Ukrainian journalist Oksana Torop, who worked for BBC News Ukrainian, told how she conducted her own small investigation into stolen bank card funds. It led her to the «American gaming giant,» which went to meet and punish the attackers.
Ukrainian journalist Oksana Torop, who worked for BBC News Ukrainian, told how she conducted her own small investigation into stolen bank card funds. It led her to the «American gaming giant,» which went to meet and punish the attackers.
«On Monday, hackers cleaned out my account. It all happened at night — over 60 money transfer transactions,» Oksana Torop said on her Facebook page. Her post garnered over 1,000 comments and 6,000 likes in less than a day.
The journalist noted that she immediately contacted the bank and the Cyber Police. «The bank is predictably imposing on me that I could have given someone confidential account data, account passwords, etc., so the bank is such a good guy and is not at all to blame. And you, the client, look a bit like a sucker,» says Oksana. The police opened a case, took her statements, but warned: «It is unlikely that anyone will return your money. But we will diligently search for those who stole it.»
After that, Oksana Torop received a bank statement with details of suspicious transactions and found out that the funds were sent to the account of a foreign company in London. «I sit down at the computer, Google, Google and Google again. I read websites, specialized forums about banking fraud, reviews. I read during the day, I read at night. I delve into it…» — she describes her search process.
The journalist found out that the accounts belonged to «international video game developers with a good reputation,» which was an incredible stroke of luck for her.
«Because if it’s about reputation, then it will be easier to negotiate. And this woman sits down to chargeback. In civilized English, without swearing or emotions. I write a beautiful letter to the headquarters of the American gaming giant. At the end — best regards, Oksana from Kyiv. Copies went to „daughters“ in different countries and even to merchandisers. To be sure,» explains Oksana Torop.
Within a few hours, a company representative, whom she called «game master Zunar from California,» responded to her. He expressed regret about the hacked bank account and assured her that the money would be returned. The stolen funds were indeed returned to Oksana’s account.
As it turned out, the hackers used her money to top up their accounts on a legal gaming service. Since such companies value their reputation, they react quickly to such incidents to avoid possible reputational risks.
«So they quickly refunded my money with a note that they would check the gamers from those accounts. And I’m really happy, because this company definitely has awesome cybercriminals who know how to phish. And even just a ban on your favorite gaming service — how can you not be happy about that. This is my greeting to you, guys, because you acted very dishonestly. I’ll find it. I now have an overseas game master friend, he’s behind me like a mountain,» the Ukrainian journalist assures.
Oksana Torop noted that her investigation lasted three days and ended with the return of the funds. She urged never to give up, even «if they tell you that everything is lost.»
The journalist did not specify which gaming company she was referring to in her post, but the most popular video game service is Steam, which is known for its quality technical support. However, the headquarters of Valve, which owns Steam, are located in Washington, not California.
Hackers can use stolen bank cards or compromised accounts to purchase valuable in-game items (e.g. CS2 skins, rare cards, case keys). They then resell these items to honest players or through intermediaries, receiving «clean» money on their balance.
Another option is to use the Steam wallet. It allows you to top up your account and use the money to buy games, items, or in-game currency. Hackers can top up the wallet with stolen cards and then withdraw the funds through trading or selling accounts.
