What are the dangers of accepting gifts from unknown accounts on Steam?

A user named 'steamfairy1' gifted me a game on Steam. I don't know this user, their profile shows no games, no friends and zero hours played. The profile of 'steamfairy1' was created the day I received the gift.

It very much looks like a scam, but I can't figure out how the scam is supposed to work. What's the worst thing that could happen if I accept the gift? Any idea what the trick here is? It could be just a random act of kindness and I'm just paranoid…

I contacted the Steam support, but they were unhelpful as usual: responding in the wrong language and with a canned one-liner that didn't make a whole lot of sense or had much to do with my question.

Keywords (not really tags, but I want this to be searchable): steamfairy, steam fairy

Solution 1:

I dug through the relevant support pages and found some information for you.

Short version: Don't accept things you weren't expecting from people you don't know.

Long version:

The Steam Support page on trading and gifts says...

[...] a gift sent to your account has been revoked. The most common reasons this will occur are:

• There has been a purchase error with the game you were gifted
• The purchaser has filed a dispute over the purchase
• The gift purchase was made using a fraudulent payment method

If you believe there has been an error, please contact the person who sent this gift.

The subscription to the gifted game is no longer valid. If you wish to continue playing the game without losing any game progress, you will need to purchase the game through Steam.

Warning: Never accept a gift from someone you do not know.

Meanwhile, a few pages away...

Redeeming Fraudulent Gifts

Never accept a gift from an unknown user. Any accounts tied to a redeemed gift from a fraudulent source may be suspended.

In summary: You can either lose the game you were gifted, or possibly your account, depending on the whim of the Steam Gods handling your case. Expect the worst, because they tell you clearly in both areas don't accept things you weren't expecting from people you don't know.

Ask the person trying to gift or trade you the game to identify themselves, and reject the gift if anything seems suspicious. Better to lose a "free" game than your account, ne? If it turns out to be a friend or just someone who feels like gifting you stuff, ask them to send it through their real account, instead.