Possible Sniper Hacking (w/ video)

[Spaceman Spiff]

I believe a player was hacking so I decided to catch him in the act. I was playing spy and noticed that I was being detected by a sniper far too often. He would know my location without actually touching me or seeing me cloak. I would get hit by arrows and jarate when my cloak was never disrupted and I was invisible. Everyone gets lucky but these were long distance throws and arrows. I became suspicious so I turned recording on.

As the video shows, I was fully cloaked when entering point 1. I moved to a far corner and didn’t engage anyone to be sure my cloak remained intact. The sniper engaged a few players and when done, just like a couple times before, miraculously shoots an arrow which to him should be a completely random place.

Keep in mind there are no other teammates at this point, just me so he can’t claim he was shooting at someone else. This same event had occurred twice before in the same manner in completely different locations. This was a 3rd time, far too many to be considered lucky or coincidence.

What do you guys think...?




Edit: Grammar/Spelling

[Larry]

I've heard of certain graphic card glitches where they are able to see spy's.

[YoullNeverWalkAlone]

wow. You have been totally impossible to see. No way he should have been shooting there on random to snipe you. Gotta be something going on.

[bluntspoon]

h.a.c.k.i.n.g.

[black_and_blue]

I dunno. It certainly looks suspicious, but it's tough to say for sure.

It wasn't a headshot, and it was in a place where one does commonly get backstabbed. Keep in mind that when the first arrow connected, it would have revealed your location for the second arrow. I know that I very often just shoot random locations for the explicate purpose of spy checking, particularly if I'm being annoyed by spies. Maybe that sniper was shooting random arrows a lot for the specific purpose of spy checking.

Without knowing more about the sniper's overall behaviour and where the other incidents happened, it's tough to say.

By no means am I saying you're wrong; I'd even go so far as to say that, more likely than not, you're right. I just don't think it meets that standard of proof that would be necessary for an admin to take action.

While hacking is a very serious offence, it is, unfortunately, often a difficult offence to prove. If someone is teleporter griefing or verbally abusing their teammates, it's pretty obvious, but proving hacking usually requires watching the player in spectator mode for long periods of time, and hackers will often stop hacking when they see someone enter spectator mode.

[Crusty Juggler]

Well, it wasn't the Carrolton Cheater. Which was the first thing I thought of.

I'm not really seeing conclusive proof in the vid. It looks like he Spy checked the corner with an arrow, and he saw you flicker/bleed. Then he shot another arrow. I.E., what Black and Blue said.

For what it's worth though, out of his 5 Steam friends, one of them is VAC'd. Regardless, I know I'll keep an eye on him in the future. If you said he was getting strange kills on you, I believe it.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Keep in mind this happened 2 previous times in 2 different locations. I just happened to record the 3rd one. The previous two were almost the same except I was standing in other spots. Also the one before this he tracked me before he threw his jarate will cloaked.

[MateoTheBold!]

It doesn't look like an aimbot, but you are right, he definitely targeted that area. The question is then whether its spy checking randomly (luck) or if he was able to see you. The fact that this happened to you over a number of times makes me think it isn't luck and he is able to see you. It then becomes a question of a glitch vs a more nefarious explanation.


His behavior at the beginning of the video/stats lead me to believe he isn't hacking, but its hard to tell for sure without a longer demo/specc'ing him. Don't be shy about hitting up the shoutbox for an admin next time (or record a longer demo).

Maybe someone with a better eye can see something more definitive?

[Boss Llama]

Hmm. That is pretty suspicious looking, but I would guess some kind of glitch is occuring, rather than an outright hack. He doesn't have the stats of a hacker, nor the attitude. He's also playing with an account that has several other games, no negative record, a reasonable amount of play time, and interestingly, the inventory of a low level trader - not something hackers generally risk like that. Also, were he outright using Spy ESP, he's better at faking it than any hacker I've seen, leaving his back exposed, ignoring you at close range, etc.

Based on your report that he did this repeatedly, I would definitely suggest there is something going on, but I'm thinking it may well be inadvertent - that is to say, he might actually be seeing you because of a game problem.

[Peahats]

If we has hacking, there would be no risk in installing aimbot as well. It still is very strange that he got 3 times. I know Direct X8 can cause weird visual glitches in models.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Well, either way I guess he knows were watching. Keep it mind if you play with him guys.

[frostdillicus]

Honestly, the fact that he waited so long to shoot you is what makes me think it's just something wonky, not necessarily hacking. I mean, he could just be playing coy so that he isn't caught, but he had plenty of chances to annihilate you and didn't.

[Plinko]

I have seen plenty of glitches where I could see cloaked spies because some visual effect stayed on that should not have (a domination marker, flames, teleporter glow). When I've seen it, it stayed on through multiple lives.

Not saying it's what happened but I've seen it.

[Earthworm James]

If we has hacking, there would be no risk in installing aimbot as well. It still is very strange that he got 3 times. I know Direct X8 can cause weird visual glitches in models.

There is the highest risk in using an aimbot, because when somebody spectates you they see your aimbot, where as they wouldnt see your wallhacks or spy hacks.

Also, he was on shrooms, so clearly he had a substance advantage.

[Fano]

He shot you once and you didn't move, then he shot you again and you died.

I don't think there's any conclusive evidence in this video to say that this person was hacking.