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Олександр КузьменкоGameDev Eng
22 August 2025, 16:58
2025-08-22
Fraudsters are using a Ukrainian game to spend money on hacked accounts — the developer can't stop them, and Steam support is doing nothing
Game developer Ruslan «Ternox» Salikov, known for the game STONKS-9800, said that his older project Legend of Himari has become the target of fraudulent schemes selling items on Steam at significantly inflated prices. Affected players do not receive help from the service’s technical support, which redirects them to the game’s author, although he does not have the tools to solve such problems.
Game developer Ruslan «Ternox» Salikov, known for the game STONKS-9800, said that his older project Legend of Himari has become the target of fraudulent schemes selling items on Steam at significantly inflated prices. Affected players do not receive help from the service’s technical support, which redirects them to the game’s author, although he does not have the tools to solve such problems.
«In recent days, many players have contacted me reporting that their Steam accounts have been hacked. Hackers are using these stolen accounts to purchase Legend of Himari items on the Steam Community Market at absurdly high prices», — Salikov stated.
These are items from the casual game «Legend of Himari» which was released in 2018 and costs only 26 UAH. Players can receive items, such as hats that give bonuses that are randomly given out during the game. They can be sold through the Steam Community Market, which allows players to set any price for the item.
«All items in Legend of Himari can be obtained simply by playing the game. I don’t sell them directly — they can be earned in-game. If you see them on the Steam Community Market, it’s solely players trading with each other, not me selling», — says the developer.
Screenshot from the game «Legend of Himari»
According to Ruslan Salikov, he receives dozens of calls every day from players who have fallen victim to scammers.
«Good afternoon, I would like to ask for your help regarding a purchase made in Legend of Himari through my son’s Steam account. After replenishing the Steam wallet with 19.33 euros, the entire amount was immediately spent on an in-game item called „Carrot“. We did not authorize and did not intend to make this purchase. Furthermore, this game (Legend of Himari) is not installed on our account and we have never purchased or downloaded it», — one such letter reads.
The victim indicated that Steam support stated that they cannot refund purchases made on the Steam Marketplace or in-game. «Since this transaction directly related to your game, I ask that you look into this situation and, if possible, assist us with a refund or alternative solution,» the cheated player asked the developer.
Screenshot of one of the letters from affected players.
Ternox explains that buying and selling items through the Steam Marketplace are player-to-player transactions, where the money moves from one account to another and does not go to the developer. This means that they cannot refund the money or cancel the transaction because they do not have access to it.
«Unfortunately, Steam often redirects players to ME, even though I don’t have the tools to fix transactions on the community market. I can only refund money for in-game purchases, not for transactions between players on the market», — the Ukrainian developer points out.
According to him, Valve has not yet taken any action to stop this problem or provide developers with a way to protect players from such scams.
Ruslan Salikov said that he would like to set a maximum price for his products on the Steam Market, but is currently unable to do so. Another solution, in his opinion, could be for Valve to restrict the ability to list products at individual prices.
Screenshot from the Steam Market, where some in-game items from Legend of Himari cost almost a hundred times more than the game itself
«I am very sorry that my game is being used in this way. If this has happened to you, please contact Steam Support and clearly state that this was an unauthorized purchase from the Community Market,» the developer says.
Salikov reminded players how they can protect their game accounts: change their password, enable Steam Guard protection, and deauthorize devices and their API key.
Recall that earlier, scammers created a meme cryptocurrency STONKS9800 (STONKS), which uses the name and image of the game STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator by Ukrainian developer Ruslan «Ternox» Salikov without his permission. He told dev.ua that he has already filed complaints against the creators of the meme coin, but does not really believe that they will act.
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