For every legitimate game giveaway on the internet, there are a dozen fakes designed to steal your account, your data, or your money. As a site that runs giveaways ourselves, we have seen every trick in the book. Here is exactly how to tell the real ones from the scams.
The 6 red flags of a fake giveaway
1. It asks for your Steam password
This is the big one. Legitimate sites use Steam’s official OpenID sign-in — a redirect to steamcommunity.com where you log in on Valve’s own page. If a website shows its own username/password form for “Steam login,” it is a phishing site. Close it immediately. Always check the address bar: the login page must be on steamcommunity.com, exactly.
2. You “won” a giveaway you never entered
Random Discord DMs, Steam comments, or emails announcing a prize you never signed up for are always scams — usually leading to a fake login page or a “small delivery fee.”
3. Payment is required to receive a free prize
“Verification fees,” “delivery charges,” “deposit to prove you’re human” — a genuine free giveaway never involves your credit card, ever.
4. Key generators and “cracked key” tools
Working Steam key generators do not exist and have never existed. Keys are validated server-side by Valve. Every downloadable “generator” is malware, most commonly an info-stealer that grabs your saved browser passwords.
5. Impossible prizes at impossible volume
“Everyone wins a AAA game!” A $60 key costs the giveaway organizer real money. Legitimate giveaways have limited winners per round and are transparent about the odds.
6. Survey walls that never end
Sites that make you complete offer after offer “to unlock your key” are monetizing your time and data — the key at the end of the tunnel does not exist.
What legitimate giveaways look like
- Official Steam OpenID login (on steamcommunity.com), never a password form on the site itself.
- Clear rules: entries per round, how winners are drawn, when keys are delivered.
- Visible, verifiable winners and a public draw process.
- No payment information requested at any point.
- A real privacy policy and a way to contact the operators.
If you already got scammed
- Change your Steam password immediately from a clean device, and enable the Steam Mobile Authenticator.
- Check your account’s authorized devices and API key (steamcommunity.com/dev/apikey — it should be empty unless you created one) and revoke anything you do not recognize.
- If you downloaded anything, run a full antivirus scan and change passwords saved in your browser.
- Report the site or user to Steam Support and to the platform where you found it.
Stay skeptical, check the address bar, and remember the golden rule: if a giveaway needs your password or your money, it is not a giveaway.