Malware Disguised as Steam Game Steals Money from Players Before Valve Shuts It Down

A malicious game containing suspected malware was distributed on Steam, prompting Valve to send warning emails to affected users. The game, PirateFi, was uploaded by a developer who injected harmful software into its builds, leading to reports of unauthorized transactions and security breaches. Valve has since removed PirateFi from Steam and urged users who played it to run full-system antivirus scans or consider reformatting their operating systems to eliminate potential threats.

In the email that was sent to everyone who acquired the game, they stated, “we are contacting you because you recently launched Pirate Fi on Steam. The Steam account of the developer for this game uploaded builds to Steam that contained suspected malware.”

Piratefi was originally marketed to provide a pirate’s life themed gameplay experience – allowing the player to loot, build bases, catch fish, and fight dynamic battles. Instead, players are fighting malware that is actively stealing money from them.

“So I downloaded the game the day it came out while I was bored. I tried to turn the game on but it wouldn’t start so I deleted it. Well a few days later someone started buying dota skins or like add ons (I don’t know, I never played it) and now my money is gone and steam support said they can’t do anything about it. It is what it is I guess,” one review said on Steam.  

The vast majority of reviews on the platform are warning other users of the hazards that come with a pirate’s life. 

“This game is a virus Trojan.Win32.Lazzzy.gen!” another user exclaimed.

Steam Support strongly encourages users to run a full-system scan using an anti-virus product that the user trusts or regularly uses. They also recommended “fully reformatting your operating system to ensure that no malicious software remains on your machine.” 

PirateFi has since been removed from Steam’s catalogue.