Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.[1] Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users. The most common method of phishing is by sending misleading e-mails that point to web sites masquerading as legitimate account holding institutions.
For World of Warcraft[]
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Inlinegfx/img_link_data.json' not found.
For World of Warcraft players, the most frequently encountered type of phishing are e-mails that pretend to be sent from Blizzard Entertainment, but usually point to some domain or URL that sound similar to a legitimate one, but is not.
See the External links section below for a blue post on how to deal with phishing e-mails.
Example phishing e-mail[]
Below is one of the more amusing examples of a phishing email. Notice the extraordinarily defeative lack of correct or consistent spelling or grammar. On occasion, the email will also consist of more than one type font.
Of particular note with WoW phishing emails is that the link to battle.net which is given always refers to a misleading URL. Always check the URL target on a supposed email from Blizzard by hovering over the link in any email.
From: noreply@battle.net
To: xxxxxx@hotmail.com
Subject: World of Warcraft:Cataclysm survey
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:00:42
World of Warcraft:Cataclysm survey
Greetings,
Dear players,big disaster has arrived. We are closely watching the development of the game. In this beautiful moment to thank all the players.We have to do a surey to obtain some information used to adjust some details of the game in order to obtain better service. please sign the following links:
https ://www.battle.net/account/support/login-support.xml
survey of vote after the vote we will adjust the information for statistical details of the game. You work with our playres,please,thank you. After the questionnaire had the palayers to vote will receive a mystery gift.
Sincerely,
Blizzard Entertainment
Battle.net team
URL Target: http://us.battle.net.account.support.survey.xml.eu-forums-worldofwarcraft-wow-account-blizzard.com/login/en/?ref=https://us.battle.net/account/management/wow/dashboard
Advice and FAQ from Blizzard to avoid phishing scams[]
| EU blue post |
|---|
 All new topics created regarding phishing mails/websites will be locked and redirected to this thread; please make sure you read the entire sticky before you post.
TL;DR? We've turned some of the information in this sticky into a video on YouTube! http://bit.ly/qIJc3Y We have been seeing a troubling increase in the number of fake or ‘phishing’ emails being sent to players, all appearing legitimate and official and seemingly originating from Blizzard Entertainment. These emails, created for the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive details (account names, passwords, or other account information), may promise exclusive in-game items, bonus game time, or ‘specially selected’ Alpha/Beta invitations to upcoming Blizzard releases. More commonly, and undeniably more worryingly, they may even threaten dire account-related action unless the player provides his or her login information, or follows a specified website link (usually to ‘verify the legitimacy of the account’). Please do NOT fall for these scams! REMEMBER: Neither Blizzard nor its employees will EVER ask for your password. |
| EU blue post |
|---|
I’ve received an email just like this – is it a fake? How can I tell?
There are a few key points you can check straight away in order to determine whether an email is genuine.
So, this email comes from someone showing as @blizzard.com or @battle.net. That means it’s real, right? Unfortunately, no. The appearance of an official email address as the sender is not enough to guarantee an email’s veracity, and you should still remain cautious. This is due to the fact that it is possible to alter the appearance of a sender address in the “From” field of an email, and this process (known as ‘spoofing’) may cause a malicious email to seem as if sent from Blizzard. In order to verify the actual sender address of any email you receive, you will need to check the email header information. What’s an email header? How do I find it, and what am I looking for? Most email clients and providers will allow you to view more information about the email than is normally shown, including specific details about the sender, the path the email took in reaching your inbox, and any other redirections that the email may have been subject to prior to arriving in your mailbox. For more information on how to check this data, including some specific details for some of the more common email providers, please see our Support site article; How to Identify "Spoofed" Email Addresses
http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_EN&articleId=43010 OK, but the links in my email look right. You said something about needing to ‘double-check’ them? Yes, indeed. Through the use of HTML coding, it is possible for an email link that looks perfectly harmless to lead you somewhere else entirely (and inevitably to a fake website).
