A Bit of a Public Service Announcement -- aka How Valve's Inaction Has Forced My Hand.

[Hushmatic]

As an appropriate forward, let me say; some of this information is speculative. I've attempted to support my claims and assertions to the best of my abilities, but I only have access to public utilities. As well, I've attempted to be as transparent as possible, while maintaining some semblence of anonymity to preempt the inevitable backlash this will likely cause.

I've noticed a few posts on the boards here, speculating about the source of the recent glut the market has seen of Genuine Purity Fists (GPF). I've come to dispell the misinformation and expose the wrong doing of others. I've genuinely got no horse in this fight, beyond my personal sense of morality.

This tale begins a few weeks ago.

I've been following the development of TF2WH.com (WH) for some time now, it's a novel concept -- well executed, and I understand today left the BETA stage. Would like to apologize to them preemptively if this causes them any damage, not at all my intention.

That being said I noticed that 3 Unusual Hats were purchased from the WH at a sum of almost 4 million credits. For a sense of scale, keys are 10,000 and refined is 4,500 (4 million credits = 8,888 refined, by the way). This of course, caught my attention. So, I tracked the unusuals down on TF2Outpost (TF2OP), and feigned interest in purchasing them.

During our initial conversation, I attempted to discern the genesis of his absurd number of GPF. He fed me the same lie you see floating around most of these discussions -- a couple of friends went to PAX/NYCC etc and gave him the codes.
At this point, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, working from the premise that he was unaware of the real origin and just putting forward what he'd been told. I was incredulous to say the least, PAX was at least 4 months ago, and while I have seen various giveaways for GPF codes, they were always all of 20 max, and not to a single user.

Again, working from the premise that he was simply swept into something he didn't understand, I advised him to return the unusuals to the WH and delete the excess GPF, writing an email to Valve apologizing in hopes of preventing retribution on their part. He feigned ignorance the entire time, and eventually blocked all communications and set his backpack to private when I suggested he might face civil liability for the damage he'd done.

It's important to note, at this point in time (before the Steam hack) I reported this user to Valve. I explained in their tiny form what the next few paragraphs lay out, and invited them to contact me for more detail.
This is where the tale takes a bit of a turn.

I further investigated his alias, and found him to be part of what we'll cordially refer to as effinpwnd.com. If that sounds like a clever analog of a now relative infamous site -- it's because it's intended to be.
MIND YOU, i'd never link to that place, it's literally a cess pool of the lowest scammy haxorz/script-kiddies. Not only do they use their site to spread viruses / keyloggers, etc... under the guise of "hacks" they trade in stolen accounts, illegitamite keys / codes, etc... It's difficult to pin them down, because they have an inventory of VAC banned steam accts they trade amongst themselves. My favorite scam is when they buy bulk keys of games from their FSR / Eastern Euro commrades, then move them on eBay / forums, etc... I did create an account there, with a hushmail email address, and connected to it exclusively through 3 different proxies -- only to observe, never participate.

Towards the linear timelime I'm attempting to establish in this, it's important to note that my first interaction with this individual occured before the Steam hack -- and I reported him to Valve.
Back to the matter at hand.

This individual is named JesusSeaWarrior. steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198029297939
First, lets take a look at his backpack / inventory history.

[url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/JesusSeaWarrior?time=1319813140[/url] -- Fri, 28 Oct 11 09:45:40 -0500. A rather unimpressive backpack to say the least.

His SteamRep -- [url]http://steamrep.com/index.php?id=JesusSeaWarrior[/url] -- says he's got 81 hours in game, so this isn't an unreasonable BP. Looks like he played actively in the past, and took a break, or this is just another in a string of Steam Accts that he acquired and decided to make his "main."

