Gaming Account Trading: Why You Should Never Go First Without Escrow
Steam, Valorant, Fortnite, CSGO, Genshin — gaming account trading is huge and almost entirely unregulated. Here's why escrow is the only thing that makes it safe.
Game publishers ban account trading in their ToS, so PayPal, Stripe, and most marketplaces won't touch it. That leaves direct peer-to-peer deals — and a thriving scam ecosystem. A maxed-out Genshin account can be worth $5,000. A rare CSGO inventory can clear $20,000. The incentive to scam is enormous.
The classic gaming account scams
- Buyer pays, seller blocks them on Discord. Money gone.
- Seller delivers credentials, then uses the original email to recover the account a week later.
- Seller "forgets" to remove their authenticator app and locks the buyer out at the worst moment.
- Buyer claims chargeback after receiving the account (only possible with PayPal/cards — irreversible payments shut this down).
What a proper handover looks like
- Original email access transferred to the buyer (full inbox, not a forward).
- Authenticator / 2FA app removed and re-enrolled on buyer's device.
- Recovery phone number updated.
- Security questions changed.
- Region locks and login regions cleared where possible.
Where escrow fits
The buyer funds escrow before any credentials change hands. The seller delivers, the buyer locks down the account, and only then does the inspection window close and funds release. If the account is recovered or banned during the inspection window, the deal can be reversed.
Escrows Click holds funds in a neutral wallet, verifies delivery, and only releases payment when both parties are satisfied. Start a deal in two minutes at escrows.click.
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Create a deal in two minutes. Funds stay locked until both sides are satisfied.
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