account got banned, maybe hacked? help!
Karli — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 09:25
I got an email from Blizzard this morning requesting a password reset and then another saying my account was banned for 24 hours. Since all I have done in the last few days was do a Headless Horseman run on Karli, I'm concerned that my account has been hacked in to in some way. The email read:
"An investigation of the World of Warcraft account *** has produced evidence that the account has been accessed by someone who is not allowed to use it."
I can take care of the annoying details, but since I have no idea what kind of activity occurred after I last logged in I was hoping someone else might.
<3 Karli
Karli to have a safe Account
Atakheal — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 11:30Karli to have a safe Account made this:
Made an other e-mail Account
This mail should be used ony and ONLY for you WoW account.
Call Blizzard to change your new mail for a new one.
and done, no more hacks.
BTW Copy/paste always ur passwords.
(Doing this, you clear al the way to not be hacked cuz your usual e-mail account is used for everything and the hacker has more chances to hack, so when you only has a E-mail for your wow Account no body know it just you and dont use that mail to be resgistere in other places.)
Authenticator. Get it.
saedo — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 11:47Authenticator. Get it. Now.
Even a seperate lone email can be hacked, sure it's just harder to find out at first probably.
Zero sympathy for those that STILL DON'T HAVE ONE! ;p
Yeah, I thought maybe since
Karli — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 16:16Yeah, I thought maybe since I'd been playing on the macbook pro after my desktop died that I didn't need to worry about this...still not sure what happened but hopefully I can get it cleared up.
-Karli
I am currently looking at the
Ghli — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 11:15I am currently looking at the guild logs, and it says that the last time you logged on was 7am on your mage, and the same time for your priest. I'm guessing someone did get on your account or something.
See if you can get online
Gares of War — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:35See if you can get online Karli, if so, then it might be a hoax. Also, check you (SENT) folder to see if someone hacked your account or your trash. When I was hacked, they did so by hacking my e-mail account password, then tried to delete the evidence but only trashed it instead.
Can't get in to game; the
Karli — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:38Can't get in to game; the auto-generated password WORKS but then I get told the account has been banned.
Thanks for the tips on the email thing, brilliant idea. No dice there though.
that is a VERY fake email
Elapsed — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:08that is a VERY fake email that goes around alot now an days. delete it, mark it as spam and never look at it again. I got that one 3 days in a row telling me it would be banned in 5 days and so I talked to a GM and they told me that
A) if they wanted to ban or suspend you they would and just tell you it was not warn you oh hey an investigation is going on you're boned
and b) they never ask for any password work done or ask for your password
there was another trick about the email address it came from, I can't recall if dontreply@blizzard.com or noreply@blizzard.com was the real one or not, but I'm guessing you do since the email you have is phony.
so please relax they're only trying to steal your purpz!
After replying I realized I
Karli — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:33After replying I realized I did not address many of your points.
First, the email didn't say I was being warned or investigated. It said I was ALREADY banned for 24 hours and indeed I was.
There were two separate emails:
The first was entitled "World of Warcraft Password Reset" from "noreply@blizzard.com" at 6:21am this morning (and double checked that sender was that actual email address not a mask). The content of this email was as follows:
A request for a new password for your World of Warcraft Account has been received. Your new temporary password is: XXXXXX.
If you wish to change this password, please visit http://signup.worldofwarcraft.com and click on the "Manage Account" button.
Thank you for contacting Blizzard Entertainment!
The hyperlink for the wow website is indeed what is posted, again it is not a masked URL.
The second was entitled "World of Warcraft - Account Recovery Instructions" from
"donotreply@blizzard.com" at 6:23am this morning. The content of this
email was as follows (Spanish parts omitted):
An investigation of the World of Warcraft account ***** has produced evidence that the account has been accessed by someone who is not allowed to use it. The account has been issued a 24-hour suspension to provide you with an opportunity to secure and regain access to it.
No form of contact from you is needed as the account should automatically become available once the 24-hour suspension has elapsed.
Further compromises of this account’s security may result in the account being disabled again. Please be sure to review the information below to help prevent future security issues:
Account compromises are usually the result of the registered player of the account sharing his or her login information or playing on a computer that has a virus.
