How To Buy Steam Gift Card With Google Play
Need more Steam game credit fast? Or know someone who does? Buy your Steam Gift Card online with over 71 secure payment methods, including PayPal, and top up your Steam Wallet instantly. Your code arrives immediately in your inbox and also appears directly on your screen for even faster redemption. So no need to hit pause or leave home to grab more Steam credit. Even earn some extra Dundle Coins when you buy your card, which can be exchanged for discounts on future Dundle purchases. Why wait? Grab your Steam Voucher today to keep gaming quickly and easily!
how to buy steam gift card with google play
Yes, Steam Cards are region-locked. Your Steam User Account is associated with a specific currency, which is shown in the top right corner of your Client. Therefore, the gift card currency must match that of the User Account it will be redeemed to.
Launched in 2003, it has become the largest PC gaming platform worldwide, and possibly the most loved one too. With over 120 million gamers, the community is still growing and offers a place to hang out, discuss and play for every player. It is the ideal platform to store and play all your favorite games anytime on any computer with the free Steam client.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) reported that gift card scam incidents nearly tripled between 2017 and 2020. Yet, according to AARP, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults are unaware that gift cards are a form of payment commonly used in scams.[*]
Among the increasing reports of such types of fraud are Steam Wallet gift card scams. While Steam gift cards are typically used to buy video games sold by the gaming platform, they can also be used to steal money or credentials.
Many people pay for purchases using their PayPal account and expect to receive an invoice. Scammers take advantage of this behavior and adjust the Terms and Conditions or Notes to make it seem like the victim still owes them money. Then, they ask for the balance in the form of a gift card.
Scammers have also been known to persuade victims to make payments using Steam gift cards. While negotiating the sale of a vehicle online, scammers may press a potential buyer into sharing Steam gift card codes as payment.
In fact, just last year, a Pennsylvania widow lost over $39,000 in a romance scam.[*] The scammer posed as a love interest, pursuing her on Facebook and inventing dozens of scenarios in which he needed gift cards to pay for a lawyer, visa, and more.
Really, the only legitimate way to win money is through a state or city lottery. All other online sweepstakes, competitions, or prizes are bogus; claims to use gift cards as a vehicle for sending money are part of the scam.
The buyer (also the scammer) asks the seller to confirm the balance on the card while on the phone with the card issuer. As the seller types in the PIN number on the back of the card, the scammer records the touch tones and hangs up before paying for the card.
The Steam website is loaded with the best of digital games you can ever dream of. If you love playing games online, Steam is a perfect match. You can easily create an account and enjoy all the exclusive benefits and perks.
In the case of some orders, to fight against payment fraud, we may need to send a request to verify your payment details with the upload of an identification card. If you get this request, this is a one-time request, and will make placing future orders much faster.
Below the Add to Cart button at the top of the page you will see a "Click Here to Send as a Gift" option. When you click on that you will be prompted to enter the gift recipient's name and email for delivery, along with an optional gift message. Here you can also choose to send your gift instantly or schedule it as a specific time to be delivered.
Everything you need to redeem a Steam Gift Card will be provided upon delivery, and can also be found on this page. If you follow these redeem instructions you should have no problems redeeming your gift card.
Store-specific gift cards like these are easy to share, hard to secure, and available anywhere. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), gift cards are the number one payment method of choice for scam artists.[*]
A typical Google Play card scam may involve an imposter pretending to be a trusted community leader. These imposters often claim to be associated with local nonprofits or religious organizations. They reach out to members of the community and pretend the organization urgently needs money.
The three-way-call scam is also common. Someone offers to buy a gift card from a seller and asks the seller to verify the card by calling the issuing agency and confirming the PIN number while the buyer stays on the line.
? Did you know? Scam artists may specifically target victims who are not familiar with digital gift cards. According to FTC data, senior citizens are more susceptible to this type of scam than younger Americans.[*]
Scammers do not generally buy thousands of dollars worth of apps in the Google Play store. Rather, most find ways to turn Google Play card balances into cash. Google Play gift cards are uniquely valuable from this point of view.
