My WOW Account Was Hacked

[magicalmissy74]

Well since Im not able to post on WOW boards, I have to post here. Last night early this morning (Im guessing I was not home nor was I awake) someone hacked my account and got my account closed.

I have sent Blizz an email stating that I was not home or around my computer when this happend.. I am extreemly frustrated right now.. And at a loss for words.

Has this happend to anyone else and what kind of course of action did you take maybe it will make it less stressful and less agravating for me as well..

OH and Blizz isnt open on weekends so yay i cant play untill atleast tuesday or wednesday if we get new patches!!

Thanks for listening..

Missy74

[Kallieen]

Take a look through this thread at the CS WoW forum - http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...18909866&sid=1

It has a lot of good info on what to do if your account is hacked, there may be other things in there that will help you. Good luck!

[magicalmissy74]

Thanks.. I tried a few of the other things but as last time I got this:

This account has been temporarily disabled and is currently unable to access World of Warcraft.

An email has been sent to the registered address on the account with the reason for this temporary closure. If you would like to appeal this decision or did not receive the message please contact our Account Administration team at [email protected] from your registered email address.

Don't have access to your registered email address? Click Here..


Guess I have to wait patiently this weekend to see if Blizz gets back to me or I get to call them on Monday.. at 8am pst.. YEEEE HAWWWW..


Anyways thanks for your help..

Cheers..

[Petrah]

Keep in mind that you've probably had a keylogger on your computer for quite some time (it normally takes the hackers a good while before they steal your account). The most important thing right now is getting your computer clean and calling via phone all the companies associated with your online banking/credit cards etcetera and getting your email address/logins/passwords with those companies changed. Remember that everything you use online that has a login or a password has been compromised. It's not just your wow account. Every second that you stay connected to the net with a keylogger on your system, your identity and personal information is at risk.

I recommend a complete format to ensure your system is completely clean. But that's just my personal opinion.

[Important] Key-Loggers and Computer Security:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...78038509&sid=1

Account Compromise Info Center:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...73308319&sid=1

Account Retrieval Tips and Suggestions:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...62836524&sid=1

[Tristanian]

Originally Posted by magicalmissy74 Has this happend to anyone else and what kind of course of action did you take maybe it will make it less stressful and less agravating for me as well..

Typically, Blizzard account support will immediately suspend an account that has been compromised by a non-legitimate owner. The suspension usually takes a couple of days and in order to safeguard the account, they also change the password (they will email you the new one). At this point the only thing you can do is wait and while you are at it, it would be wise to visit the Account Management page and change the password again (obviously to something that does not reflect your old one), plus your registered email address. This is an action that Blizzard themselves will recommend, after you get your account back and it's a wise one.

Run a full scan of your computer for spyware/trojans and if anything is found, make sure that you have it removed. If you don't have a virus/spyware scanner/removal utility, there are plenty of sites around the net offering free scanners. If you are unsure of what you are doing, then yes, I would also recommend a format/clean installation of your OS.

Think long and hard of whether you were sharing your account with someone else (aka if someone else had access to your account details). If their computer was compromised, then it's possible that your details were also leaked. Typically, sharing account information is generally a very dangerous practice, even if it involves people that you can vouch for. Just don't do it.

Think about the sites you were visiting the last few weeks/months and whether you registered on a website by using account details similar or identical to the ones that you use inside World of Warcraft. I have had a case of a close friend that got his account compromised simply because he registered somewhere without exactly trusting the website. Never use your WoW account details anywhere else, for whatever reason (even Blizzard won't ask for them, ever).

Last but not least, when you finally get your account back and in case your characters have been stripped of items (includings banks etc), then you will have to immediately contact a Game Master, explaining that your account was compromised and the circumstances around the incident. He will most likely ask you questions about account sharing, your computer security as I have stated above and roughly when was your account compromised. Usually (though not always), your stuff will be reimbursed.

Now, obviously if your account was suspended/banned due to it being used for something strictly prohibited by the TOS/EULA, then nothing of the above applies and will most likely stay that way.

EDIT : If you were using a credit card to pay for your account, then Blizzard will most likely disable this option. You will be required to fill out a form via the Account Support website, explaining in detail what has happened and possibly attaching proof that you are the legitimate account owner (eg photocopy of your drivers license or passport) in order to get the credit card option reinstated. Note however that they may ultimately decide not to comply.

[ravagernl]

Had the same situation as you a few months's ago, tried logging in, and thought I had forgot my password, went to account management only to discover my account had been permanently banned. Checked my email and freaked out.

First thing I would advise is to not freak out. Calm down and read the email carefully. It will have explanation on how to get your account back.

