Fake E-mails from "Blizzard Entertainment"

#0 - Aug. 14, 2007, 11:15 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Occasionally, players may receive official-looking e-mails asking for their account name, password, and other account information. These e-mails, which are made to look as though they come from Blizzard Entertainment, sometimes threaten dire action unless the player provides his or her login information (perhaps to verify the legitimacy of the account). Do not fall for these scams!

      REMEMBER: Blizzard employees will NEVER ask for your password.

  • How can I tell whether or not the e-mail I received was fake? What should I do if it is fake?
      There are a few things to look for when determining whether or not an email is legitimate.

      • Emails from Blizzard Entertainment will originate from an @blizzard.com or @battle.net address.
      • Blizzard employees will NEVER ask you for your account password. No matter how legitimate an email may appear, if it asks for your password, it is not from Blizzard Entertainment.
      • Correspondence from Blizzard Entertainment will employ proper spelling and grammar.
      • Often, phishing e-mails will claim that an account has been found in violation of a specific policy and will be closed if the owner does not "verify ownership." The "verification" process usually includes replying directly to the e-mail and providing very detailed account information (name, password, e-mail address, CD key, etc).
      • In some cases, these phishing e-mails will ask account owners to visit a malicious website. These websites will frequently ask the account owner to enter an account name and password to "log in" and are able to glean your account information through this method. If you are ever asked to visit a website linked within an email, please be extremely cautious and always double-check the destination of the hyperlink.




      For additional tips on how to determine the legitimacy of a questionable e-mail, please review the following support article:


      If you determine that you have received a fake e-mail, please forward the e-mail to hacks@blizzard.com.


  • Why am I receiving these e-mails? What can I do to ensure malicious parties do not have my e-mail address?
      In most cases, e-mail addresses are gleaned from unofficial World of Warcraft web pages (guild websites, fan sites, etc) and social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace, etc). To help prevent the reception of these emails in the future, you may wish to set-up a new, separate email address and register it to your Battle.net account. When selecting the username and password for this new email address, ensure that neither overlap with that of any World of Warcraft account merged with your Battle.net account or any other login type (guild websites, Facebook, MySpace, etc).

      Once this address is registered, do not use it for anything else: no additional registrations, no guild websites, no newsletter sign-ups, et al. Keep this address isolated to your Battle.net account.

      IMPORTANT NOTE: Your registered Battle.net email address is also your account name. Creating an email address exclusively for this purpose and keeping it secret can be an important step in securing your World of Warcraft account.


  • I replied to a fake e-mail and now they have my private billing information (e.g. Secret Answer, CD-key, etc.). What do I do?


  • I clicked a link contained within a fake e-mail. Am I safe?
      Sadly, we are unable to verify whether or not your computer is infected with a malicious program. As a result, it’s virtually impossible for us to determine whether or not your computer is “safe”. We strongly recommend that you review our Computer Security Recommendations sticky (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1778038509&sid=1) for more information on how to locate and remove key-loggers and how to protect your computer from malicious programs.


For more information, please review the following thread:


In the following posts, you will find an ever-growing list of the phishing e-mails that have been reported on the Customer Service Forum.

Receive a phishing e-mail not listed in the posts below? Or have a question regarding the legitimacy of an e-mail?
Let us know by creating a new thread on the Customer Service Forum!

      REMEMBER: Blizzard employees will NEVER ask for your password.
#2 - June 12, 2008, 12:25 a.m.
Blizzard Post
Here is a sample of an e-mail that is usually sent.
Q u o t e:

From: "WoWAccountAdmin" <WoWAccountReview@blizzardadmins.net>

Greetings,

It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell or trade your personal World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, these actions conflict with the EULA and Terms of Service (TOS) of Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft. If upon further investigation you are indeed attempting to obtain monetary profit against the TOS agreement, your account can and will be disabled. Blizzard has the right to consider legal action if necessary, based on the severity of the action.

If you hope to avoid account suspension you should verify your personal possession of the account in question. We at Blizzard Entertainment take infractions of the TOS quite seriously and we must confirm the original ownership of the account. This is easily done by supplying your account information below.


Please use the following template below to verify your account and information via email.

* Account Email:
* Account Name:
* Account Password:
* Secret Question and Answer:


If you ignore this communication your account can and will be closed permanently due to suspicions of alternative ownership. We ask that during the investigation you give approximately twenty-four hours of inactivity after sending a response email. This should provide enough time for Blizzard to confirm your identity and that the TOS are being followed as outlined.

Blizzard Entertainment Inc
Account Administration Team
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623

Regards,

Krondel
Account Recovery Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc.

Here is another example of a phishing e-mail:

Q u o t e:
It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell/trade your personal World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement. If this proves to be true, your account can and will be disabled. It will be ongoing for further investigation by Blizzard employee's. This action is taken because we at Blizzard Entertainment takes these sales quite serious.

If you wish to not get your account suspended you should immediately verify your account. We need to confirm you are the original owner of the account. This is easiest done by confirming your personal information along with concealed information about your account.
You can confirm that you are the original owner of the account by replying to this email with:

* First and Last name
* Address
* Zip code
* Phone number Daytime
* Country
* Account e-mail
* CD-key, or a photograph of your CD-key that is located on your manual for World of Warcraft.
* Account name
* Account password
* Secret Question and Answer

And attach a screen shot of the key on your instruction booklet ( if possible). Reply to this with the information within 1 week, or your IP will be banned permanently, which will not let you play and/or make an account. Feel free to visit http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowbilling/ to contact us or for more information


Regards,
Account Administration Team

Blizzard Entertainment Inc
Account Administration Team
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623


I can not stress this enough: No employee of Blizzard will ever ask for your password. Even if the e-mail looks legit, if it asked for your password it is not from Blizzard Entertainment.
#3 - June 24, 2008, 6:14 a.m.
Blizzard Post
And here we have yet another sample, thank you, Kraevac.

Outside of an initial mistake with the greeting the links look to be real. Unfortunately what you see isn't necessarily what you get.

The link to the Account Management site actually takes you to www.worldof v v arcraft.com/account if you click the worldofwarcraft.com\account link found in the e-mail.

Q u o t e:
In attention of our World Of Warcraft customer,

Our automated security systems have indicated that access
to your online account was temporarily blocked due to to repeated
login failures. Our logs indicate that your account received 20
authentication failures during this time. It is most probable
that your account was subject to malicious attack through automated
brute forcing techniques. While World Of Warcraft were able to successfully
block this attack, we would recommend that you ensure that your password
is sufficiently complex to prevent future attacks.

You must click the link below and enter your password on the following page to confirm the reactivation of your account.

https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account

- Verify that your contact information is accurate and update it if
necessary.

- Create a new, not-easily guessed, secure personal password; an
example of this may include letters and numbers.

- Please be sure to scan the computer system you are using to remove
all viruses, Trojan files, and key loggers.

- Maintain safe Internet practices and safeguard all World of Warcraft
account information for the most secure gaming experience.

======================================================

Website Support:

A wide variety of Account Administration questions and answers are available on our web site at: http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa

======================================================
======================================================

Server Status Forum:

If you cannot log onto World of Warcraft, you may want to check the
Server Status Forum for current maintenance downtime and information at: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11113

======================================================
======================================================

Game Masters:

Game Masters (GMs) are Blizzard Entertainment personnel that are available
in-game to assist you with your gameplay related questions, problems, etc. Learn
more about Game Masters, including how to contact them at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/

======================================================
======================================================

Best regards,
World of Warcraft Account Administration Team
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa
Blizzard Entertainment

*Emails to our Account Administration team may not receive a response for the following reasons:
- Use of profanity
- Spamming (sending the same email multiple times)
- Attachments containing viruses (these are deleted automatically)
- The message is a form of feedback or comment which does not require or request a reply
#4 - June 25, 2008, 6:47 p.m.
Blizzard Post
And yet another (thanks Simpuhl)! The link on this one leads to a screen similar to the Account Management login screen, and is designed to trick you into entering your login information. If you receive a suspicious email, it's always a good idea to check with an official Blizzard source prior to following such links.

Please keep in mind that we do not currently request ownership confirmation via the Account Management page, nor will our staff ever ask for your password.

Q u o t e:

Greetings,


An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the account in question is being sold or traded.
As you may not be aware of, this conflicts with Blizzard\'s EULA under section 4 Paragraph B which can be found here:
WoW -> Legal -> End User License Agreement

and Section 8 of the Terms of Use found here:

WoW -> Legal -> Terms of Use

The investigation will be continued by Blizzard administration to determine the action to be taken against your account.
If your account is found violating the EULA and Terms of Use, your account can, and will be suspended/closed/or terminated.

In order to keep this from occurring, you should immediately verify that you are the original owner of the account.