Google Play gift cards let criminals move money across state borders with minimal fees and little risk. The more money they steal from cardholders, the easier it is to launder other income streams and pay off accomplices.
Official tech support personnel never ask for payment in gift cards. The FBI recently issued a warning against scams in which criminals pose as tech support personnel working for large, reputable companies.
They ask customers to transfer balances to gift cards to protect an allegedly vulnerable account. Legitimate banks will never ask customers to transfer money to anyone, especially via gift cards or money transfer apps like Zelle.
Nobody except you should know your gift card PIN code on the back of the card. You may share that information with the issuer to check your account balance, but you should never do it on a phone call. Google lets you check your gift card balance online.
One common scam involves people who claim that they live in a location that does not sell Google Play gift cards. They say they need to download an app or buy materials for school, but are unable to do so without help. Google gift cards, however, are available in every country that Google serves.
The NYPD cautioned residents to be wary if approached by people who claim to be contacts from dating apps. These fraudsters may weave stories similar to those described earlier. They may demand gift card payments for outstanding debts or other fictitious emergencies.
ScamSpotter is a collaborative initiative between Google and the Cybercrime Support Network. It launched an awareness campaign that focuses on the unbelievable stories most scammers devise to defraud victims. The service educates people about what to do when they receive suspicious messages that solicit gift card money.
Google has also partnered with the National Consumers League. This initiative focuses on researching the latest gift card scam techniques and publishing related findings. It raises awareness about the scams people should expect to face when using Google Play gift cards.
Behind the scenes, Google developers also work to improve gift card security features. One of the ways they do this is by geo-restricting app store access. Every country has its own version of the Google Play store.
Gift cards bought in one country cannot be redeemed in another country. This prevents a wide range of international wire fraud scams that could otherwise occur when using Google Play gift cards as currency.
Scammers favor gift cards because they are easy for people to find and buy, and they have fewer protections for buyers compared to some other payment options. Scammers can get quick cash, the transaction is largely irreversible, and they can remain anonymous.
Scammers also tell people where to buy the gift cards. In the first nine months of 2021, people who reported losing money buying gift cards mentioned Target stores more than other retailers. Reports suggest that Walmart, Best Buy, CVS, and Walgreens stores are also popular with scammers.
Losses also vary by card brand. Target cards, for example, saw a median reported loss of $2,500 in the first nine months of the year, far higher than other frequently reported cards.7 In addition, 30% of people who paid with a Target card said they lost $5,000 or more.8
3 From January 2021 through September 2021, 39,263 reports indicating $147.8 million in gift card and reload card payments were submitted, compared to 36,682 reports indicating $115.1 million in reported gift card payments in all of 2020. Earlier year figures for comparison purposes are as follows: 35,323 reports with $100 million reported lost (2019), 32,084 reports with $70.6 million reported lost (2018).
5 From January 2021 through September 2021, 12,239 people reported losing $35.5 million to business impersonators using gift cards, and 7,844 people reported losing $39.6 million to government impersonators using gift cards. Excluding reports that did not indicate a contact method, a phone call was the method of contact in 37% of reports indicating gift cards as the method of payment, followed by email (18%) and social media (16%).
7 The median individual reported losses from January 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021 by gift card brand are as follows: Target ($2,500), Walmart ($1,380), Apple ($800), eBay ($600), and Google Play ($500). Median individual losses are based on the total loss reported by the consumer, which often includes more than one gift card purchase.
8 The percentage of reports from January 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021 indicating a loss of $5,000 or more by gift card brand are as follows: Target (30%), Apple (13%), Walmart (12%), Google Play (6%), and eBay (3%). Of the $148 million reported lost to gift card scams during this period, $111 million were losses reported by people who reported a loss of $5,000 or more. 041b061a72