I filled out the form at account support and got back an email 3 days later, telling me they reopened my account. I then logged in and noticed all of my items were missing. Luckily the game masters were able to recover all of my items. They even recovered all the items on all of my alts.

I'd also recommend what tristanian has told you. And get a blizzard authenticator. Even when you are in Europe.

[Landrell]

One of the things some people tend to forget is that should your account be compromised, there's also a running risk that it may happen again. We've had a number of guild mates in the past get their accounts hacked, not once, but TWICE within the same month of each other. The above posters have the right idea about what you need to do in getting your account recovered, so follow that.

Here are the links to the Authenticators that Mrruben5 had mentioned of...

http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000442 For America

http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000443 For Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America

Both my husband and myself have one and we can't live without it now. We've even told our guild about it and already numerous people have gotten one. I'd highly recommend you reading about it and seeing if you can't get one. If that's not up your alley, then getting a Fire Wall Suite + Anti-Virus & Malware should be the way to go. AVG, ZoneAlarm...

I hope you get your issue straightened out soon.

[Sepioth]

I was hacked about a month ago. Stupid keylogger as far as I know.

I recieved an e-mail on my phone letting me know my password to my account was changed. I was at work.

I took my lunch hour and ran home to see if I could log in and well I couldn't

I tried to retrieve my password using their password retriever and it said I could not do this as it has been done too many times and that I needed to contact Blizz.

Well it was a Saturday and their phone support is closed on weekends (why is beyond me as they make more than enough money to hire weekend staff .. should be open 24/7 IMO) I e-mailed them to know about my account being hacked.

Next day I received an e-mail saying my account was now closed due to Unauthorized advertising in the game. Well at least they hacker was locked out now too . I replied to that email telling them the same thing I told nin my first email.

Later that night I received a new email saying my account was reopened and had a new password (which was also in the email). I tried to log in and was back in the game. Thankfully nothing was missing at all .. I'm very lucky. They also said to contact them if stuff was missing from the account .. including characters.

I HIGHLY suggest spending $6.50 and getting one of these (This is the US ONLY version) It adds a second layer of security to your account making it pretty much impossible for your account to be hacked again. Well worth it for the peace of mind.

Just hang in there .. yo will be back in WoW soon.

[magicalmissy74]

Originally Posted by Sepioth contact Blizz. I HIGHLY suggest spending $6.50 and getting one of these (This is the US ONLY version) It adds a second layer of security to your account making it pretty much impossible for your account to be hacked again. Well worth it for the peace of mind. Just hang in there .. yo will be back in WoW soon.

Hey, thanks everyone for the advice.. I have done a few steps to get rid of what ever junk is on my comp.. Hoping that what I have done will make some sort of difference..

As for that device, I cant get it right now lol since my account is STILL locked.. But come tomorrow I am going to phone them up and tell them whats going on and hope to god i get my account back up and running..

Once again thank you.. I will post if and when i get my account back.. Its sunday and ive nothing to do..

Cheers

[Sepioth]

I hope you get back soon .. I must have gotten lucky as I got mine back in a few days AND it was over the weekend. Never needed to call anybody. Just a handful of e-mails.

Good Luck...

[magicalmissy74]

Well I am back up and running.. Contacted Blizz and spoke to a great guy named Brian.. He was a great help.. Rest all passwords and what not.. Had to do a few other house keeping items.. Then spoke to a GM and he/she told me that I should have all my gold and Items restored withing 4 days..

Once again Thanks to everyone who gave me advice.. It really helped.. And in the next few days I am going to be getting that fancy little item ya'll have told me about..

The hacker cleaned out all 3 of my upper lvl toons of gold and items.. close to 150g and 100g in items.. thankfully they didnt realize how much money is in herbs LOL idiots.. had to sell off thoes to get me some gold to travel..

But I am glad I got my account back.. the items are a small part of it..

Thanks once again..

Cheers

[DankBud420x]

When a hacker does hack your account and take your items/gold, dont they have to mail it to their character? And if so, shouldn't blizzard have a history of who you send mail to? Im sure they dont I just think they should. But idk. I dont work there and Idk what it would take to do a thing like that, but if it were possible I think they should keep a history of who you send mail to and maybe they can figure out whos hacking who sometimes. Idk tho just my opinion. Im glad you got your account back bro! I got a Blizz authenticator like a month after I started playing because of horror stories like this. Thank god its only like 6 or 7 bux!

[Sepioth]

Congrats .. welcome back. Glad to hear you got back in.

Blizz is really good from what I hear at recovering items. Just takes them a little time to investigate as I'm sure they deal with this a lot.

They should include that authenticator in every new retail box. Or at least a coupon for a free one.