To verify your identity please visit the following webpage:

<removed>

Only Account Administration will be able to assist with account retrieval issues.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Sincerely,


Account Administration

Blizzard Entertainment
#5 - June 26, 2008, 1:20 a.m.
Blizzard Post
And yet another one, thank you, Maeglin.
Q u o t e:

Greetings,



We are writing to inform you that we have bad Personal info. To refresh you Personal info fallow this link:

[page that looks like an official page]


Please do not reply to this email as you will receive an automated response.



Regards,





English Game Master Team

Blizzard Europe
#6 - June 30, 2008, 5:58 a.m.
Blizzard Post
Let it be known that you can not identify these fake e-mails by grammar alone. :(

If ownership of the account was in question we would not ask you to visit a website and enter your information. A password alone doesn't prove that you are the registered user of the account, just that you have the password.

Depending on the validity of the claim we would either reset your password new one sent to the registered address for your account or lock the account and you would need to fax or send by postal mail the retrieval form along with a copy of your ID (possibly with a request of notarization).

Here is a copy of the fake e-mail received. Thank you for the example, Trponmytotem.
Q u o t e:

"Greetings,

It has come to our attention that you are trying to trade or sell your World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement of Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft. If upon further investigation you are indeed attempting to obtain monetary profit against the terms of the user agreement, your account can and will be disabled.


Blizzard has the right to consider legal action if necessary, based on the severity of the violation. In order to avoid account suspension, you should verify your ownership of the account(s) in question. It is possible to have more than one accounts registered to one e-mail address; if you do, please verify both accounts.

We at Blizzard Entertainment take infractions quite seriously and we must confirm the original ownership of the account(s). This is easily done by supplying personal information about your World of Warcraft account. You can confirm you are the original owner of the account by verifying your information here.

If you ignore this email your account will be closed permanently for violation of the EULA (End User License Agreement).

We obtain this information due to a variety of circumstances; some of which are:
I) A post on an account selling/trading website
II) Suspicious behavior
III) Sudden Internet Protocol address changes


We look forward to your cooperation.




Regards,
Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623"
#7 - July 6, 2008, 12:37 a.m.
Blizzard Post
And we have yet another one going around.

As with a few of the others, the links are not as they seem; please make sure to check where the links in e-mails are actually directing you to before clicking on them. This one has quite a few grammatical issues as well, but as mentioned above that is not the only way you can determine what is fake and what is not.

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

It has come to our attention that your World of Warcraft account has been involved in a trade or has been sold. Selling/Trading World of Warcraft virtual property is against Blizzards EULA under section 4 Paragraph B which can be found here:


http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/eula.html


Your account has been investigated thoroughly and has been flaged for an account vertification process. If you feel that your account has been flaged improperly please read bellow:


Your account may have been compromised using a Key Logger or Trojan virus which can be used to obtain the account name and password of World of Warcraft accounts used on that computer. We therefore need to verify that your computer is secure before asking you to confirm the account’s ownership.

Please make sure that you are using the most current routines for your anti-virus software.

If your virus detection software is not able to detect or clean the infected files, or if you do not have any virus detection software, then please try one of the following web-based virus scanners:

Windows:

- Panda ActiveScan
- Trend Micro Housecall
- McAfee FreeScan

Mac:

- McAfee FreeScan

Please note that Key Loggers and Trojan viruses send information about your passwords to other people and should be considered a serious threat to the integrity of your account. If steps are not taken to remove any possible programs from your computer, it is highly probable that your account will become compromised once more.


Once you have performed the above steps, please use the webform to finish your account vertification process:


- <Removed>


If this vertification process is not completed within 5 days of the e-mail being recived the account will have the appropriate action will be taken:


Account Closure

Accounts are closed when a player has excessively and/or grossly violated our policies. When an account is closed, the player is no longer able to access the account. Account Closures are rare and represent a player who is unable to abide by our rules and insists on negatively affecting other players\' enjoyment of the game or harming the service itself.

Most serious account penalty
Very rare
Permanent service revocation


If you are experiencing difficulties finalizing this request, please call our Billing and Account Services department at 1-800-592-5499 between 8:00am and 8:00pm Pacific Time, Monday-Friday.


Regards,

The World of Warcraft Support Team
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowindex/
#8 - July 13, 2008, 4:36 p.m.
Blizzard Post
The below attempt is very, very convincing. Its grammar and diction are on par, and the links appear legitimate. The one to be incredibly wary of is the first, which looks like a redirect to Account Management. It instead sends you to a location ending in "freehostia.com/verify.html," requesting then for an account name and password.

Please note: Should ownership of an account come under question, the account will first and foremost be locked to prevent further access which may be unauthorized. If your account is still accessible and you receive an email of this nature, please proceed with caution. With this, we will never request for verification through either a link or through an email address which does not end specifically in "@blizzard.com".

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

Thank you for your attention in this matter regarding the compromised World of Warcraft account you are using. Unfortunately, multiple parties have contacted Blizzard Entertainment seeking restoration of the account in question. This message contains an updated Account Retrieval process, which will enable the rightful user of the account to resume their adventures in the World of Warcraft.

The investigation will be continued by Blizzard administration to determine the action to be taken against your account. If your account is found violating the EULA and Terms of Use, your account can, and will be suspended/closed/or terminated. In order to keep this from occurring, you should immediately verify that you are the original owner of the account.

To verify your identity please visit the following webpage:
https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/login/login?


Only Account Administration will be able to assist with account retrieval issues.

Please help us to avoid any further delays in restoring Account access by following the instructions exactly and in their entirety. We will contact you again once all information has been received and thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation in resolving this account issue. Please be sure to provide all pertinent data as soon as possible since Blizzard Entertainment is unable to offer any type of reimbursement for the time an account is locked for verification and investigation purposes.

In the meantime, please make sure to scan the computer system you are using to remove all viruses, Trojan files, and key loggers. For more computer/Internet security tips, please visit http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20572. In addition, World of Warcraft account passwords should be periodically changed by visiting <removed>.

Any inquiries concerning this account retrieval process can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at <removed>. Thank you for your patience and anticipated cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely, <name removed>
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/
World of Warcraft , Blizzard Entertainment 2008 ©
#9 - July 15, 2008, 5:13 a.m.
Blizzard Post
And we have another one. :) Thank you, Davejohnsan.

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that you are eligible for an account upgrade. You are eligible for the Wrath of the Lich King Beta. To sign-up and get your download please visit our website at this special link:
http://worldofwarcraft.com/login This process usually last's one week. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Sincerely,

Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment


The odd phrasing is a clear indication of a fake e-mail. For those with questions about WotLK Beta you should review our post regarding the Beta Opt-in.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=7722643353&sid=1
#10 - July 19, 2008, 2:04 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Unfortunately, additional phishing e-mails are being sent out in response to the clamor surrounding the Wrath of the Lich King beta. Once such e-mail is as follows:

Q u o t e:
Greetings -

We are sending you this e-mail to inform you that we are entering the beta stage of the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, initially in the form of an invitational beta for a random selection of players.We are happy to inform you that you have been selected for this initial testing stage!

The beta site, which contains both signup and additional information, including the terms of use, regarding this limited testing phase can be found at
[website removed]

So get ready! Enter the distant lands of Northrend and participate in yet more vicious battles as you fight your way to the Lich King at his citadel on the Icecrown Glacier!

Best Regards,
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/
#11 - July 21, 2008, 3:25 a.m.
Blizzard Post
And here we have another Wrath of the Lich King Beta invitation e-mail that is most definitely fake.

Q u o t e:
Greetings!

You are receiving this email to notify you that you are have been accepted by the opt-in for beta testing of our exciting new expansion pack, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King!

The beta testing will run through the summer of 2008 until December 31, 2008! The opening day of the beta testing has not been released yet. However, you will be notified via email after you sign up the day it is opened.

During the beta testing you will be able to copy up to three(3) characters and/or automatically create one(1) character of the new hero class in our Wrath of the Lich King expansion, the Death Knight! We are seeking loyal customers, previous beta testers, and endgame players to beta test for us.

You have received this email for one of the following reasons:
-You have been accepted in the Wrath of the Lich King opt-in!

You will need to sign up at <Link to a non-Blizzard site> to finish your registration for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Wrath of the Lich King Beta Key:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623


World of Warcraft , Blizzard Entertainment 2008 ©


Notice the bad grammar of the first sentence: "you are have been accepted". While bad grammar does not always mean that it's fake, it definitely raises suspicion. The key factor with this one is the link being fake as well as this portion:

Q u o t e:
The beta testing will run through the summer of 2008 until December 31, 2008! The opening day of the beta testing has not been released yet. However, you will be notified via email after you sign up the day it is opened.

The beta has already entered it's beginning phases and we have not published an end date as of yet. Please be very cautious when looking at the invitation e-mails.
#12 - July 28, 2008, 9:28 p.m.
Blizzard Post
We've seen a few different variations of the Beta scam. Check out this e-mail:

Q u o t e:
Wrath of the Lich King Beta Signup
From: noreply@blizzard.com
Sent:July 24, 2008 3:03:23 AM
To: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.com


Greetings,

We are proud to announce the release of our new expansion pack, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King! You are invited to join in the beta testing to experience the new features and provide your input to our design team.

