Discord FAQ
1. "Accidental" Steam/Discord Report & Impersonation
A common scam is if a user claims you've been accidentally/falsely reported to Steam or Discord for an infraction or fraud.
Don't follow instructions provided by anyone claiming to have accidentally reported your account.
The most common things that identify this scam are if someone:
• Says your account has been falsely or accidentally reported.
• Directs you to speak with someone through online chat to resolve an investigation or pending ban.
• Requests your account credentials or directs you to perform specific security-related operations.
• Requests an authentication code sent over email, SMS, or anywhere else.
• Says they represent Discord, Steam/Valve, or any other official entity.
• Says you must complete a purchase of any kind.
2. Free Nitro Scams
If you believe you have received a possible scam from a bot or user account, consider if they:
• Are new, unfamiliar, or unverified (in the case of bot accounts) contacting you unprompted.
• Are not from Discord in the form of an email or System-tagged account.
• Have poor grammar, spelling, or misuse of punctuation/capitalization.
• Offer things that are "too good to be true."
Official Discord gifting uses the discord.gift & discord.com domains and will generate a special embed, as Example 1 and Example 2
Scams like these are not possible through the official browser/client pages/menus.
• If these types of bots are repeatedly sending you messages, you can:
Use Mutual Servers to determine the servers they share with you and disable Direct Messages from server members for those servers.
• If you cannot find any shared servers, you can disable DMs from all servers under your User Settings
3. QR Codes, Fake Games, Programs, & Downloads
A user may pretend to be your friend or use a friend's compromised account to get you to download something.
Consider if they want you to:
• Scan a QR code
• Check out a video
• Test a game they made
• Practice running code they wrote
These are common forms of malicious behavior.
If a user asks you to scan/download something or click an unknown link, this could give away your login information and/or allow a malicious program to enter your computer, which can also compromise your account.
4. Compromised Accounts
If your account sends these kinds of messages, your account has been compromised. If you...
• downloaded and executed malware: You should try and use a different device entirely to change your password (e.g., your phone). You should follow these steps to completely uninstall Discord, run a complete antivirus scan, and then re-install Discord. If your account is compromised again when logging in afterward, you may need to factory reset your computer.
• entered your password into a malicious website: You should change your password.
• something else: You should change your password.
5. Art Commissions and Upfront Payments
How it works: You will receive a DM from someone randomly, and they act friendly and ask you about your day them ask you for your favorite [insert item here]. They introduce themselves as a 2D/3D artist and ask if you would like to commission them. The catch is that they ask for payment upfront then block you after you pay them
Scammers may also offer a discount on their art. Remember, if you are paying first, be cautious!
If you've already fallen for this scam, you should report the user to Discord Support, call your bank and ask for a chargeback and make sure to block the user
6. Refund Scams
How it works: You are contacted by a scammer who claims to have paid you too much money for a product or service. The scammer will ask you to send the excess money back to them, and then you pay the scammer the excess money with the catch being that the original payment never happened, leaving you out of pocket
Sometimes scammers send fraudulent cheques, which can take weeks for your bank to identify as fraudulent.
If you've already fallen for this scam, you should contact your bank and explain the situation then report the scam to the police. Before doing that make sure to report the scammer to Discord Trust & Safety and block the scammer.
7. NSFW Server Link
Someone will send a message in a server with a link to a NSFW server, this can also happen in DMs.
When you join this server, there will be a verify button or a QR code that you need to scan with your Discord mobile app. As soon as you scan the QR code or login to the verification website your account will be compromised.
If you've already fallen for this scam, you should change your password on Discord and also change the password on any other accounts that use the same password. You should also go to your Settings > Authorized Apps > Remove anything with the "Join servers for you" permission
8. Discord Support
Scammers create fake Discord support accounts and reach out to you claiming that they reported you or that you have been reported. They will try to trick you into changing your Discord email to theirs (which steals your account)
If you've already fallen for this scam, you should contact Discord support immediately and get them to change your email back. If you scanned a QR code, change your password. If you downloaded a file, assume it is malware and wipe your PC and change all your passwords.
9. Reporting Malicious Content/Behavior
There are several methods to report behavior you believe is a scam.
Use the integrated "Report Spam" button
You can learn how to properly report content here
10. More Resources
• Scams and What to Look Out For