Banned from WoW

[bennylong]

BC coming out next month! WoW will never die. Long live WoW. Long Live MMORPG. Without MMORPG, all us nerds would not know what human contact is.

 

[compnovice]

It might be spam...

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: compnovice
It might be spam...

It's not. If you read the thread, he called them up and confirmed the account was banned.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: RossGr
Perhaps they are just purging inactive accounts?

The GMs are going to change his account and character names, then sell it on eBay.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: RossGr
Perhaps they are just purging inactive accounts?

Mine has been inactive for months and I haven't gotten an e-mail like that.

 

[j00fek]

MYSPACE WoW BLOG---------------------------------------->

 

[Thoreau]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: RossGr
Perhaps they are just purging inactive accounts?

The GMs are going to change his account and character names, then sell it on eBay.

Probably wouldn't be a bad price either. I had a crapton of epic gear, a fully stocked inventory, all bag slots, and probably 300 gold.

 

[drnickriviera]

Wow, 76 days, you realize that's almost a full time job for an entire year

 

[Thoreau]

Originally posted by: drnickriviera
Wow, 76 days, you realize that's almost a full time job for an entire year

*hangs head in shame*

Hence why I had to cut that habit out. That, and once ya hit level 60, it's boring as hell.

 

[torpid]

Wouldn't it be in blizzard's best interest to work with you on figuring out how it happened? I suppose they might be like the company that my CC was used for illegally and unable to help until a police report is filed.

BTW, you wouldn't have to be active to be associated with exploits. Someone in your guild might have been mailing you stuff and using the mail system in disallowed ways.

 

[Thoreau]

Blizzard is retarded in more ways than I have toes and fingers to count with. I highly doubt that anything will come of my email response to them. So far there hasn't even been an automated reply.

As far as having stuff mailed to my account, that wouldn't do the mailer any good since I wouldn't be there to accept the items. They bounce after what, 30 days? It would be easier for them to just stash items in the mailbox of another character on their account since there wouldn't be a chance of me coming back and saying 'o0o, shiny... MINE!'

Oh, and after checking with the person I left the guild with, nobody else (that she can tell) has been banned and I would think that they would at least ban the originator of such items too.

Basically, Blizzard is just practicing their extremely retarded ways as usual... at least that's my take on it. I guess the bean counters either don't know what the workers are up to, or they figure they are willing to allow some unnecessary loss of revenue/potential revenue.

 

[bennylong]

What did you expect when they pay their Game Master $10 a hour with zero benefits? Unless you count that free WoW account as benefit.

 

[Luthien]

Likely most people who got their WOW accounts hijacked were not brute forced hacked. I bet 99% of them were taken by one of four ways.

1. You told someone and you never ever ever ever tell anyone your password.
2. Someone you know knows you well enough that they guessed it.
3. You got what is called fishing emails that look perfectly legit and you clicked a link that you thought took you to your wow account and you signed in not realizing you just signed into a fake website that is spoofing WOW and thus gave your information away.
4. You got a key logger on your pc.

The last 1% probably just got very very unlucky or blizzard messed up or blizzard employee went rogue or who knows what...

 

[Thoreau]

Originally posted by: Luthien
Likely most people who got their WOW accounts hijacked were not brute forced hacked. I bet 99% of them were taken by one of four ways.

1. You told someone and you never ever ever ever tell anyone your password.
2. Someone you know knows you well enough that they guessed it.
3. You got what is called fishing emails that look perfectly legit and you clicked a link that you thought took you to your wow account and you signed in not realizing you just signed into a fake website that is spoofing WOW and thus gave your information away.
4. You got a key logger on your pc.

The last 1% probably just got very very unlucky or blizzard messed up or blizzard employee went rogue or who knows what...

#1: Literally impossible. I won't even let my own boss know my NT password even though he can simply change it should he feel like it. There isn't a single circumstance where I ever give anyone any password of mine.