The beta testing will run through the summer of 2008 and will end on September 31, 2008. Your application will be reviewed and accepted within the next 24 hours and you will receive an email detailing how to download the patch and more.

If interested, please sign up at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wotlkbeta/id=327924 to register for a chance to be one of our beta testers for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Features:
-Brave the harsh new continent of Northrend, the icy domain of the Lich King.
-Test the powers of the Death Knight - the new class introduced in this expansion.
-Quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way.
-Learn the craft of spell augmentation with the new Inscription profession.
-Click here to learn more!

Thank you for your time and on behalf of Blizzard Entertainment, we hope to you enjoy the testing period of our exciting new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King!

Regards,

The World of Warcraft Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623


Similar to the post above, the e-mail lists a set beta period; however, no such dates have been set.

Be careful, everyone.
#13 - July 31, 2008, 5:40 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Sadly, we have another to add to our collection:

Q u o t e:
Wrath of the Lich King beta test.

You have been selected to participate in the beta test of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Welcome!
In the beta test you will get an opportunity to play the new Northrend continent, the Death Knight hero class, and character levels above 70. We look forward to your feedback on the overall experience, including quests, monsters, zones, aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter. These can be logged using the /bug command explained below.
Getting started:
-In order to participate in the beta test, you must upgrade an existing retail account which has been upgraded with The Burning Crusade, allowing you to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade game client that you use must be patched up to version 2.4.2 or later in order to install the beta test client.
Go to http://beta.wow-europe.com/expansion to download the installer, and once your account is upgraded, copy character(s) to our test realms.
-Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft account name and password you use, and the appropriate beta code listed below to authenticate your eligibility to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. To participate in the beta tests, you must have a valid retail World of Warcraft account active and in good standing as of July 15, 2008. Below is a beta code that will allow you to upgrade the Account you use to play World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Each beta code can be used only once to upgrade an active retail World of Warcraft account.



[removed]


To upgrade your current World of Warcraft account, please visit https://www.beta.wow-europe.com/expansion/betaoptin/id=18873.

Please retain this email for your records. If you experience any issues creating or accessing the temporary Blizzard Account, please email Billing Support at wowbetabilling@blizzard.com.
Sending us feedback:
-Typing /bug in chat will open an error reporting interface, and we encourage you to use it any time you encounter a problem or want to send us a suggestion.
Troubleshooting:
-If you experience any difficulties installing the beta game client, or have problems connecting to the test servers, please contact Technical Support either by posting on the appropriate forum at http://beta.worldofwarcraft.com or by email at wowbetatech@blizzard.com. Please remember that this software is still undergoing development, so any in-game issues should be reported using the /bug feature.

Regards,

Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com ; http://www.blizzard.com


Q u o t e:
Wrath of the Lich King Beta Invitation!


You have been selected to participate in the beta test of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King®. Welcome!

In the beta test you will get an opportunity to play the new Northrend continent, the Death Knight hero class, and a character above 70. We look forward to your feedback on the overall experience, including quests, monsters, zones,
aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter. These can be logged using the /bug command explained below.

Getting started:

In order to participate in the beta test, you must upgrade an existing retail account which has been upgraded with The Burning Crusade, allowing you to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. The World of Warcraft:
The Burning Crusade® game client that you use must be patched up to version 2.4.2 or later in order to install the beta test client.

go to http://beta.wow-europe.com/expansion to download the installer, and copy a character(s) to our test realms.

Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft account name and password you use, and the appropriate beta code listed below to authenticate your eligibility to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. To
participate in the beta tests, you must have a valid retail World of Warcraft account active and in good standing as of july 15, 2008

Below is a beta code that will allow you to upgrade the Account you use to play World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade®. Each beta code can be used only once to upgrade an active retail World of Warcraft account.





Please retain this email for your records. If you experience any issues creating or accessing the temporary Blizzard Account, please email Billing Support at wowbetabilling@blizzard.com

Sending us feedback:

Typing /bug in chat will open an error reporting interface, and we encourage you to use it any time you encounter a problem or want to send us a suggestion.


Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623


This e-mail looks fairly legitimate. Unfortunately, however, the links used within the e-mail are very deceptive. Just because a full link is posted does not mean that clicking it will lead to that destination. In the above email if you were to click http://beta.wow-europe.com/expansion you would find that it leads to an address other than http://beta.wow-europe.com/expansion. In most cases, you can see the destination of a link in the lower left-hand corner of your web-browser. If the destination does not match the text version of the link do not click it.

Please proceed carefully when you receive a "beta invite".


For more information on how to identify phishing e-mails, please review the following support page:

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=25133
#16 - Aug. 20, 2008, 10:43 p.m.
Blizzard Post
And here's our North American version. :)

Note: The signature is not valid, and the sending address—"noreply"—does not apply to Beta invites.


Q u o t e:
You have been selected to participate in the beta test of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Welcome!

In the beta test you\'ll get an opportunity to test the first zones of the new Northrend continent, and the new levels above 70. We look forward to your feedback on the overall experience, including quests, monsters, zones, aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter. These can be logged using the /bug command explained below.

Getting started:

In order to participate in the beta test, you must upgrade an existing retail account that has been upgraded with The Burning Crusade, allowing you to connect to Wrath of the Lich King test realms. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade client that you use must be patched up to version 2.4.2 or later to install the beta test client.

Go to http://beta.worldofwarcraft.com and follow the detailed, step-by-step instructions to begin playing the Wrath of The Lich King beta.

Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft account name, password, and more infomation to authenticate your eligibility to connect to Wrath of the Lich King test realms. To participate in the beta tests, you must have a valid retail World of Warcraft account active and in good standings as of July 15, 2008.

Please retain this email for your records. If you experience and issues setting up the beta account or accessing the test realms, please email Billing Support at wowbetabilling@blizzard.com

Sending us feedback:

Typing /bug in chat will open an error reporting interface, and we encourage you to use it any time you encounter a problem or want to send us a suggestion.


Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623
#17 - Aug. 26, 2008, 8:05 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Latest email. This one has a few key elements:

- wowgametimesurveys@gmail.com
- invalid link
- inaccurate signature

Blizzard Entertainment possesses its own domain; valid emails will come from "@blizzard.com" and not from popular hosts. With this, the link is not Blizzard-sanctioned and the signature from Account Administration—although a common set-up for these fake attempts—has never been used in any of our departments' correspondence.

Q u o t e:
Greetings!

You are receiving this email to notify you that you are have been chosen to take our free Blizzard Entertainment Game Survey, when you are done, you will recieve 10 free days of game time added to your account.

The Survey is meant to rate and critique Activision Blizzard games so we know what to do for future games releases. The survey is one-hundred percent free, and we highly suggest you take it.

During the survey you will be asked to answer some personal and non-personal info, so please be prepared.

You have received this email for one of the following reasons:
-You have been a level seventy for more than 2 months, at which point we can prove that you are a satisfied customer.
-Or also, you have been in the beta for a previous Blizzard Entertainment Game

You will need to take the survey at <link removed> to finish your registration for
Blizzard Entertainment: The Survey


Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623




World of Warcraft Survey For Game Time Promo

wowgametimesurveys@gmail.com
#18 - Aug. 30, 2008, 2:35 p.m.
Blizzard Post
From Beta to Authenticators... We have a new phishing e-mail to bring to your attention:

Q u o t e:

Congratulations!

You have been randomly chosen to receive one brand new Blizzard Authenticator. If you choose to activate this with your account you will have to enter the numbers on the Authenticator to access your account every time. This is to help prevent unwanted account compromises.

Protect your World of Warcraft account with industry leading account security - introducing the Blizzard Authenticator! The Blizzard Authenticator is designed as a supplemental authentication method for your World of Warcraft account, giving you the security of Two-Factor authentication. Each time you log in using the Blizzard Authenticator you are provided with a unique, one-time use password to use in addition to your regular password. Log in with both and you can rest easy knowing that your account is now even more secure from malicious attacks such as keyloggers and trojans.
Simple and easy to use – press one button to display the digital code. Setup of the token is simple and takes only a few minutes.
Small and convenient – take your token to wherever you play World of Warcraft and know that your account is secure.
Tough and durable – lasts for years and replacement is easy.
Provides for the highest account security available in the game industry today

In order to receive your Authenticator, you will have to verify your account information at the following link:
<link to false site>

You will receive your Authenticator to the address you provide. You will receive your new Authenticator in 2 weeks. Shipping and handling will be free of cost.

To activate your Authenticator you must log into your account. From there, click on the \"Add Blizzard Authenticator\". You will be required to enter in your 10 digit serial number found on your Authenticator.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.

Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623
#19 - Sept. 3, 2008, 7:46 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Here's the latest and greatest (not really):

Q u o t e:
The Emerald Nightmare Has Begun!

Greetings!

The time has come yet again to begin on our next expansion: World of Warcraft: The Emerald Nightmare!