As a brief interjection, I want to direct you to a few posts, of him dumping GPFs on the open market for CHEAP -- [url]http://www.sourceop.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=89472&highlight=[/url] -- GPFs for a REF A PIECE, long before their flooding of the market dropped the price. Then, we've got a Sythe.org link, [url]http://www.sythe.org/showthread.php?p=9905844[/url] where he's trying to sell his entire BP, before he started flipping the GPFs (which suggests he acquired the acct).

UNFORTUNATELY, there is a bit of a gap in his BP history on TF2items.com...

[url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/JesusSeaWarrior?time=1320553536[/url] -- Sat, 05 Nov 11 23:25:36 -0500. Jumping forward slightly, he's sitting on a couple dozen Refined Metal, and an Unusual Sober Stuntman.

[url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/JesusSeaWarrior?time=1320616837[/url] -- Sun, 06 Nov 11 16:00:37 -0600. Forward another day, he's got a number of items sitting outside his inventory (buying from the WH, taking delivery, and not loading the game). Take note of the singular GPF there, if you click on it, you'll see -- [url]http://www.tf2items.com/item/564869378[/url] the item history/detail indicating he was the one who redeemed the code for it on November 6th, and has since traded it away.

[url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/JesusSeaWarrior?time=1320572743[/url] -- Sun, 06 Nov 11 03:45:43 -0600. One of the few remaining timestamps that actually display numerous GPFs. It seems I delayed a bit too long in putting this together, as the most incriminating time stamps are being swallowed by the archive on TF2Items.com, reporting only -- Notice: History time not found. Displaying most recent data.

Unfortunately, it seems I no longer have access to the most damning of the BP timestamps, but worry not. As you're likely already incredulously and critically thinking, so what? He's got a BP full of refined, and you've only shown us one GPF actually in his BP -- none of this is particularly incriminating.

Well then, try this out for size -- [url]http://static.inky.ws/image/834/image.jpg[/url] -- as long as it's not again expired, this should be a screen shot from the aforementioned site, with JSW offering to sell 2100 GPFs, in their "black market" section the subtitle of which is literally "Sell stuff that might be a bit... shady." Whats of particular note, is that 90% "should" work.

Furthermore, jump forward again in time slightly, he looks to recruit others to do his dirty work for him... [url]http://static.inky.ws/image/835/image.jpg[/url]

And, he was not unsuccessful in recruiting. Either that, or he's wised up and starting using alternate accts to move the GPFs. INCLUDING, but not limited to:

NoMaD [Y|U|VIEW|MY|BP] -- known scammer, currently on JSW's friends list.
SteamRep -- [url]http://www.steamrep.com/index.php?id=76561198024995821[/url]
BP full of GFPs -- [url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/lele0108?time=1321135769[/url]

ProwL -- number of scammer friends, likely recruited by NoMaD, whose on his list.
SteamRep -- [url]http://steamrep.com/index.php?id=prowlx[/url]
BP full of GFPs -- [url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/prowlx?time=1321336810[/url]

Squirrel -- likely recruited by NoMaD, whose on his list.
SteamRep -- [url]http://steamrep.com/index.php?id=ymerej135[/url]
BP full of GFPs -- [url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/ymerej135?time=1321232911[/url]

Sir Icy -- Newer Acct, simple name, NoMaD on friends list.
SteamRep -- [url]http://steamrep.com/index.php?id=icycube123[/url]
BP full of GFPs -- [url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/icycube123?time=1321115557[/url]

Freez1e -- Established Trader, seems likely innocent / scammed -- as they traded buds for bulk GPF -- BUT, friends with NoMaD
SteamRep -- [url]http://steamrep.com/index.php?id=freez1e[/url]
BP full of GPFs -- [url]http://www.tf2items.com/id/freez1e?time=1320984274[/url] -- follow the history back to see the buds traded out.

