Vac Ban for no reason THX <3

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VanQuish 8 Dec @ 2:23am

I just wanted to share my situation here because, honestly, it’s been over 10 years and not even one of my 10,000 attempts to get an answer ever got… well, any answer at all. So here I am, trying again — maybe someone from the community can at least tell me if there’s still any hope.

When I was around 12 years old (I’m 23 now), I got a VAC ban completely by accident. I was working on a small project using Cheat Engine, and like a genius kid, I forgot it running in the background. The moment I launched CS, boom — instant VAC ban.

I wasn’t cheating, I wasn’t trying to get an advantage, I literally just had Cheat Engine open in the taskbar. I didn’t even know English back then, so I had no idea how to explain myself or appeal properly.

Fast forward more than a decade later:
– still banned,
– still no replies,
– still hoping someone, somewhere, someday will look at this case.

I invested money into that account, and honestly I’d love to be able to play on it again. I know VAC bans are usually permanent, but considering it was a childhood mistake, I figured I’d try one more time — maybe the 10,001st message is the lucky one.

If anyone has advice, ideas, or has been through something similar, feel free to let me know. Thanks for reading!

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Showing 1-15 of 24 comments

OPA 8 Dec @ 2:59am

So after 10 years you still haven't grasped what "permanent" means?

Lufia 8 Dec @ 3:06am

How can it be over 10 years and you've gotten 11 years older since then, when your account only turned 9 in May?
At 12, you weren't old enough for a Steam account anyway.

You haven't received any answers?
I doubt that support never responded to you and didn't point you to the FAQ:
https://test1.login.steam.hlxgame.cc/@help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/571A-97DA-70E9-FF74
You can also write to support in other languages; English is not necessary.

Tips or ideas:
A) Accept your punishment and stay on the account.
B) Create a new account.
You could have simply created a new account back then. You probably didn't invest much money at age 12, and if it was banned almost immediately after creation, you wouldn't have lost much.

JacquesPatat 8 Dec @ 7:41pm

Originally posted by VanQuish:
I just wanted to share my situation here because, honestly, it’s been over 10 years and not even one of my 10,000 attempts to get an answer ever got… well, any answer at all. So here I am, trying again — maybe someone from the community can at least tell me if there’s still any hope.

When I was around 12 years old (I’m 23 now), I got a VAC ban completely by accident. I was working on a small project using Cheat Engine, and like a genius kid, I forgot it running in the background. The moment I launched CS, boom — instant VAC ban.

I wasn’t cheating, I wasn’t trying to get an advantage, I literally just had Cheat Engine open in the taskbar. I didn’t even know English back then, so I had no idea how to explain myself or appeal properly.

Fast forward more than a decade later:
– still banned,
– still no replies,
– still hoping someone, somewhere, someday will look at this case.

I invested money into that account, and honestly I’d love to be able to play on it again. I know VAC bans are usually permanent, but considering it was a childhood mistake, I figured I’d try one more time — maybe the 10,001st message is the lucky one.

If anyone has advice, ideas, or has been through something similar, feel free to let me know. Thanks for reading!

support will only answer you once, with the vacban info and after that ignore you. vacban are for cheating and its permanent

VanQuish 4 hours ago

Lufia and the others this is not about money. It’s about ethics and fairness.
I received a VAC ban many years ago because Cheat Engine was left open in the background while I was working on a school project. I was a kid, I didn’t understand English, and I had no idea what was happening at that time.

I’m not asking for special treatment, and I’m not trying to avoid responsibility.
All I’m saying is that an automated system punished me permanently for something that wasn’t intentional, and nobody ever explained anything to me.

I understand that VAC bans are ‘permanent’, but treating every situation the same way, without context, without review, and without basic human fairness, is simply not ethical.
This is about principles, not money.

Silicon Vampire 4 hours ago

Nope, VAC NEVER banned for that. It would only error out... unless it was specifically being used to cheat in a VAC protected game.

Last edited by Silicon Vampire; 4 hours ago

VanQuish 4 hours ago

Originally posted by Silicon Vampire:
Nope, VAC NEVER banned for that. It would only error out... unless it was specifically being used to cheat in a VAC protected game.

I understand your point, but this is exactly why I’m trying to clarify things.
Back then I was a kid, I didn’t even know what VAC was, and I didn’t try to cheat in any protected game. Whatever triggered the ban wasn’t intentional, wasn’t malicious, and definitely wasn’t part of any attempt to gain an advantage.

Even if the system ‘never bans for that,’ mistakes still happen — especially more than a decade ago, when things were far less polished.
My issue isn’t the ban itself. I honestly don’t care if I have it or not, it doesn’t affect my life.

What bothers me is the lack of nuance: no context, no review, no consideration that a child might have done something without understanding the consequences.

I’m not trying to argue with anyone, I just want my perspective to be understood instead of being dismissed automatically.

Silicon Vampire 4 hours ago

Ignorance has never been an excuse, YOU are responsible for anything you have allowed to happen on the account.

VanQuish 4 hours ago

Originally posted by Lufia:
How can it be over 10 years and you've gotten 11 years older since then, when your account only turned 9 in May?
At 12, you weren't old enough for a Steam account anyway.

You haven't received any answers?
I doubt that support never responded to you and didn't point you to the FAQ:
https://test1.login.steam.hlxgame.cc/@help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/571A-97DA-70E9-FF74
You can also write to support in other languages; English is not necessary.

Tips or ideas:
A) Accept your punishment and stay on the account.
B) Create a new account.
You could have simply created a new account back then. You probably didn't invest much money at age 12, and if it was banned almost immediately after creation, you wouldn't have lost much.