#2: That would imply that i use passwords with something in them that a human would guess. the password on that WoW account had 6 symbols, 3 numbers, 4 upper case letters, and 5 lowercase letters. All characters were pretty much randomly chosen by mashing on my keyboard, and tweaking it a little afterwards to get rid of dupes/obvious patterns. (I'm a little paranoid when it comes to passwords, as you can probably see.)

#3: The only email I've gotten from Blizzard in the last year since I stopped playing was the one saying it had now been nuked.

#4: Always a remote possibility, but there are a LOT of other things that I do on this PC that a keylogger could catch, and almost all of those things would be quite lucrative to anyone reading them (far more so than a WoW account.)

1%? While I would consider myself in that group, with the intelligence that Blizzard displays in other areas and on many other occasions, I'd have to say it's a lot more than 1%.

 

[marulee]

Originally posted by: RossGr
Perhaps they are just purging inactive accounts?

possible...you need to regularly check your status!

 

[latino666]

Originally posted by: marulee

Originally posted by: RossGr
Perhaps they are just purging inactive accounts?

possible...you need to regularly check your status!

I just got a reminder from Blizzard to reactivate my account before BC launch day.

 

[Vortex22]

Originally posted by: Thoreau

Originally posted by: Luthien
Likely most people who got their WOW accounts hijacked were not brute forced hacked. I bet 99% of them were taken by one of four ways.

1. You told someone and you never ever ever ever tell anyone your password.
2. Someone you know knows you well enough that they guessed it.
3. You got what is called fishing emails that look perfectly legit and you clicked a link that you thought took you to your wow account and you signed in not realizing you just signed into a fake website that is spoofing WOW and thus gave your information away.
4. You got a key logger on your pc.

The last 1% probably just got very very unlucky or blizzard messed up or blizzard employee went rogue or who knows what...

#1: Literally impossible. I won't even let my own boss know my NT password even though he can simply change it should he feel like it. There isn't a single circumstance where I ever give anyone any password of mine.

#2: That would imply that i use passwords with something in them that a human would guess. the password on that WoW account had 6 symbols, 3 numbers, 4 upper case letters, and 5 lowercase letters. All characters were pretty much randomly chosen by mashing on my keyboard, and tweaking it a little afterwards to get rid of dupes/obvious patterns. (I'm a little paranoid when it comes to passwords, as you can probably see.)

#3: The only email I've gotten from Blizzard in the last year since I stopped playing was the one saying it had now been nuked.

#4: Always a remote possibility, but there are a LOT of other things that I do on this PC that a keylogger could catch, and almost all of those things would be quite lucrative to anyone reading them (far more so than a WoW account.)

1%? While I would consider myself in that group, with the intelligence that Blizzard displays in other areas and on many other occasions, I'd have to say it's a lot more than 1%.

There was a BIG infestation of WoW keyloggers a few months ago, and I know lots of people who got their accounts hacked because of it. Most of them got through from a IE vulnerability, but I know some people who also got hacked by downloading infected mods (from legitimate sites as well, they have since gotten stricter with security).

 

[Thoreau]

Shockingly enough, Blizzard finally responded to my email on the 9th...

Greetings,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding the World of Warcraft account you are using. We understand your point of view and have thoroughly reviewed this issue. As a result, the account action has been removed from the account and all involved parties have been addressed.

An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the account has been accessed by someone who is not allowed to use it. The account has been disabled, so that you can regain sole and secure access. If you use a credit card to subscribe, it has been removed so you are not charged while the account is disabled. Please keep this email until you have regained account access.

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, or playing on a computer that has a virus. Please remember that World of Warcraft accounts cannot be shared with anyone except one minor who you are the parent or guardian of. 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, spyware 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 <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account">https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account</a>.

2.) HOW DO I GET MY ACCOUNT BACK?

Download and use this form to regain account access: http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/WoW/other/Account-Retrieval.pdf. For security reasons, we are unable to accept e-mailed attachments or links of any kind. Proper use of the form is the only way to retrieve account access. Please send your submission as soon as possible since Blizzard Entertainment is unable to offer any type of reimbursement for the time an account is disabled.

