

  Norton 360 Antivirus

  • Tested protection against hackers, viruses, malware, and ransomware
  • Includes VPN, parental controls, and more
  • Backed by a 100% Virus Removal Guarantee

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• Bitdefender allows you to configure a game profile for uninterrupted gaming. This feature allows you to block notifications, adjust visual settings, and pause unimportant background activities. Bitdefender also comes with top-level malware protection, a device optimizer, a privacy firewall, parental controls, and more.
  
  
  Save 50% off

  

  5.0

  AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

  Antivirus Software

  Bitdefender

  • Super reliable antivirus software with a non-intrusive free version
  • Simple yet powerful interface tools
  • Perfect protection score in third-party tests

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4. Initiate Steam’s account recovery process

If you can’t self-recover your Steam account, their support team may be able to recover it for you. This process can take a long time and ultimately fail, but it’s your only chance of recovering your Steam profile.

You’ll first need to provide definitive proof of ownership. We recommend providing as much info as possible — it will remove any doubt of ownership and shorten the verification process.

Even if successful, this process won’t recover your lost items. Steam support doesn’t restore items that have left your account for any reason.

FAQs

Bottom line

Steam libraries that contain a lot of games and exclusive in-game content are prime targets for hackers. If someone hacks your profile, they can steal your items, purchase items with your linked payment methods, and more. Some criminals will delete all your games just because they can. The ultimate danger of a Steam hack is the potential for identity theft, which is possibly the worst thing that can happen to you online.

If you fall victim to cybercriminals, you have plenty of options if you can still access your account. You can change the password, activate 2FA, run a malware scan, and lock the thief out. However, if you get locked out, you can only report the hack to Steam and hope for the best.

The best approach is to prevent hacks from ever happening. You can protect yourself by learning to recognize phishing scams, monitoring whether your information has been leaked in data breaches, and using a strong antivirus program.