If we treated every real-life situation with the same rigidity ‘the rules say this, so that’s it’ we wouldn’t get anywhere as a society.
Companies and institutions often make decisions based only on their own advantage, without considering ethics, context, or basic human fairness.

But my principles don’t work like that. I believe every case should be evaluated individually, especially when someone was a child, didn’t understand what was happening, and had no intention to cheat.

I honestly don’t care whether I have a VAC ban or not at this point it doesn’t affect my daily life. I’m not trying to create drama or demand anything extraordinary.
All I want is for my point of view to be understood: a permanent punishment applied blindly, without any review or consideration of circumstances, may follow the letter of the rules, but it completely ignores the spirit of fairness.

Beardface31 4 hours ago

Despite what you say your ban is completely fair.

Last edited by Beardface31; 4 hours ago

VanQuish 4 hours ago

Originally posted by Silicon Vampire:
Ignorance has never been an excuse, YOU are responsible for anything you have allowed to happen on the account.

I get what you’re saying, and I’m not trying to dodge responsibility.
But responsibility doesn’t automatically exclude context.

If we applied the same logic everywhere ‘rules say X, so no discussion’ nothing in life would ever improve. Every company, system, and platform reassesses situations because ethics and fairness matter just as much as rules.

I’m not asking for special treatment, and I’m not trying to make excuses.
I’m simply saying that a ban placed on a 12-year-old kid who didn’t even understand what VAC was is not the same thing as someone intentionally cheating.

I honestly don’t care whether I have a VAC ban or not I’m not trying to make this a big issue.
I just want my point of view to be understood instead of being dismissed automatically.

And with this I’ll end the discussion nothing major happened here, and I never intended to make a big deal out of it in the first place
All live thanks for taking ur time to respond

#10

Wock73 4 hours ago

Originally posted by VanQuish:
Originally posted by Silicon Vampire:
Ignorance has never been an excuse, YOU are responsible for anything you have allowed to happen on the account.
I get what you’re saying, and I’m not trying to dodge responsibility.
But responsibility doesn’t automatically exclude context.

If we applied the same logic everywhere ‘rules say X, so no discussion’ nothing in life would ever improve. Every company, system, and platform reassesses situations because ethics and fairness matter just as much as rules.

I’m not asking for special treatment, and I’m not trying to make excuses.
I’m simply saying that a ban placed on a 12-year-old kid who didn’t even understand what VAC was is not the same thing as someone intentionally cheating.

I honestly don’t care whether I have a VAC ban or not I’m not trying to make this a big issue.
I just want my point of view to be understood instead of being dismissed automatically.

And with this I’ll end the discussion nothing major happened here, and I never intended to make a big deal out of it in the first place
All live thanks for taking ur time to respond

You got one if your wishes at least, you aren’t getting special treatment so yay for that

#11

VanQuish 4 hours ago

Originally posted by Beardface31:
Despite what you say your ban is completely fair.

When I said fair, I didn’t mean the ban itself is justified.
I meant that I understand WHY the system applied it automatically not that the situation itself is morally fair.

There’s a difference between a system working as designed and the outcome actually being fair in a human, ethical sense.
That’s what I was referring to.
And just to be clear I’m totally fine with the situation now.
I’m not trying to undo anything or create drama.

But I still believe it would’ve been normal to at least know why the ban happened.
For years I had no idea what triggered it. Only much later I realized that a background program using Cheat Engine components caused an instant flag.

Knowing the actual cause back then would’ve helped a lot more than just being told ‘it’s permanent’. That’s the whole point I’m trying to make.

#12

Beardface31 4 hours ago

Originally posted by VanQuish:
Originally posted by Beardface31:
Despite what you say your ban is completely fair.
When I said fair, I didn’t mean the ban itself is justified.
I meant that I understand WHY the system applied it automatically not that the situation itself is morally fair.

There’s a difference between a system working as designed and the outcome actually being fair in a human, ethical sense.
That’s what I was referring to.
And just to be clear I’m totally fine with the situation now.
I’m not trying to undo anything or create drama.

But I still believe it would’ve been normal to at least know why the ban happened.
For years I had no idea what triggered it. Only much later I realized that a background program using Cheat Engine components caused an instant flag.

Knowing the actual cause back then would’ve helped a lot more than just being told ‘it’s permanent’. That’s the whole point I’m trying to make.

Completelty fair even in an ethical sense..

Last edited by Beardface31; 4 hours ago

#13

Silicon Vampire 4 hours ago

You obviously do NOT "get what I'm saying", so it's probably for the best to let this thread die...

#14

VanQuish 4 hours ago

Originally posted by Wock73:
Originally posted by VanQuish:
I get what you’re saying, and I’m not trying to dodge responsibility.
But responsibility doesn’t automatically exclude context.

If we applied the same logic everywhere ‘rules say X, so no discussion’ nothing in life would ever improve. Every company, system, and platform reassesses situations because ethics and fairness matter just as much as rules.

I’m not asking for special treatment, and I’m not trying to make excuses.
I’m simply saying that a ban placed on a 12-year-old kid who didn’t even understand what VAC was is not the same thing as someone intentionally cheating.

I honestly don’t care whether I have a VAC ban or not I’m not trying to make this a big issue.
I just want my point of view to be understood instead of being dismissed automatically.

And with this I’ll end the discussion nothing major happened here, and I never intended to make a big deal out of it in the first place
All live thanks for taking ur time to respond
You got one if your wishes at least, you aren’t getting special treatment so yay for that

I’ve learned something from this experience, but I will never support the method that was used. If that’s all you can understand, I can’t really comment your empathy seems to be lacking but I hope we can both grow from this.