@DankBud420x

I'm almost positive they keep records of mail coming and going. They account for everything in the game.

I do know that full chat logs are kept so I don't see why they wouldn't keep mail logs as well.

[magicalmissy74]

To DankBud420x: As for the hacker getting my stuff I would think they would instead of mailing it since I had a lot of stuff I think they would have done a trade.. As for the authenticator, I plan on getting one soon.. Im just doing some house keeping items before I get back and play.. OH and PS.. Im not a bro,, but thats ok some times you just dont know from the names.. But mine is kind of a gimmie.. But its cool..


To Sepioth: Yeah I will Have to say that Blizz is great in the way they got my account back up and running.. He was even patient with me when my daughter was running around yelling.. As for the free authenticator or one in the box that would be a sweet Idea.. Maybe I should send them an email and suggest it.. But for some reason, with most major companies they wont do that because its a chance for them to make a bit more money.. But I think they are making enough off of me.. I pay exchange rate on the 14.99USD.. I usually pay close to 20.00 CDN.. Oh the joys..


Anyways.. Thanks alot everyone.. and I will post when I get my items/gold back..

Cheers

[PerfectH]

That really sucks your account got hacked.

I have a level 80 Shaman with some decent epics and a good amount of time spent on it, so I bought the Blizzard Authenticator for myself and my girlfriend's account.

For $6.00, it's more than worth it.

[magicalmissy74]

Well I have ordered my authenticator on tuesday or wednesday.. Should have it by Tuesday ( stinking canadain long weekend) Im happy about that.. But still waiting on the items/gold to come back to me

Have a good weekend everyone..

Cheers

[daffybint]

I also had my account hacked in August of last year and it totally put me off playing for a week. There did not seem to be any point in playing to get nice gear only for someone to sell it all and transfer the money to another toon.

I bought myself an Authenticator from the Blizzard European store the moment they became available and it was wonderful. Until that is, one Friday evening at 5:30 UK time. I got home from work, switched on my computer went to log into wow and on the Authenticator code screen, pressed the button on the unit to generate the code and nothing happened. Pressed again several times only to find out the unit was dead. Tech support was closed and i had to wait the whole weekend without wow to contact Blizzard to get my the Authenticator removed from my account.

This took over 3 weeks to get removed as i had to send in proof of the Authenticator code, the original WOW code registered to the account (i had loaned it to a friend to get them interested so had to wait 3 days for them to bring it back in) and a copy of my passport to prove it was me.

I understand that the Authenticator is designed with increased security in mind, but when they do not ask for this information to add the unit to your account, how can they confirm you were the one to add it in the first place.

My unit (5 months later) now shows a software error on the display but Blizzard will not replace it as the warranty period is only 1 month. The unit died 3 months after purchase.

Much as i like the idea, i am worried that if someone buys an Authenticator, then hacks an account and adds the authenticator to the hacked account it would be near impossible for the original owner of the account to get it back and the Authenticator removed due to the hoops Blizzard makes you go through.

Even after my "bad luck" with the Authenticator, i still love the idea of the iPhone / iPod app and once available in the UK will consider purchasing one, due to it not relying on its own battery power.

I was advised by Blizzard, that the best way to keep your password safe and secure from the Keyloggers, is to have a txt document of some description (Word / Notepad) with the password stored in it and copy and paste the password each time you go to play. All the key logger gets is Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.

I hope this does not put you off buying the Authenticator as i truly believe that it is wonderful for those that want the extra security, but i just wanted to share my experience of what can potentially happen when things go wrong.

Simon

[NitraMo]

Proper keyloggers should look at the copy-paste buffer too, so that won't make it more safe. Remember, you are just a keystroke away from accessing it, so why shouldn't they be able to access it too?

Best is to not get key loggers. Get a proper firewall and some anti-virus/anti-spyware program and scan the computer regularly. Be careful which web pages you visit and using something like Firefox+NoScript to protect yourself. That should protect you from most problems. And in case you encounter anything, change password instantly.

[magicalmissy74]

Well,, Good News,, All my stuff has been returned to me.. Im relieved!! All of my stuff!!

Got my authenicator in the mail too.. I know that with anything I should be wary of them.. But Im not having someone hack me again and steal my junk.. Because if it happens AGAIN.. I will quit playing.. It will ruin it for me.. And with me paying as much as I do.. And the amount of time I spend on it.. I will honestly just walk away!!

I just hope I dont get screwed over again.. Dont think I could handle it..

Thanks everyone you have opened my eyes and given me so much more information than I think I would have ever gotten ..

Cheers

[Cairenn]

That's fantastic news, magicalmissy74, glad to hear it!