I’ve had a mildly expensive inventory in the past while trading so I’ve seen a lot of scammers. The clown award was the fastest way to tell if someone was suspicious. Obviously you don’t just base it on that, other telltale signs are no mutuals, private inventory, faked hours on cs, turned off commenting on profile, account level, 3p trust sites, etc.
I’ve yet to see a single profile that was legit that had the clown award. People usually don’t give out awards, at least the profile ones. The average person buys profile decor.
This was back in 2024 ish though, I don’t trade anymore so I block non mutuals adding me
TyrianMollusk@infosec.pub 57 minutes ago
That’s such poppycock I don’t even know if you’re subtly trolling. Anyone could put a clown on a profile for anything, and they come far more from bad actors than anything remotely legitimate. Steam forums are full of bad actors. Actually supporting that kind of petty toxicity by insinuating clowns mean something is gross.
Thankfully, profile awards can be hidden, and I’d expect they often are, so it’s hard to really say how many are given out. I certainly hid profile awards when the system was new, because it’s weird Steam just helps people deface your profile. Even having awards hidden hasn’t stopped the occasional spiteful clown award getting added.