This exciting expansion will offer many new features including two new races: Ice Trolls and Variants, Under Water Cities, New Professions, and even a new Realm type!

For the first time Blizzard Entertainment is holding pre-Closed Beta Opt-ins to a lucky few of our dedicated players and you have been chosen! You will receive your Beta Opt-in Key BEFORE the Closed Beta is opened to testers, assuring you a place in (link removed led to a ripaway always mouse over before you click)

Follow the link below and fill out the required forms to add you to our list of soon-to-be Beta Testers! World of Warcraft: The Emerald Nightmare

The Nightmare has begun…..

Please do not delete this email, or show it to anyone.

Regards, Account Administration Team Blizzard Entertainment Inc P.O Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623
#20 - Sept. 4, 2008, 3:46 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Sadly, another phishing attempt has appeared in our a few players' in-boxes. Please be wary of the following e-mail:

Q u o t e:
Hello Adventurer of Azeroth!

We at Activison-Blizzard Entertainment would like to know your opinion on our products, and what we can do to make them better! Please go to [removed] fill out the required information, and receive 10 Days of playing time added to your account free, just for filling out our survey! Thank you for your time, and continued travels in Azeroth!

Best Regards,

World of Warcraft Administration Team

*Please note: This offer is subject to active or frozen accounts. This offer can be suspended by Blizzard Entertainment at any time and for any reason. No submitted information will be shared or sold

World of Warcraft , Blizzard Entertainment 2008 ©


#21 - Sept. 11, 2008, 4:04 a.m.
Blizzard Post
Another Beta Phishing e-mail. =/
Q u o t e:

Wrath of the Lich Kingâ„¢ beta test

You have been selected to participate in the beta test of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Welcome!

In the beta test you will get an opportunity to play the new Northrend continent, the Death Knight hero class, and character levels above 70. We look forward to your feedback on the overall experience, including quests, monsters, zones, aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter. These can be logged using the /bug command explained below.

Getting started:

In order to participate in the beta test, you must upgrade an existing retail account which has been upgraded with The Burning Crusade, allowing you to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade game client that you use must be patched up to version 2.4.2 or later in order to install the beta test client.

Go to Wrath of the Lich King Beta Registration to be placed in The Wrath of the Lich King beta test database. You will receive an email shortly after registration explaining how to move characters to the beta servers.

Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft account name and password you use.

Sending us feedback:

Typing /bug in chat will open an error reporting interface, and we encourage you use it any time you encounter a problem or want to send us a suggestion.


Thank you, and enjoy your Wrath of the Lich King beta experience!
Sara, WoWAccountAdmin Team


World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment 2008 ©
#24 - Sept. 20, 2008, 9:13 p.m.
Blizzard Post
This attempt is a bit more intricate, as it pulls from a format we use in legitimate email queries.

Note, however, the requested information. As stated many times in the past, Blizzard Entertainment will never, ever, ever-ever-ever, EVER, EVA-EVER ask for an account password.

Q u o t e:
Greetings,
It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell/trade your personal World of Warcraft account. As you may not be aware of this conflicts with the Terms of Use http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html. If this proves to be true, your account can and will be banned. Blizzard Entertainment may consider taking legal actions against your crime.

If you wish to not get your account banned you should immediately verify your account. This action is taken because we at Blizzard Entertainment take these sales quite serious. We need to confirm you are the original owner of the account.
This is done by confirming your personal information along with concealed information about your account. You can confirm you are the original owner of the account by replying to this email with the following information.

Use the following template below to verify your account and information via email.

First Name:
Last Name:
Account Name:
Account Password:
Secret Question Answer:

For assistance please call: 1 (800) 592 5499

If you ignore this email your account will be banned permanently. We ask you NOT to change your account password until the investigation is fully completed. Any further attempts at a sale related to your IP will result in an immediate termination of your World of Warcraft account.

1.) WHY DID THIS HAPPEN AND HOW CAN I STOP IT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN?

Account compromises are usually a result of the registered user sharing their account. Please take a moment to review the World of Warcraft Terms of Use at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html which state that your Password is to be kept confidential at all times and you are solely responsible for the security of your Password. You may not disclose your Password to anyone, or allow your Password to be used by anyone other than yourself and/or your one (1) minor child. This includes, but is not limited to, compensated third parties accessing the account to advance characters in any way.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Password, and you will be responsible for all uses of your Password, whether or not authorized by you. Also, note that the security of the Account is your responsibility. Furthermore, Blizzard Entertainment does not recognize the transfer of Accounts, and any authorized transfer of the World of Warcraft software (as set forth on the worldofwarcraft.com website) will result in the permanent deletion of the Account attached to that software. You may not offer any Account for sale or trade, and any such offer is a violation of this Agreement and may result in suspension or termination of the Account.

To help ensure that no viruses are present that may threaten your account, please regularly scan all computer systems that you use to remove all viruses, including Trojan files, spy-ware and key loggers. You can find links to scanners in our article about computer and Internet security tips at http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=msi0504p. Also be sure to change your account password regularly at https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account.

2.) I SENT MY SUBMISSION, NOW WHAT?

We will contact you again once your submission is received and processed. If you do not receive a reply within 48 hours of sending your submission, please resend it and notify us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/?id=eSupport000. If you send your submission by postal mail, please allow time for delivery. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and patience.

Only Account Administration is able to assist with account retrieval issues. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/.com

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.

Sincerely,
Amanda
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
How to Stay in the Game: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21506
#25 - Sept. 23, 2008, 7:20 p.m.
Blizzard Post
The newest Beta attempt:

Q u o t e:
Greetings!


You are receiving this email to notify you that you are eligible to sign up for beta testing of our exciting new expansion pack, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King!


The beta testing will run through the summer of 2008 until November 12th, 2008!


During the beta testing you will be able to copy up to three(3) characters and/or automatically create
one(1) character of the new hero class in our Wrath of the Lich King expansion, the Death Knight! We are seeking loyal
customers, previous beta testers, and endgame players to beta test for us.


You have received this email for one of the following reasons:
- You beta tested The Burning Crusade expansion during its testing cycle previously.
- You have been a subscriber since the very early stages of the launch of World of Warcraft.
- You are the guild leader of an endgame progression raiding guild.
- You have previously signed up for Wrath of The Lich King beta testing.
- You are one of the lucky few randomly chosen to test.


You will need to sign up Here to become a member of this exciting process. If you wish not to sign up for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, please disregard this email in its entirety.


Thank you for your time and on behalf of Blizzard Entertainment, we hope to see you enjoying the testing period of our exciting new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King!


Regards,

The World of Warcraft Team
Blizzard Entertainment
Irvine, CA 92710
#27 - Oct. 1, 2008, 7:59 p.m.
Blizzard Post
And yet another attempt:

Q u o t e:
From: noreply@blizzard.com
Sent: Wed 10/01/08 11:09 AM

Greetings!

You are receiving this email to notify you that your World of Warcraft account
has been flagged as being used by multiple user by the means of a key logger or
third party programs.

To ensure the safety of your account and to ensure that this account is indeed
yours you will be required to fill out this form from this private external link: World of Warcraft Login
At this link you will be required to re-enter in all of the personal
information that you entered in for the account in which you are using. Once
this information is filled out it will be sent to Blizzard Entertainment and
they will decide weather this is indeed your account.

(Optional)

We also ask for further security that you send an email to wowblizzardentertainment@live.com with this
template completed:

*First Name:
*Last Name:
*E-mail address:
*E-mail address password:
*Address:

Regards,
Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA
9262
#28 - Oct. 7, 2008, 7:19 p.m.
Blizzard Post
One more:

Q u o t e:
WoW Blizzard Europe - Personal Info verifyTuesday, October 7, 2008 9:04 AM
From: "WOWgmEU" <WoWgmEU@blizzard.com>

Greetings,

We are writing to inform you that we have bad Personal info. To refresh you Personal info fallow this link: wow-europe.com/en/manage
Regards,

Please do not reply to this email as you will receive an automated response.

English Game Master Team
Blizzard Europe


The link provided within redirects to a website which is in no way affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment.
#29 - Nov. 3, 2008, 2:53 p.m.
Blizzard Post
A scary edition to the collect:

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell/trade your personal World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement. If this proves to be true, your account can and will be disabled. It will be ongoing for further investigation by Blizzard employees. Blizzard might consider taking legal actions against your crime, if it seems too be of an extreme nature.

If you wish to not get your account suspended you should immediately verify your account. This action is taken because we at Blizzard Entertainment take these sales quite serious. We need to confirm you are the original owner of the account. This is easiest done by confirming your personal information along with concealed information about your account. You can confirm that you are the original owner of the account by sending an email to the current GM on your realm XXX


Use the following template below to verify your account and information via email.


First and Surname:
Address:

City:
State or Province:
Zipcode:
Country:
Phone:
Account Email:
Normal CD-Key:
TBC CD-Key:
Account Name:
Secret Answer:


Use the following template below to verify your subscriptions on your account.


