#0 - Aug. 14, 2007, 11:15 p.m.
- 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:
- How to Identify Fake or Phishing Emails
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=25133
If you determine that you have received a fake e-mail, please forward the e-mail to hacks@blizzard.com.
- Emails from Blizzard Entertainment will originate from an @blizzard.com or @battle.net address.
- 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?
- Remain calm and change your Battle.net password (https://us.battle.net/account/management/index.xml?), as well as your email's password. Also, to ensure the receiving party knows as little information as possible, we also recommend that you update your Battle.net e-mail address to a new, secure e-mail. If you desire an extra layer of security, we recommend obtaining a Blizzard Authenticator (http://us.blizzard.com/store/search.xml?q=authenticator) or using our Mobile Authenticator app for several mobile carriers (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=26109).
- 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:
- Account Compromise Info Center:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14318909866&sid=1
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.