Natural Selection 2 scam sees over a thousand game keys deactivated

Natural Selection 2 was at the heart of a $30,000 credit card scam that saw over a thousand bogus keys sold via third-party distributors. Valve has now blocked all of the keys in question, locking out anyone who bought them.

PCGamesN reports that 1,341 keys are said to have been bought using stolen credit card information and then sold on at a discount via third-party traders over Steam.

After each key was sold, the sellers in question then requested a ‘charge-back’ on their original purchase, which cost the developer $22 a time, costing them around $30,000.

Responding to Valve's block, the developer said in a statement, “This episode is a prime example of why all gamers need to beware discount Steam keys and those offering them.

"If you see Natural Selection 2 available anywhere else — like the many sites out there that sell Steam keys at a discount — then you are not buying it from us and there is no way to know if that key is legitimate.

"As as result, we strongly discourage purchasing from these sites. It’s unfortunate that players who believed they were buying legitimate games were hurt by these unscrupulous resellers."

As a precaution, all gamers should only buy Natural Selection 2 via Steam or the developer's own webpage. Stay smart people.