Card Type:
Card Number:
Card Number Required
CVV Code: What's this?
Do not include spaces or dashes - Example: 4123412341234123
Card Expiration: /

If you ignore this mail your account can and will be closed permanently.

Blizzard Entertainment Inc
Account Administration Team
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623

Regards,
Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/
#30 - Nov. 20, 2008, 10:22 p.m.
Blizzard Post
We haven't seen a truly original phishing attempt in a long time. I give you the following:
Q u o t e:

World of Warcraft - Realm CompensationTuesday, November 18, 2008 6:18 PM

From: "noreply" <noreply@blizzard.com>

Since the release of the latest patch, Echoes of Doom, we have gone through a series of optimizations in order to increase overall game performance. We've seen steady, stable populations and a flurry of activity and excitement during the Hallow's End event and the latest rumblings of zombie attacks. It's been an exciting time for us, as with our second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

We've reached a point where we feel we can now accurately evaluate the events since the patch release. Though overall downtime has been minimal, players have experienced latency, inaccessible instances, and general frustrations. We are therefore announcing that we will be issuing compensation to accounts in all realms in the US, Oceanic, and Latin American regions. Accounts that are currently active and in good standing have been awarded an additional 30 days of game time.

With the latest release of Wrath of the Lich King, we will be performing a mandatory re-validation of our account database to ensure the most efficient launch for the upcoming patches. For this process we are asking all players to confirm their original account information at the following site. After confirming your account information, you will be authorized to use your credited time card.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account

Please use the following time card key to redeem your 30 day credit.

XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (Code given to enter at their bogus site)

Please note that compensation will not be credited until your account has been validated!

We would like to thank you for your patience during this time and look forward to seeing you in game!

Regards,

Blizzard Entertainment



#31 - Dec. 12, 2008, 5:11 a.m.
Blizzard Post
And the attempts at getting your account information keep on coming. Below is a fake alpha invitation.

Q u o t e:
"World of Warcraft: Emerald Dream

You have been selected to participate in the alpha test of World of Warcraft: Emerald Dream. Welcome!

In the alpha test you\'ll get an opportunity to test the first zones of the new Emerald Dream continent, and the new levels above 80. We look forward to your feedback on the overall experience, including quests, monsters, zones, new classes, aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter. These can be logged using the /bug command explained below.

Getting started:

In order to participate in the Alpha test, you must upgrade an existing retail account that has been upgraded with The Wrath of the Lich King, allowing you to connect to Emerald Dream test realms. The World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King client that you use must be patched up to version 3.0.2 or later to install the alpha test client.

Go to [removed] and follow the detailed, step-by-step instructions to begin playing the Emerald Dream alpha.

Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft account name, password, and more infomation to authenticate your eligibility to connect to Emerald Dream test realms. To participate in the alpha tests, you must have a valid retail World of Warcraft account active and in good standings as of November 13, 2008.

Please retain this email for your records. If you experience and issues setting up the alpha account or accessing the test realms, please email Technical Support at wowbetasupport@blizzard.com


Sincerelly,

Alpha Team

World of Warcraft
#32 - Jan. 16, 2009, 1:52 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Sadly, a new phishing e-mail has been created and distributed to a number of our players.

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

An investigation of your account has shown strong evidence that it is being used for activities that conflict with the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. These activities include but are not limited to the following: using unauthorized third-party software, botting, power-leveling, accessing locked or unfinished content, etc.

We strongly suspect that your account has been compromised. Before we are able to give you more information, we need to confirm that the e-mail address registered for this account is valid and authentic. Please access <URL> and fill in the following information:

- Your Name
- Your Address*
- Your Credit Card Information**
- Your Account Name
- Your Password
- Your Secret Question and Answer

* Please do not forget to include postal code or equivalant
** If you are using a pre-paid game card, leave this field blank

If you wish to review the World of Warcraft Terms of Use, you may do so at this link:

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html

Feel free to contact World of Worcraft Account Administration if you have any further questions. You may do so at WoWAccountAdmin@blizzard.com

Regards,
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
Irvine, CA 92710

Please do not click any links contained in this e-mail -or- send any of the requested information via e-mail.

Remember: Blizzard will never ask for your password
#33 - Jan. 25, 2009, 3:10 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Sadly, a new phishing e-mail has entered circulation. Please review the following e-mail:

Q u o t e:
Greetings!
You have been randomly selected as one of five hundred winners of a free Blizzard® Authenticator.
It is important to first verify that you are the registered owner of this account before recieve the prize. On that note, it is essential that you fill out the short form at the following secure address, thus entitling you to your brand new Blizzard® Authenticator.
(Website Here)
We appreciate your continued travels in the World of Warcraft, and wish you the best of luck in your now-secure adventures.
Regards,
Ryan Alman
Game Master
Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623

#34 - March 3, 2009, 9:02 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Another variation on the common phishing theme. Please never follow links, nor provide information requested by an email of this nature.

Should Account Administration take action against an account, they will simply do so. They will not send emails requesting any kind of verification, and a Blizzard Employee will never request your password. Finally, Account Administration will typically only contact an account owner via the email address registered to the account, and will not request this information either.

It is essential that you refrain from following links to a potential 'spoof' Account Management page, and please never enter your information should you do so. You should only ever enter your information in Account Management after following a link from our official website itself; not even the forums.

Q u o t e:
Blizzard Account Administration - Account‏
From: wowaccountadmin@ blizzard.com (accountadministrationteam11@gmail.com)
Medium riskYou may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as junk
Sent: Tue 3/03/09 2:36 PM
To: <removed>

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

Greetings!

It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell/trade your personal World of Warcraft account(s).
As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement.
If this proves to be true, your account can and will be disabled. It will be ongoing for further investigation by Blizzard Entertainment's employees.

If you wish to not get your account suspended you should immediately verify your account ownership. If the information is deemed accurate, the investigation will be dropped.
This action is taken because we at Blizzard Entertainment take these sales
quite seriously. We need to confirm you are the original owner of the account.
This is easiest done by confirming your personal information along with concealed information about your account.
You can confirm that you are the original owner of the account by replying to this email with:



Use the following template below to verify your account and information via email.

* First and Surname
* Date of birth
* Address
* Zip code
* Phone number
* Country
* Account e-mail
* Account name
* Account password
* Secret Question and Answer


If you ignore this mail your account can and will be closed permanently. Once we verify your account, we will reply to your e-mail informing you that we have dropped the investigation.
We ask you to NOT change password until the investigation is fully completed.

Blizzard Entertainment Inc
Account Administration Team
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623


Regards,


Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment
#35 - March 12, 2009, 8:14 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
Greetings!

You are receiving this email to notify you that you have been chosen to take our free Blizzard Entertainment Game Survey, when you are done, you will recieve 10 free days of game time, which, after a verification period of 5 days, will automatically be added to your account.

The survey is meant to rate and critique Activision Blizzard games so we know what to do for future games releases.
The survey is 100% free of charge, and we highly suggest you take it.

You will need to take the survey at <removed> to finish your registration for your free 10 days of game time.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter as well as your continued interest in World of Warcraft.

Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623
#36 - March 24, 2009, 6:53 p.m.
Blizzard Post
And another. (We hope that noone would believe we'd use grammar and spelling like this!)

Still, it's not unreasonable to expect that this theme will be refined further.

As always, we will never, ever ask for your password.

Q u o t e:
Greetings

Here is an important notice about battle.net accout
In virtue of the official website's revision in the recently, the website
was not well improved ,and there are a little vulnerability exsited , a few
of hacker organizations took advantage of the network's vulnerability,and
made the illegal access accounts to reset some player accouts' information
by using the web vulnerability.For the accounts' safety,we have to close
most of the accounts. Furthermore, there may still exists misclose and
misfreeze in our investigation process. we apologize for this.If you find
your account exists the unusual circumstances, please visit our new site:
<link removed>
We need to confirm you are the original owner of the account.
This is easiest done by confirming your personal information along with
concealed information about your account.
You can confirm that you are the original owner of the account by replying
to this email with:
Use the following template below to verify your account and information via
email.

* First and Surname
* Date of birth
* Address
* Zip code
* Phone number
* Country
* Account e-mail
* Account/battle.net name
* Account/battle.net password
* Secret Question and Answer or Cd-Key

If you ignore this mail your account can and will be closed permanently.
Once we verify your account, we will reply to your e-mail informing you that
we have dropped the investigation.
We ask you to NOT change password until the investigation is fully
completed.
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
Account Administration Team
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623
Regards,

battle.net Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment
#37 - March 25, 2009, 12:27 a.m.
Blizzard Post
It looks like we have a new version of an old favorite.

