CS.MONEY Hacked - $1.6M Worth Of Skins Stolen
Today, on August 13th, 2022, CS.MONEY has been hacked and 1.6 million US Dollars worth of skins have been stolen. So far, little is known about the incident. Let’s jump right in!
The Steam Accounts That Stole The Skins
The Twitter user @ArrrowCSGO posted a screenshot from Discord containing a list of Steam accounts which reportedly stole the majority of the skins:
| Steam Account | Value Stolen |
|---|---|
| Zoolab | $120,000 |
| Span 2 | $103,835 |
| Sonair | $88,000 |
| Otcom | $85,000 |
| Zoolab 2 | $85,000 |
| Rank | $82,995 |
| Tempsoft | $77,000 |
| Vagram 2 | $75,000 |
| Greenlam | $75,000 |
| Bitwolf | $71,525 |
| Zoolab 3 | $70,000 |
| StringTough | $69,500 |
| Redhold | $65,640 |
| Ustinlavrent | $63,000 |
| Konklab | $61,925 |
| Zathin 2 | $61,550 |
| Quo Lux | $53,000 |
| Subin | $50,000 |
| Span 3 | $45,000 |
| Zaragoryachev | $43,100 |
| Sonsing | $30,000 |
| Vagram | $27,000 |
| Alpha | $20,000 |
| Toughjoy | $17,000 |
| Treeflex | $15,000 |
| Tin | $14,000 |
| Stronghold | $11,000 |
| Sonair 2 | $6,000 |
| Flexidy | $6,000 |
| Span | $4,000 |
| Zontrax | $1,500 |
| Total | $1,597,570 |
The total value of the stolen skins amounts to $1,597,570. However, this list is probably not a full reflection of all the skins that were actually stolen, as some accounts may still be missing. In reality, the loss may be significantly higher.
The Hackers Used A Diversion
According to well-known CS2 trader zipeL, the hackers sent various trade offers to legitimate Steam accounts that are owned by large traders. These trade offers contained valuable items as well. The YouTuber TDM_Heyzeus rapidly created a video about the incident, confirming that he received such offers from the CS.MONEY trading bots as well.
It’s not completely clear why the hackers did this but it’s been speculated to be a diversion tactic. If many of the stolen skins also went to legitimate accounts, it’s more difficult for Valve to reverse the trades or outright ban the accounts.
CS.MONEY Is Shut Down Temporarily
The platform has been temporarily shut down, probably as a security measure. We expect the team to need some time to figure out what happened exactly, as well as patching and securing the system before it can be brought back online.
CS.MONEY confirms on Twitter that their support is ready to answer any of your concerns. Here’s the screen that you’re currently greeted with when visiting the website:
Will Valve Step In?
Some people are speculating whether Valve will step in or not. They might ban the accounts that were used to steal the skins, or they might even reverse the trades altogether. This might prove harder than expected though because many illegitimate trades also went to legitimate accounts. We’ll probably get to know within the coming days.
Is CS.MONEY Going To Compensate Users?
CS.MONEY is one of the largest companies in the business and they have a long track record. In the case of Valve not reversing the trades, we expect CS.MONEY to compensate their users for the skins which were stolen. BUFF163 and Market CS2 also compensated their users who fell victim to the $2 million hack that happened just a few weeks ago.
However, the question is whether CS.MONEY has enough cash on hand to actually make the affected users whole. $1.6 million is a hefty sum, even for a large CS2 trading platform like CS.MONEY. It’s likely that not all of those skins were actually owned by users though, as CS.MONEY also owns and sells skins themselves. So, the actual sum which they would have to pay back to their users is probably smaller.
What’s Going To Happen Next?
We’ll probably see the community doing more research regarding the stolen skins. Valve may or may not step in - either reversing the trades, banning the accounts, or doing nothing at all. We also expect another official statement from CS.MONEY soon, in which they outline what happened in more detail, as well as provide a plan of action to bring the platform back up and compensate their users.