SO, WHY DOES IT ALL MATTER? Well, first, it's wrong. In any objective sense of morality, these individuals are stealing. Furthermore, they're doing damage to a game I enjoy, and damaging the trading market.
FURTHERMORE, JSW is profiting from his misdeeds -- [url]http://www.sourceop.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=89807&highlight=[/url] he's selling his ill gotten gains for cash and steam games.
FURTHERMORE, the genesis of this all JSW, is a member of the group that claimed responsibility initially for the Steam hack.

While this is unsubstantiated and speculative in nature, they've been circularly pointing the finger at one another since it occurred. BUT, my favorite moment, was when the news hit that Valve discovered the breach was larger than just their forums -- and in the ShoutBox on effpwn, we saw this --
[FkN]Ruddified : (10 November 2011 - 07:05 PM) I'm getting arrested :3
[VIP]RandyCandy : (10 November 2011 - 07:05 PM) Have fun rudd
[VIP]RandyCandy : (10 November 2011 - 07:06 PM) Shoulda used a vpn
[FkN]Ruddified : (10 November 2011 - 07:06 PM) Pretty sure we all are.. [url]http://kotaku.com/5858473/steam-hacked-valve-investigating-possible-credit-card-theft[/url]
[VIP]RandyCandy : (10 November 2011 - 07:08 PM) Someone who will turn on his friends is a weak man :)
-- Then, just a bit later, JSW gets word from his "friend" Rudd (who, by the way, lives relatively close down in Australia)
[VIP]JesusSeaWarrior : (10 November 2011 - 07:14 PM) FUCK
[VIP]JesusSeaWarrior : (10 November 2011 - 07:14 PM) FUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK
[VIP]JesusSeaWarrior : (10 November 2011 - 07:34 PM) My head is full of fuck and annoyance right now.

IN CLOSING -- Valve, you likely have a lot better access to the item logs and redemptions made than I do from the outside. I'd recommend deleting all of the GPFs to repair the market, prosecuting those who have wronged you criminally, and permanently banning those who took part from ever using your service. Also, I'm sure you're overwhelmed with individuals being reported, likely most without cause, but I tried to warn you about this individual before you all were compromised.

To the rest of the trading community, I'm very sorry if you're sitting on a single illegit GPF -- which is in turn deleted, you got caught holding the bag. Towards trading in the future, you might want to investigate who you're trading with before you do.

As well, to the effnpwn'd community who will inevitably come after me for making this information public -- you know what you did / are doing is wrong. Your actions have consequences, online or not. I don't imagine you all will understand, but try to keep your punches above the belt.

TL:DR -- Stop buying GPFs until this is sorted, and avoid trading with those who have even the most tangential connection to those listed above. Important links / SS's : [url]http://static.inky.ws/image/834/image.jpg[/url] / [url]http://static.inky.ws/image/835/image.jpg[/url]

[Bryceanater]

Tl;DR

[highlight](User was banned for this post ("'tl;dr' why reply" - postal))[/highlight]

[Hippo-critical]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH1Q738UEsQ&list=FLbdog1jKs2VtS5vxlfYW8zw&index=46&feature=plpp_video[/media]

But no, seriously, you might of wanted to structure this speech a little better. I find it painful to read.

[HyperTails]

I don't understand

[editline]17th November 2011[/editline]

No, someone explain this, really.

[Singo]

What the hell is this.

[Hippo-critical]

[QUOTE=HyperTails;33308181]I don't understand

[editline]17th November 2011[/editline]

No, someone explain this, really.[/QUOTE]
The point he's trying to get across in meaningful, but I'm finding it hard to understand whether I should agree or not.

[HyperTails]

Do you mean that people from a group somehow are making their own keys for Genuine Purity Fists, and are selling them in the hundreds?

[Sir Mentlegen]

[QUOTE=HyperTails;33308212]Do you mean that people from a group somehow are making their own keys for Genuine Purity Fists, and are selling them in the hundreds?[/QUOTE]

have you seen trading websites? I've seen people with literally hundreds of genuine fists.