Depending on your Internet browser or email client, you can sometimes see the destination URL a link will use displayed in the bottom corner of your window, or in a hovering tooltip. However, for a non-specific means of uncovering the URL that any hyperlink will direct you to, you may use the following steps;
|
| EU blue post |
|---|
Why am I getting these emails in the first place? I don’t remember giving my email address out to anyone.
Most commonly, ‘databases’ of potential player email addresses will have been compiled through the use of any unofficial World of Warcraft web pages (such as fan sites, wikis or guild websites), as well as social networking sites (like Facebook, Myspace or Bebo), so your email address will likely have been on display inadvertently without you ever specifically giving it out.
The most reliable way to stop receiving these types of mails, and also to provide an extra bit of security to your account, is to consider creating a new email address purely dedicated to World of Warcraft and Battle.net use. During the creation process, do make sure that no part of the new address or password coincides with your previous email addresses, passwords, nicknames or profile information on any of the above sites, and that you avoid using this new email account for anything other than Battle.net in the future. NOTE: As touched on above, with your Battle.net email address also functioning as your account name, using a dedicated, secret email account can actually help secure or increase the protection on your World of Warcraft account.
Right, thanks for all the information. I think I definitely have a fake email here, so what do I do with it now? Well, the first thing you should consider doing is forwarding the entire email to our hacks@blizzard.com email address.
Please also copy and paste the email header into the message body in order to ensure that we can fully identify the source of the mail, and hopefully help prevent future phishing mails of the same type. Um, unfortunately I actually replied to one of these fake mails before reading this thread, and now they have my details (Secret Answer, CD Key, etc). Please help me! Firstly, there’s no need to panic. You should, however, make sure you change your Battle.net account password as soon as possible:
http://eu.battle.net/account/management/ Then move on to either changing the password on your email account, or simply creating a new dedicated email account (see above) that you only use for World of Warcraft and Battle.net. At this stage, you should hopefully have restored your account to the same level of security as prior to the phishing email, but you may also wish to consider purchasing or downloading a Blizzard Authenticator (either physical token or mobile version); Battle.net Authenticator FAQ Battle.net Mobile Authenticator FAQ I didn’t reply to a fake mail, but I just may have clicked on a dodgy link instead… Is my PC still safe? Unfortunately we are unable to diagnose or scan your PC remotely, so we sadly cannot help determine whether your PC may be ‘safe’ or not. However, at the earliest opportunity, please do take some time to read some of our Support site guides on securing your account, and related software to help you with this; Account Security Measures Battle.net Account Security Awareness Security Software |
| EU blue post |
|---|
If your account has been stolen or compromised, or you are wishing to read up on any information related to account theft, please take a look at our compromised account sticky on this very forum;
►► Account Hacked/Stolen? CLICK HERE! ◄◄ For the remainder of this thread, we will continue to update with new examples of phishing emails reported to us. If you do receive one of these fake mails, please check to see if we have it listed here already, and if not then you are very welcome to post it within this thread so that we can consider adding it to the list.
Oh, and please REMEMBER: Blizzard employees will NEVER ask for your password. |
See also[]
References[]
External links[]
- Battle.net Support
Battle.net Support (US) Phishing by Blizzard Entertainment, Updated: Feb 16, 2012, Article ID: 300737
Battle.net Support (EU) How to Identify "Spoofed" Email Addresses by Blizzard Entertainment, Updated: 13-Dec-2011, Article ID: 921- Other info
Official Customer Support forum (EU) [Guide] 'Phishing' whispers by Vedia (not a employee), 30/04/2011 13:48 Official Customer Support forum (EU) Fake or ‘Phishing’ E-mails from Blizzard by Nephadne 21/11/2010 21:11
Blue.MMO-Champion.org 0. Fake E-mails from "Blizzard Entertainment" Vrakthris 08/14/2007 03:15:51 PM PDT