3.) I?M HAVING TROUBLE DOWNLOADING THE FORM!

The newest version of the free Adobe Reader© can be downloaded at http://www.adobe.com/. If clicking the link doesn?t work, right-click it and choose ?Save Target As...? to save the file to your computer. If that doesn?t work either, reply to this message and we will send the file as an attachment.

4.) I SENT MY FAX, 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 fax, please resend it and notify us of the refax 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/.

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

Regards,

Issalina
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/

I especially like the "An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the account has been accessed by someone who is not allowed to use it." part. Wouldn't it have been wise to perform the investigation BEFORE pissing off the customer? Granted, I had stopped playing ages ago, and unless I get fired and have to work at a crappy new job, I'll probably be WoW free for the rest of my life, but they don't know that.

Anywho, thar she be, in all her hairy glory... Blizzard Support!

 

[MemoryInAGarden]

Thankfully, I have never had any interactions with Blizzard's customer support. After hearing about how others have had nothing but problems with the in-game help and now this, I don't think I want to.

 

[SZLiao214]

Sorry you couldn't at least sell your account. Its the best way to leave

 

[Rock Hydra]

Originally posted by: Thoreau

Originally posted by: glutenberg
This is probably Blizzard's method of purging your character contrary to their statements that they will keep your character in their system indefinitely (for now). Bait and switch, it's what Blizzard does best.

Considering that I still have live accounts on Battle.net from Diablo and Warcraft III (just reinstalled WC3 a couple nights ago actually since retarded forum member aduljr got me hooked on custom maps again) that hadn't been touched for far longer, I would doubt it.

Blizzard likes money, and they know that the only chance of ever getting a customer to come back to them lies with the fact that they don't purge accounts.

Have you played Footmen? It's fvcking sweet!

 

[Thoreau]

I probably could, if I felt like faxing them that form back...

 

[DarkManXY2G]

The same thing happened to my brother. He cancelled his account and one day while I was playing his char logged on. When he didnt respond I called him and asked him if he was playing to which he said he was not.

He checked his credit cards and bank accounts to see if anything was charged back to him and could not find anything. A day later he got an email saying his account was banned for using exploits. I'm not sure how they got his account info as he never gives that info out, but this has happened to a few people I know that cancelled and had their accounts taken while there were inactive.

 

[CVSiN]

Originally posted by: Thoreau

Originally posted by: oogabooga
You quit? you deserve a Ban... Quitters NEVER WIN

edit : seriously though .. was someone paying for/using your account? I'm kinda curious

Nope. My account has been completely dormant ever since I quit. I actually logged into it about once every couple months just to see if they might have some super mega deal running that would make it worth reactivating, but never did find any such offer.

And before anyone suggests that someone got the account by guessing my password... let's just say that my passwords are extremely complex.

Youve been keylogged there buddy.
prolly being used as a gold spammer..
happening ALOT lately..
they keylog you.. shard your inventory then use your char to spam mail and shout in zones about gold sites...

its becoming a very large problem.

 

[Thoreau]

Originally posted by: CVSiN

Originally posted by: Thoreau

Originally posted by: oogabooga
You quit? you deserve a Ban... Quitters NEVER WIN

edit : seriously though .. was someone paying for/using your account? I'm kinda curious

Nope. My account has been completely dormant ever since I quit. I actually logged into it about once every couple months just to see if they might have some super mega deal running that would make it worth reactivating, but never did find any such offer.

And before anyone suggests that someone got the account by guessing my password... let's just say that my passwords are extremely complex.

Youve been keylogged there buddy.
prolly being used as a gold spammer..
happening ALOT lately..
they keylog you.. shard your inventory then use your char to spam mail and shout in zones about gold sites...

its becoming a very large problem.

While I know that nobody is immune to that type of attack, regardless of how diligent they are with regards to computer security, I still find it difficult to believe that someone logging my keyboard input would have stopped at stealing my WoW account. I suppose there are idiots out there that wouldn't bother to go for anything but that, but there would certainly have been far more juicy bits of data to run with. Identity theft comes to mind.