Please remember that it is your responsibility to keep your login information confidential. Any account that is registered to your name may not be shared with anyone except for one minor, of whom you are acting as a parent or guardian. You are also responsible for every use of your login information, whether authorized or not.
A new, randomly-generated password will be emailed to you shortly. After you have successfully logged in to the World of Warcraft with this new password, please go to the Account Management page (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/) and create a new, secure password. For tips on selecting a secure password, visit http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21130.
It can take up to one hour for our system to generate and send the new password. If you have not received a password within one hour of this message’s delivery, please check your Spam, Junk or Suspect Mail folders.
For your own protection, we encourage you to keep the following security tips in mind when using any computer on which you play World of Warcraft:
- Keep current with the latest operating system and other software updates.
- Make use of firewall protection if possible.
- Regularly scan for viruses, Trojan files, and key loggers.
- Be wary of "spoof" emails and websites and when downloading new software.
For additional security tips and information, please visit the following sites:
- Computer Security: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21118
- Account Security: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20572
- Unauthorized Account Access Policy: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/20460
Only the Account Administration team can address disputes or questions you may have about this action. To learn more about how we are able to assist you, please visit us at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21505.
Regards,
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com
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The biggest precautions I have taken are to make sure I check that the email addresses and hyperlinks are not fake, which they all appear to be. Also, if the auto generated password worked and both my in-game message and wow website message were the same (about the banning) even though accessed on different computers (desktop/laptop) one, that I already did a complete virus scan and the other being a Mac....it kind of eliminates a lot of possibilities.
None of it is fake. It was
Karli — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:18None of it is fake. It was sent to the registered email address on my account (that I hardly ever use), it had my account name correct on it, and I know to check for several markers for fakeness (the email return address was an actual @blizzard.com address, not a mask, no fake links either). There were two separate emails sent as well, one with a temporary password that did indeed work when I cut and pasted it. I also went to the blizzard website and my account has indeed been banned; I got the same info when I logged in (on a different computer too) via the blizzard website about my account being banned.
Mostly I am just wondering how big the problem actually is; I did another virus scan immediately and nothing has turned up so I am doubting it's a key logger.
I have always been extremely careful about what I download or click on as well (no viruses or hacks in the last 5+ years!).
What I am wondering is one of two things: Either the obvious is true and my account really did get hacked in some way (possible due to a semi guess-able password), OR Blizzard's "security measures" have actually picked up on the fact that I log in to wow using our other desktop computer (my desktop that I have played WoW on for years had the motherboard fry on it a few weeks back...hence the reason I have hardly been in game lately), and also our new Mac laptop. I thought their security measures were more location based, but considering I've been using at least two different computers in recent weeks to log in I'm wondering if that triggered something.
Anyways, I was just hoping that someone who has been online in the last 24 hours or so could mention if they saw my toon doing anything sneaky/sketchy so I could narrow down the possibilities.
well then I'm very sorry for
Elapsed — Thu, 10/29/2009 - 09:21well then I'm very sorry for the misinformation, I have just seen so many of the fake ones lately I doubt actuallhacking anymore, to address your issue it took logging on to an account by 4 diff computers frequently (one in Australia) to get an old guild mates account temp banned. so 1 or two different PCs aren't going to hurt you. In fact I have a backup computer I've had to use not multiple times without repercussions.
well I wish you luck in getting your account secure, the other posters are very correct, Authenticators are amazing.
Karli's last log on : 4hours
Aidin — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 11:19Karli's last log on : 4hours ago.
Thank you for that info.
Karli — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 16:15Thank you for that info. It's confirmation that Blizzard wasn't just being stupid about banning my account simply because I was using several computers to play wow.
And so much for Macs being safe....wtf
Security through obscurity
Shihli — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 16:31Security through obscurity won't protect against keyloggers or hackers. It might slow them down at most.
Get an authenticator and none of this will be a problem. It'll cost you two cups of coffee.
You should really invest in
Katibug — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 16:27You should really invest in an authenticator.
Sounds fishy...have you tried
Aidin — Wed, 10/28/2009 - 09:54Sounds fishy...have you tried actually logging into the game yet? Or were you at work when you got it? If your at work, check your account on the WoW site, don't use the link in the email. I've had TONS of phishing emails lately, all directing to a bogus blizzard site. The latest are offering me a free month for a survey requiring my password.