[Sammun]

First I heard of the guy who sold over 50 purity fists on the warehouse, a few days later I saw someone selling over 50 purity fists on a trading server, then A thread about cloned purity fists caught my attention on spuf, there was a post saying that some people got a ton of codes from the new york comic con and never gave a fuck about it again :v:

[Sir Spicy Buns]

Good lord, you deserve something for this. Hot damn, also if it matters i have a flair! crafted by JesusSeaWarrior

[=DarkStar=]

[QUOTE=HyperTails;33308181]I don't understand

[editline]17th November 2011[/editline]

No, someone explain this, really.[/QUOTE]

You can use the G. purity fist code over and over and over like the guys in the Op list, simple as that.

Someone post that in the general chat few pages ago, we didn't need such a useless thread

[ned_ballad]

I remember reading that a master key for the Purity Fist promo got out somehow, so this kind of makes sense.

[HyperTails]

I've never even heard of this. Now that you do mention this, I have seen an unusual number of GPFs around. This is an interesting discovery.

[editline]17th November 2011[/editline]

Has the same thing been done to Genuine Righteous Bisons?

[Totenkreuz]

"Has forced my hand"

he he

[mooman1080]

Long and confusing, I got the general idea of it, the people who hacked steam are running a fake genuine purity fists crime ring thingy.

[SPESSMEHREN]

[QUOTE=mooman1080;33308284]Long and confusing, I got the general idea of it, the people who hacked steam are running a fake genuine purity fists crime ring thingy.[/QUOTE]

So [i]this[/i] is how piracy supports organized crime.

Honestly people put way too much time into this shit. Seriously, I play TF2 frequently and I don't even know what a "Genuine Purity Fist" is, or any of the five fancy new overpowered promo items were added last week for that matter. and this TF2 "trading" crap and all the e-drama it's caused with people ripping people off and scamming people? pfft. gone are the days when TF2 used to be about good, clean fun.

[Hushmatic]

A brief follow up, as a piece of information was excluded from the original posting...

In this discussion, [url]http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2227134&page=3[/url]

The poster lele108 who is attempting to discredit the claim, is NoMaD -- [url]http://steamcommunity.com/id/lele0108[/url]

Furthermore, I've witnessed various parties involved in this attempting to obscure the origin by spreading quasi-plausible theories, such as the master key and a box of stolen fliers from PAX.

EDIT -- apologies, the link was trimmed, and not working.

[Totenkreuz]

Can someone tell me this code ? I wanna page o fists.

[Bryceanater]

[QUOTE=SPESSMEHREN;33308295]So [i]this[/i] is how piracy supports organized crime.[/QUOTE]

for stupid fists to make a profit...wow.

[SPESSMEHREN]

- snip -

[Totenkreuz]

Hey rate me dumb is you want, I want a personal collection.

[=DarkStar=]

[QUOTE=Totenkreuz;33308346]Hey rate me dumb is you want, I want a personal collection.[/QUOTE]

You need a clean code, two accounts can't share a single code.

[Totenkreuz]

But where are people getting them ?

[mooman1080]

He doesn't know, he's just putting two and two together that they must be fake.

[Sammun]

[QUOTE=Totenkreuz;33308382]But where are people getting them ?[/QUOTE]

illegal sites about illegal stuff

[Totenkreuz]

Oh

[arlygoodbrownie]

I'm trying to figure out how a backpack that's nearly full is "rather unimpressive."

[EmperorKabuto]

>connected through three proxies

[img]http://i.qkme.me/1r0i.jpg[/img]

so close. So close.

[Whomobile]

I've been seeing a lot of Purity Fists lately. Now I know why.

Thus begins the Fistpocolipcse...

[Hushmatic]

[QUOTE=LegndNikko;33308448]I'm trying to figure out how a backpack that's nearly full is "rather unimpressive."[/QUOTE]

I was referencing the total value of the items, especially in contrast to the growth in value less than a week later.