As always, we will never tell you that we suspect you of violating our Terms of Use or EULA. Either the account has been found in violation or it hasn't. If it has appropriate penalties will be applied and it is up to the account holder to contact our Account Administration Department to dispute the penalties.
Q u o t e:

Greetings,

Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that you are trying to trade or sell your World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, this is in violation of the EULA and Terms of Agreement of Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft. Upon further investigation, Blizzard has concluded that you are indeed attempting to obtain financial profit against the Terms of Use agreement. Unless your verify that you have not sold your account and are still the original account owner, your account will be disabled. The selling and/or trading of accounts conflicts with Blizzard's EULA under Section 4 Paragraph B: WoW -> Legal -> End User License Agreement
and Section 8 of the Terms of Use found here:
WoW -> Legal -> Terms of Use

In order to prevent account suspension, you MUST verify your ownership of the account(s) in question. If you have more than one account registered to one e-mail address, please verify both accounts. Blizzard Entertainment considers EULA infractions as serious offenses and thereby we must confirm the original ownership of the account(s). This can easily be done by verifying information about your World of Warcraft account(s).


Complete the identity verification process through the following link:
[Link Removed]

Please take action within 2 business days, or we will be compelled to lock access to your account(s). Please be sure to select the same Security Question associated with your World of Warcraft account and provide the correct answer. All information you submit will be compared to what we have on record. Thank you for your time and attention to this issue, may your adventures in World of Warcraft be exciting and bountiful in the future.


Regards,

William Beeson
Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623
World of Warcraft © 2009


#38 - March 30, 2009, 4:57 a.m.
Blizzard Post
Well it has been a long time but it seems that we have a relatively new phishing e-mail. This one talks about a pending suspension. O.o

Q u o t e:
Account Action: 3 Hour Suspension

Account Offense: Violation of EULA and Terms of Service - Transfer of Account Ownership

Details: An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the account in question is being sold or traded. In accordance with EULA section 4, Paragraph B, listed below:

World of Warcraft -> Legal -> End User License Agreement

and Section 8 of the Terms of Use:

Blizzard Entertainment -> Legal -> Terms of Use

A 3-hour probationary suspension is pending on this account, awaiting confirmation from a specialist. A final warning has been issued. The investigation will be continued by the Account Administration team to determine the any further suspensions. If the account in question is found in violation of the EULA and Terms of Use, further action will be taken. Be aware that any additional inappropriate actions may result in the permanent closure of the account.

Thank you for respecting our position on this matter.

=========================================================
** We request that you verify your legitimate ownership of the account here:

*bleep web address went here*
=========================================================

Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/.

Account security is solely the responsibility of the accountholder. Please be advised that in the event of a compromised account, Blizzard representatives typically must lock the account. In these cases the Account Administration team will require faxed receipt of ID materials before releasing the account for play.

Please visit the World of Warcraft Policies and Terms of Use Agreement: (http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/?id=agm01712p) and (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/termsofuse.shtml) for further information.

Regards,

Billing & Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/accountadmin/
#39 - March 31, 2009, 3:07 a.m.
Blizzard Post
Looks like we have a new one. This has been based off of an actual e-mail that we do send. It has been changed a little to reflect a "warning of pending action" though. I should also point out that the e-mail addressed Wor1dofwarcraft.com is not an actual Blizzard website.
Q u o t e:

* * * NOTICE OF FINAL WARNING * * *

This is a notification regarding the World of Warcraft account . As your account has violated the Terms of Use of World of Warcraft. Based on a review of the information presented, this World of Warcraft account will be given a final warning and a 72 hour account suspension. Please note that if you do not contact with us at wor1dofwarcraft.com majority of URL removed in the next 24 hours, your account will be accessible for 72 hours.

This action has been taken in accordance with the Terms of Use (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html). According to the World of Warcraft Terms of Use, to which all players agree when installing World of Warcraft, Section 5, and Paragraph C [Rules Related to Game Play] states that you may not do anything that Blizzard Entertainment considers contrary to the "essence" of World of Warcraft. Be aware that any additional inappropriate actions may result in the permanent closure of the account.

With that being said, if you do not contact with us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/?id=eSupport000 in the next 24 hours, password to the World of Warcraft account.will be reset. Then please use the new password that has been sent to your registered e-mail address to log into the game. After you have successfully logged into the World of Warcraft, you may proceed to the Account Management page to set the password as you choose.

If you have not received a temporary password within one day of receiving this message, please check your:

* Spam folder?
* Junk Mail folder?
* Suspect Mail folder

For the continued security of the account, please log in at https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account and take the following steps:

* Verify that your contact information is accurate; update it if necessary
* create a new, not-easily guessed, secure personal password; https://www.worldofwarcraft.com//?id=asi0505p has password creation tips.

Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.wor1dofwarcraft.com/support/wowaa/.

We thank you in advance for respecting our position and hope that you will continue to enjoy your gaming experience in World of Warcraft.

Regards,
? ?
Hacilus?
Account Administration?
Blizzard Entertainment
www.WorldOfWarcraft.com


#40 - April 7, 2009, 1:34 a.m.
Blizzard Post
It looks like we have another example.
Q u o t e:

Greetings,

An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the problem of the account is landing ip is not lawful,is not in the permitted range.

the account is permitted to use in north-america,Singapore,Australia.but you disobey and neglect our clause and Principles.so in order to insist our clause,we will look into your account. the surveying will continue to Take action on your account.
if your account is found to disobey the clause,that it will be Suspended ,even stopped.
in order to In order to avoid such a situation happened, you must test your lawful owner's account Immediately.

To verify your identity please visit the following webpage:

[Malicious Link Removed]

Only Account Administration will be able to assist with account retrieval issues.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your futher interest in World of Warcraft.

Sincerely,

Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21505


As you can see the grammar is atrocious, which is a dead giveaway. It also requires you to visit a website to verify your information.

Always check the URL's that you are being directed to, what is listed in the e-mail isn't always where you go if you click.
#41 - April 8, 2009, 9:56 p.m.
Blizzard Post
A new, and particularly devious iteration. As always, please confirm URLs before you follow them!

Q u o t e:
***NOTICE OF FINAL WARNING***

Account Action: 3 Hour Suspension

Account Offense: Violation of EULA and Terms of Service - Transfer of Account Ownership

Details: An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the account in question is being sold or traded. In accordance with EULA section 4, Paragraph B, listed below:

World of Warcraft -> Legal -> End User License Agreement

and Section 8 of the Terms of Use:

Blizzard Entertainment -> Legal -> Terms of Use

A 3-hour probationary suspension is pending on this account, awaiting confirmation from a specialist. A final warning has been issued. The investigation will be continued by the Account Administration team to determine the any further suspensions. If the account in question is found in violation of the EULA and Terms of Use, further action will be taken. Be aware that any additional inappropriate actions may result in the permanent closure of the account.

Thank you for respecting our position on this matter.

**In order to prevent an elongated suspension, we request that you verify your legitimate ownership of the account here:

<removed>

Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at <removed>

Account security is solely the responsibility of the accountholder. Please be advised that in the event of a compromised account, Blizzard representatives typically must lock the account. In these cases the Account Administration team will require faxed receipt of ID materials before releasing the account for play.

Please visit the World of Warcraft Policies and Terms of Use Agreement: (http://www.blizzard.com/support/?id=agm01712p) and (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/termsofuse.) for further information.

Regards,

Billing & Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/accountadmin/
#42 - April 9, 2009, 3:35 p.m.
Blizzard Post
It appears that a few changes were made to one of the more popular phishing e-mails of late.

Q u o t e:
This is a notification regarding the World of Warcraft account. As your account information has been known by the Third Party. We are now processing with the case of changing contact information of you as you requested. Please note that changing of contact information usually takes about 3-5 days to process.

For the safety of your account, we still have a final confirmation of your account information. Please be sure to send us your account information by the following way:

* Account / Logging name :
* First & Last name :
* Security Question :
* Email Address :

After you mailed the submission, please allow time for delivery. Only the Account Administration department can address disputes or questions you may have about the account recovery process. To learn more about how we are able to assist you, please visit us at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/21505.

Sincerely,
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
www.WorldOfWarcraft.com

Unlike previous e-mails, the malicious party is coyly asking for considerably less information in hopes that you'll provide it. Remember, even e-mails that don't ask for your password can be malicious.
#43 - April 18, 2009, 5:39 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
From: noreply@b1izzard.net
Subject: World of Warcraft: Account Update Confirmation‏

Blizzard Entertainment has recently received a request to modify the email address on your World of Warcraft . Here is the request we received from your Account Management Page:

NEW Email Address: [removed]

In order to finalize and authorize the above change, please click the Confirmation Link near the bottom of this email near the bottom of this email.

If you did not request the change listed above, Blizzard recommends you please click the Cancel LINK. If you disregard and/or delete this e-mail.
Blizzard will After 72 hours,Auto-complete above change..

Cancel LINK : [<link possibly leading to a malicious site>]

If you no longer wish to change your email address. please click the Cancel LINK.

