1. Why our model is inherently low-risk
The single most important control is the shape of the business itself. Fades is buy-only and closed-loop:
- Customers buy digital cosmetic items from us at fixed, displayed prices.
- We do not buy items from customers and we do not pay out cash.
- Store credit can only be spent on skins on our own store. It cannot be withdrawn, transferred between users, or converted to cash or cryptocurrency.
- There is no peer-to-peer trading and no marketplace between users.
Money enters as a card payment and leaves only as a digital good delivered to the buyer. There is no return path to cash through us, which removes the layering and cash-out mechanisms that money laundering depends on. We are not a money-services business and do not provide money transmission.
2. Identity and account control
Every customer authenticates through Steam’s OpenID, which confirms they control the Steam account that will receive the goods. We verify the delivery destination (the Steam trade URL) and confirm the receiving account is eligible to trade before any purchase completes. This ties each order to a verified, controllable account rather than an anonymous recipient.
3. Payment screening and PCI
Card payments are processed by our regulated payment provider, Coinflow, which performs its own KYC, fraud scoring, 3-D Secure authentication, and PCI-DSS-compliant handling of card data. We never receive or store full card numbers. We rely on the provider’s payment-fraud controls in addition to our own.
4. Sanctions screening
We do not serve customers in comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions or persons on applicable sanctions and denied-persons lists, and we screen accordingly. Orders that raise a sanctions flag are blocked pending review. See our Acceptable Use Policy.
5. Transaction monitoring
We monitor for patterns associated with fraud and abuse — including mismatches between payment and delivery identity, velocity and structuring patterns, repeated failed or reversed trades, and behaviour consistent with card testing or unauthorised use. We may hold, decline, or reverse orders and suspend accounts on that basis.
6. Reporting and cooperation
Where we identify activity we are required to report, we report it to the relevant authorities, and we cooperate fully with law enforcement, card schemes, and our payment provider in the investigation of fraud and financial crime.
7. Records
We keep records of orders, deliveries (including the Steam trade evidence), refunds, and relevant customer information for the periods required by law and by our payment provider, and make them available to authorised parties on lawful request. Questions from partners or providers: legal@fades.gg.