API hacking is the most common way to steal skins. This guide will tell you about protection methods and steps to take if you become a victim of theft.

How does API hacking happen?

Imagine you made a successful transaction, but when you checked your inventory, you found it empty. This can cause shock and disappointment, especially if you were careful not to reveal your credentials and used Steam Guard. However, in this case, you have fallen victim to an API fraud.

Scammers can use API keys to cancel and conduct transactions and transfer funds to their account. After a successful transaction, they can access your API key and manage your transactions on your behalf.

Even if you are sure you have not visited gambling sites, this does not guarantee your safety. Fraudsters can use various methods to gain access to your API key.

To keep yourself 100% safe, it is important to familiarise yourself with all the possible methods of API scams and take the appropriate precautions. We recommend reading the article to the end to learn more about how to protect your account and keep your valuable in-game items safe.

How to lose an API key?

There are many ways to do this. For example, you might have played on some roulette site, won Dragonlore and of course, believed it.

Or you just found avan.market in a search engine, didn't notice a couple of extra letters in the link and gave all your data to scammers.

Do you see any differences between these two sites? We don't either. But on the site on the right you will be scammed. The scam sites are similar to Avan.Market not only in address, but also in appearance. You'll see a "normal" site where you look at skins..... But everything you see is a scam.

By going to the fake site and logging into your Steam account, you're falling into the trap of the scammers. When you click on the "Sign in with Steam" button, a fake login window opens.

Don't trust your own eyes. The fake site may look just like the real one: a window will open asking you to enter the Steam Guard code, and if you enter it, an error message will appear. At this point, your data (username and password) is passed to the scammers, not Steam's servers. Unfortunately, Steam Guard cannot protect you from this.

What happens next? Scammers will gain access to your account and will be able to take all your skins without warning or notification.

Have you visited a suspicious site before and nothing happened? Scammers will automatically track all your ransom offers. And as soon as you exchange your AK47 | Redline, the bot will cancel the exchange and copy the avatar and nickname of the other participant of the exchange. Your skin is then transferred to the scammers.

Let's say you decided to exchange your Hyperbeast collection for a new knife. And at the most crucial moment, when you confirm and verify the transaction with the bot, all your skins get to the scammers.

Are you used to checking your profile during the transaction? In the new fake exchanges, almost every detail is the same. The same skin, the same avatar and nickname. When you confirm the transaction, all your skins go to the scammers, and in return... nothing.

How to protect yourself from API fraud?

It's worth understanding: the scammer won't return your skins. Neither will Steam. Unfortunately, the police are unlikely to be able to help. You voluntarily gave all your treasures. Skins will have to say goodbye.

But we have compiled instructions that can protect you from such an outcome. Three simple steps are enough to prevent anyone from stealing your skins!

1. Check if the API key is available at https://steamcommunity.com/dev/apikey. If the "Domain" field is empty, then you are safe. If not, you risk losing your skins.

2. Install the Antiscam extension for your browser.

3. Remember the address avan.market and always check the address bar.

What to do if you have already been hacked? Instructions

1. Change your password in your Steam account settings.

2. Log out of your Steam account on all devices. The button can be found here - http://store.steampowered.com/twofactor/manage

3. Revoke the API key generated by the scammer. You can do this at https://steamcommunity.com/dev/apikey. There is no need to generate a new key.

4. Change your Trade link. You can do this here https://steamcommunity.com/id/me/tradeoffers/privacy#trade_offer_access_url.

5. Install the Antiscam browser extension.

4 basic security rules

Always check the following:

• Don't use phone apps that farm Steam cards, browser extensions, cheats, etc.
• Do not go to sites that links are sent to you by unknown people on Steam.
• To get to the Avan.Market website, type the address https://avan.market in the browser bar or follow the links from our social networks.