CONFIRMATION LINK: [<link possibly leading to a malicious site>]



If you're experiencing difficulties finalizing this request, please call our Billing and Account Services department at 1-800-592-5499 between 8:00am and 8:00pm Pacific Time, Monday-Friday.
#44 - April 23, 2009, 2:59 p.m.
Blizzard Post
The following phishing e-mail has recently popped up. Please be on the lookout for this, and similar e-mails from malicious parties.

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

In order to make our servers more efficient, we are taking the time to remove inactive accounts. We are mass mailing all email addresses registered to World of Warcraft accounts to target those that are inactive. If you are active in the World of Warcraft, or plan on picking up where you left off the in the future, please continue reading. If you do not foresee yourself ever rejoining us, please disregard this message.

Please take a moment and verify your account to maintain your enjoyable gameplay experience.
<removed>

Be sure to tell your friends and guildmates to check their email, as we want to make sure all active accounts remain playable.

Thankyou for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Sincerely,

Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
#45 - April 29, 2009, 5:32 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Here's a new one!

Q u o t e:
*IMPORTANT* - Account Security

Your account security is of the utmost importance. As such, we want to equip our customers with the knowledge they need to ultimately ensure their account, their characters, and their valuable in-game items remain safely in the right hands. We recommend that everyone read and follow the helpful tips on this e-mail to ensure that their computers and accounts remain secure.

The vast majority of account compromises originate from one of three sources:

1. "Spoof" websites and emails
2. Downloading hacks, cheats, or other executable content
3. Sharing account information and/or using power-leveling services

See below on this page for more information on these and other increasingly common scams, as well as information keeping yourself safe.

"SPOOF" WEBSITES AND EMAILS

This term refers to an email or a website, typically sent to a large number of players, which pretends to be officially from Blizzard, but is really a trick to get unsuspecting users to send their account information. If account information is sent to one of these "spoofs", it usually winds up in a thief's database list of accounts to steal.

How to identify a spoof site or email:

* It asks for your account name AND PASSWORD (Blizzard will never ask you for your password through e-mail!)
* Often they promise you will be banned if you do not provide the information demanded
* Conversely, they may promise "special features" like free items or character changes if you comply

How to keep them from stealing your password:

If it's an email, forward it to our official address blizzardaccountsecurity@live.com and do NOT reply at all unless our Billing staff actually confirms for you that the message is legitimate

DOWNLOADING ADDONS, HACKS/CHEATS, & EXECUTABLES

Viruses, 'trojan' applications, and key-logging software can all steal your World of Warcraft information, in addition to anything else on your computer once it has been compromised. These sorts of threats are typically brought into the system and installed by "executable" programs.

An "executable" program is something you download and then you run it as its own program
- as opposed to opening a file or a folder. You can tell if a program is an executable if its file name ends in EXE. You can also right-click the file and choose "Properties." If the "File Type" says "Application," then that file is an executable.

Hackers and account thieves like to put their viruses, keyloggers, etc into executable files and then make those files very appealing to our World of Warcraft fan base, to trick users into downloading and running their programs.

GIVING OUT ACCOUNT INFORMATION -- TO *ANYONE*

Sadly, our support teams take a considerable number of inquiries from people who have lost their account solely because they at one time shared their password to a friend, spouse (or ex-spouse), roommate, relative, etc, and then had their account stolen, items sold, and characters deleted by that individual.

Most of the small-scale account thefts (those not done by a widespread hack or scam) take place because the individual *gives out* their own information to someone they believed they could trust.

This is not to say players should inherently start distrusting their friends, but your password is supposed to be yours and YOURS alone... this is part of why our Terms of Use specifically forbid sharing your login information.

Even more unfortunate is the situation Blizzard sees with many players who choose to flat-out intentionally break the Terms of Use and share their account information with a third-party service simply to have their character leveled up while they work, sleep, etc.

These services could quite feasibly try to sell off a user's items if they receive login information, and we have seen many services that people thought "reputable" wind up stealing customers' information and all their items. These businesses make their money by helping user's break the Terms of Use, devaluing play time while putting accounts at significant risk. That leaves the user and Blizzard's support team cleaning up a considerable mess.

Not to mention, if Blizzard's staff identifies any account as having been intentionally "shared" to a power-leveling services, the account is subject to immediate suspension, possibly a permanent ban.

Sharing account information is unwise and can wind up costing you everything you have worked for --and paid subscription fees-- in World of Warcraft. Don't do it!

KEEPING YOUR COMPUTER SAFE FOR THE FUTURE

Even after you get your account back, if your computer has been infected with a virus, trojan, keylogger, etc, you need to make sure it is cleaned off entirely, or your account will still be at considerable risk. You should also be certain you are using a secure password at all times as well!

Keeping your account secure relies heavily on keeping your computer secure. This can help keep your computer safe from malicious programs and person's intent on stealing private information.




Regards,

Billing & Account Services
Blizzard Entertainment
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

*Notice, in order to verify the integrity of this account, please respond to this e-mail with the following information:
Account Username:
Account E-mail:
Secret Question/Answer:
First name and Last name:
Remember: Blizzard will never ask you for your password through e-mail!


Note the following section:

    *Notice, in order to verify the integrity of this account, please respond to this e-mail with the following information:
    Account Username:
    Account E-mail:
    Secret Question/Answer:
    First name and Last name:
    Remember: Blizzard will never ask you for your password through e-mail!


This particular format is not in used within official correspondence, so please proceed carefully if receiving an email similar or identical to the above.
#46 - April 30, 2009, 4:14 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
Titled: Blizzard Entertainment Producing a Next-Generation MMO‏
From: Blizz Insider (noreply@blizzinsider.com) <--- <Not a Blizzard website>

"Hi there,

Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of World of Warcraft, have been working in secret on a next-generation MMO.
With Blizzcon 09 in just a few months more information is surfacing about the game, with the possibility of an official announcement very soon.

There are rumours that the game shall be set in the Starcraft or Diablo universe with a similar gameplay experience to World of Warcraft.

If you would like to find out more about the new game, please visit the link below to join our mailing list:

(deleted possible scam link)

If you do not visit the link above you will not hear from us again.


Regards,
Blizz Insider
#47 - May 7, 2009, 5:48 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Children's week is the latest target for phishing e-mails. Keep an eye out for the following malicious e-mail:

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

This is an automatically generated message, please do not reply

As the Children’s week is upcoming we’ve decided to reward our fellow players with the opportunity to participate in a new upcoming lottery which will be taking place at the 15th of May to celebrate the feast. One thousand lucky winners will be greatly rewarded with both gifts in-game and the opportunity to receive free World of Warcraft - Trading Card Games, including Swift Spectral Tiger.

To participate in the upcoming lottery, please sign up at the following website below and verify your identity. By the end of the week, we will randomly pick one thousand lucky winners. By using this method, everyone get’s the opportunity to participate!

If you wish to participate in the upcoming lottery, please complete this form below to announce your participation:
<removed>

Regards

Blizzard Entertainment
www.wow-europe.com

If you no longer want to receive invitations on Blizzard products or services, please use this link: <removed>

As always, do not click any links contained within the e-mail.

Thanks!
#48 - May 9, 2009, 2:31 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
Subject:
World of Warcraft - Account Change Notice

From:
"noreply@us-blizzard.com" <noreply@us-blizzard.com>

Body:
Greetings,

This is an automated notification regarding your World of Warcraft account. Some or all of your contact information was recently modified through the Account Management website.

*** If you made recent account changes, please disregard this automatic notification.

You can login to Account Management at the following link to review your account settings:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account

*** If you did NOT make any changes to your account, we recommend you change your password and make appropriate corrections as soon as possible to ensure account security.

If you cannot sign into Account Management using the link above, or if unauthorized changes continue to happen, please contact Blizzard Billing & Account Services for further assistance.

Billing & Account Services can be reached at 1-800-59-BLIZZARD (1-800-592-5499 Mon-Fri, 8Am-8PM Pacific Time) or at billing@blizzard.com.

Account security is solely the responsibility of the accountholder. Please be advised that in the event of a compromised account, Blizzard representatives will typically lock the account. In these cases the Account Administration team will require faxed receipt of ID materials before releasing the account for play.

Regards,
The World of Warcraft Support Team
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowindex/
#49 - May 10, 2009, 7:01 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
Greetings,

Many of you may or may not know, We here at Blizzard are working on a Next-Gen MMORPG.
While we can't explain much about it, we can tell you that we are going to be announcing
alot of information about it at Blizzcon '09.
We would like to invite you to the Family and Friends closed alpha of our Next-Gen MMORPG,
we can't release any further information.
Please keep this information strictly confidential, as we do not want anything leaked.


You can register at the following link; <removed>.
As we only have 500 slots available, if you are chosen, we will contact you with further information.
You can apply with either your world of warcraft account or your battle.net account.

The drawing will be on August 23rd (1 day after Blizzcon)

The first 250 slots will be given out on a first-come first-serve basis.
The second 250 slots will be randomly decided and given out.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Sincerely,

Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
#50 - May 24, 2009, 4:46 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Replete with odd "?" and all.

