Steam policy to protect against phishing scams

Accounts need to have spent money to access features.

Valve has just introduced a new policy on Steam "as a means of protecting our customers from those who abuse Steam for purposes such as spamming and phishing," whereby accounts that have spent less than $5 USD (or equivalent) on the store will be denied access to several key features.

The following are blocked until said funds are added to the account (and the account will be restricted if those charges are later reversed):

• Sending friend invites
• Opening group chat
• Voting on Greenlight, Steam Reviews and Workshop items
• Participating in the Steam Market
• Posting frequently in the Steam Discussions
• Gaining Steam Profile Levels and Trading Cards
• Submitting content on the Steam Workshop
• Posting in an item's Steam Workshop Discussions
• Accessing the Steam Web API
• Using browser and mobile chat

It should be added that external codes and retail purchases don't count, which might cause issues for some, but the investment threshold is low enough that it shouldn't be an issue for the vast majority of Steam users. For more details on the new policy head this way.