Q u o t e:
* * NOTICE OF FINAL WARNING * * *

This is a notification regarding the World of Warcraft account . As your account has violated the Terms of Use of World of Warcraft. Based on a review of the information presented, this World of Warcraft account will be given a final warning and a 72 hour account suspension. Please note that if you do not contact with us at <removed> in the next 24 hours, your account will be accessible for 72 hours.

This action has been taken in accordance with the Terms of Use (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html). According to the World of Warcraft Terms of Use, to which all players agree when installing World of Warcraft, Section 5, and Paragraph C [Rules Related to Game Play] states that you may not do anything that Blizzard Entertainment considers contrary to the "essence" of World of Warcraft. Be aware that any additional inappropriate actions may result in the permanent closure of the account.

With that being said, if you do not contact with us at <removed> in the next 24 hours, password to the World of Warcraft account.will be reset. Then please use the new password that has been sent to your registered e-mail address to log into the game. After you have successfully logged into the World of Warcraft, you may proceed to the Account Management page to set the password as you choose.

If you have not received a temporary password within one day of receiving this message, please check your:

* Spam folder ?
* Junk Mail folder ?
* Suspect Mail folder

For the continued security of the account, please log in at https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account and take the following steps:

* Verify that your contact information is accurate; update it if necessary
* create a new, not-easily guessed, secure personal password; <removed> has password creation tips.

Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at <removed>.

We thank you in advance for respecting our position and hope that you will continue to enjoy your gaming experience in World of Warcraft.

Regards,
? ?
Hacilus ?
Account Administration ?
Blizzard Entertainment
www.WorldOfWarcraft.com
#51 - May 24, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
World of Warcraft - Account Verification Needed

Greetings,

An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the account in question is being sold or traded. As you may not be aware of, this conflicts with Blizzard's EULA under section 4 Paragraph B which can be found here:
WoW -> Legal -> End User License Agreement
and Section 8 of the Terms of Use found here:
WoW -> Legal -> Terms of Use

The investigation will be continued by Blizzard administration to determine the action to be taken against your account. If your account is found violating the EULA and Terms of Use, your account can, and will be suspended/closed/or terminated.
In order to keep this from occurring, you should immediately verify that you are the original owner of the account.

To verify your identity please visit the following webpage:
<removed>
Only Account Administration will be able to assist with account retrieval issues. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.

Sincerely,

Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
#52 - May 27, 2009, 6:15 p.m.
Blizzard Post
New variation of http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=965511383&sid=1&pageNo=1#6 :

Q u o t e:
Greetings,


It has come to our attention that you are trying to trade or sell your World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement of Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft. If upon further investigation you are indeed attempting to obtain monetary profit against the terms of the user agreement, your account can and will be disabled.


Blizzard has the right to consider legal action if necessary, based on the severity of the violation. In order to avoid account suspension, you should verify your ownership of the account(s).


We at Blizzard Entertainment take infractions quite seriously and we must confirm the original ownership of the account(s). This is easily done by supplying personal information about your World of Warcraft account. You can confirm you are the original owner of the account by replying to

Please use the following template below to verify your account via e-mail:
*First and Last name:
*Address :
*CD-key :
*Account Name:
*Account Original e-mail:
*Account Now e-mail:
*Main Character Name:
*Main Character Realm:
*Secret Question and Answer:


*Optional: You can also provide us with personal affiliations with in game characters in your World of Warcraft account (Friendships, guild ranking etc.)
If you ignore this email your account will be closed permanently for violation of the EULA (End User License Agreement).
We obtain this information due to a variety of circumstances; some of which are:
I) A post on an account selling/trading website
II) Suspicious behavior
III) Sudden Internet Protocol address changes


We look forward to your reply soon.

#53 - June 1, 2009, 1:14 p.m.
Blizzard Post
We have received word that another phishing e-mail is hitting our players' inbox; this time malicious parties are offering a promotional offer. Unfortunately, the only promotional offer they're able to provide is an account compromise.

Be on the lookout for the following FAKE e-mail:

Q u o t e:
Greetings and Congratulations!

Behind the scenes, Blizzard's marketing gnomes and business development goblins are working tirelessly to make sure that all your desires for Warcraft-related merchandise are met and no opportunity for promoting World of Warcraft is missed. How better to promote World of Warcraft than to give away free stuff!

Today is your lucky day! Every once in a while, you will have the chance to receive a promotion code from one of our World of Warcraft promos. Today, we have selected your account from our random raffle across the US servers to win one of these Promotion Codes!

The Promotional Code you have won today is redeemable for "Reins of the Spectral Tiger".

Your 25 Digit Promotional Code for this item is:
(there was a code here, though if it's actually real, uh, yeah...)

Promotion Codes can be redeemed at this page to generate an in-game code that will allow you to retrieve your reward. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/misc/promotion.html

The World of Warcraft Trading Card Game from Upper Deck includes rare loot cards that will provide you with similar promotion codes for some cool looking or just plain funny items for your World of Warcraft characters. The BlizzCon and Random Raffle promotion codes are another example of this type of promo.

Congratulations and thank you for your on-going interest in the World of Warcraft!

Abbix
Blizzard Promotion Center
Blizzard Entertainment Inc.


#54 - June 3, 2009, 5:50 a.m.
Blizzard Post
It's been awhile but I believe we have found a new phishing e-mail! Thank you, Goliâth.

Q u o t e:

Greetings

An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that someone may be trying to gain control of your World of Warcraft Account, by the means of a fake/invalid ID. For security reasons we cannot provide you with the file that we recieved. Fake identification is against the EULA and will not be tolerated within the World of Warcraft Community.

Blizzard Account Administration is currently holding an investigation on your World of Warcraft Account to determine the action to be taken against your account. If your account is found violating the EULA and Terms of Use, your account can, and will be suspended/closed/or terminated.
In order to keep this from occurring, you should immediately verify that you are the original owner of the account.

To verify your identity please visit the following webpage:
https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/authenticate.html (the web address in the actual e-mail leads to a different site than what is listed here)
Only Account Administration will be able to assist with account retrieval issues. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Sincerely,

Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment

#56 - June 21, 2009, 1:13 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
From: noreply@ (blizzard.com noreply@blizzard.com)


The survey is meant to rate and critique Activision Blizzard games so we know what to do for future games releases.
The survey is 100% free of charge, and we highly suggest you take it.

You will need to take the survey at <removed> to finish your registration for your free 10 days of game time.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter as well as your continued interest in World of Warcraft.

Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623
#57 - July 1, 2009, 8:03 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
Email: Blizzard Account Admin <donotreply@blizzard.com>
Subject: Starcraft II Beta Opt-In

Greetings,

After much anticipation Blizzard has opened the StarCraft II Beta opt-in. In the beta test you will get an opportunity to provide your feedback on the overall experience, including units, maps, aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter during your game-play experience.

We will be selecting account holders of Battle.net and World of Warcraft accounts who opted-in at random to participate in the much anticipated StarCraft II Beta. To opt-in for the beta test go to the opt-in page found here. Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft or Battle.net account name and password you use. To be eligible to participate in the beta tests, you must have a valid retail World of Warcraft or Battle.net account active and in good standing as of July 17, 2009.

In the event you are selected to participate in the beta test, you will receive an e-mail informing you of your acceptance in the coming months and directing you to Battle.net Account Management. From there, you will be able to obtain a Starcraft II beta key and download the beta client. If chosen, you will also need to agree to the StarCraft II Beta Agreement prior to installing the client.

We look forward to working with you in the StarCraft II Beta.

Thank you,
Dustin Browder,
Starcraft II Lead Designer
Blizzard Entertainment
#58 - July 3, 2009, 2:13 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
Dear Gamer

It has come to our attention that your account appears to have too much money, it also appears that you may be compromised from buying gold or associated with gold dealers. to ensure the fairness of other gamers your account is locked untill this issue is delt with, Please reply back to us at <Insert email here> will the following infomation.

*Name
*Age
*Address
*Email
*Location
*CD Key

You will not be able to log back in during this time, until our investigation is complete, We understand that this will cause discomfit bit please be patient while we investigate this issue.

Please have a quick read over the User Agreement at <Some dodgy webpage>.

Thank you for your time

Sincerely

Game Master Pakara
#59 - July 3, 2009, 9:52 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
from: WoWgmEU@blizzard.com

Greetings,

Your subscription method has expired. Please complete the information in

http://wow-europe.com/account

This is only verification process.Your credit card has not billed this time.

Blizzard Entertainment Inc

Account Administration Team

P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623

Regards,

Account Administration Team

Blizzard Entertainment Inc.


First, our US and EU regions are completely separate, and subscribers from a particular region should not receive messages from a different region.

Please note that http://wow-europe.com/account is a real blizzard site, but that the senders of this message likely spoofed the URL to lead to a similar looking page which is then used to phish account information. Even if a link looks good, it pays to double-check where a URL actually sends you!

It is always best to avoid following unfamiliar links sent to you via email, and to verify that link before you provide any account information.