Blizzard Phishing Email - Authenticator Giveaway

Hey folks!

A while back, Blizzard had a giveaway from their website for an Authenticator. It was easy, just a simple Twitter to BlizzardCS saying "I want an Authenticator". Ends up, I won it, and got one sent to me in the mail. With all these phishing emails coming up again, I thought to myself, I should give it away to someone in need. So that's what I am doing. =)




All you need to do is comment below stating the same thing (in your own way- gimme the authenticator! I want, I want! whatever you decide), and on Sunday, June 18th (thats a few days from now) I will announce a winner (so make sure and come back to see if you won!). Also, please don't use just a anonymous, unless you add your "name" at the end. And please don't put your address or email in comments, wait until Sunday when I announce the winner, then you can email me your shipping information. So now, on with the post....

Here we go again. I get anywhere from 3 to 6 of these "phishing" emails a week, and it just gets redundant after a while. Do not fall for any of these, as it seems week to week they are getting more and more legit looking.....here's an example:

FAKE EMAIL- A PHISHING ATTEMPT- 

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 account owner. To verify your identity please visit : http://eu.battle.net/account/security.

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.

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

After sending in a ticket, I received a very helpful response from a GM, and I wanted to share this with ya'll:

Heya!

Thanks for contacting us! Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to speak with you, but I certainly hope everything is going well!

We have recently seen an increase in phishing attempts received via e-mail, which pose a real threat for account security. Below I've listed some information regarding these email scams. I would like to thank you for taking an active role in helping us stop these scams, and I assure you that we will be taking the appropriate actions using the information you've provided us with.

Please keep in mind that many scams will ask you for your password, which is something Blizzard will NEVER ask for. Also, there are often a few indicators in e-mails such as the one you received that should tip you off. For instance, it was directing you to the European Battle.net. For more information regarding how to tell if the e-mail you received is legitimate, please visit http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/30828.

For additional security tips and information, please visit the following sites:

- Security Checklist: http://us.battle.net/security/checklist.html

- Types of Account Thefts: http://us.battle.net/security/types.html

- Email Address Security: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/30814

Authenticators are an optional security device that can help prevent unauthorized account access. For more information about how the authenticator works or how to add one to a World of Warcraft account, please visit the Battle.net Authenticator FAQ at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/BLIZZARDAUTH.

If you responded to the email scam, please call the Billing department before reporting the account as stolen. With proper verification our representatives will be able to assist you in recovering your account. Billing representatives are on hand to take your call between 8AM and 8PM Pacific Time, 7 days a week at 1-800-59-BLIZZARD (800-592-5499). Customers in Australia should call 1-800-041-378.

I hope that this response has adequately resolved your petition! If it hasn't, feel free to select Need More Help. Be sure to provide as much information about what is going on as possible. :)

If it has resolved the issue, go ahead and click on 'Message Read'. Doing so, you may receive the option to fill out a survey for us today. Filling these out gives us information we need to make our customer service even more epic! ^.^ If there is any reason I did not get top scores in your book, please leave a comment and let me know how I can improve and/or what I should keep doing. *Please note* that if you do not receive a survey you can still send this information by emailing wowgmfeedback-US@Blizzard.com. I frequently review my surveys, and would appreciate any and all feedback.

Regards,
Game Master Silokir
Customer Services
Blizzard Entertainment
www.blizzard.com/support

Hopefully this clears up any questions you have about emails, or where you should send them for review. Basically, don't trust any you get. There are times when you will get one from them, opening a ticket, server transfers, character name change, etc. But as long as you don't do anything shady in WoW, you never have to worry about account compromising. Good luck to you!

"Blizzard" Emails? How to avoid a Scam on your WoW Account

I really hope if you receive these emails, you don't click on anything. Don't get me wrong, I receive about 10 emails a week with folks trying to steal my account. It's actually getting hilarious. I really hope people don't fall for these. Most of them that I receive are like this:

Dear customer,

Due to suspicious activity, your Battle.net account has been locked. You tried to login your account too many times (403). We are concerned about whether your account has been stolen. In order to guarantee the legitimacy of your account, we need you follow these steps:

Step 1: Secure Your Computer
In the event that your computer has been infected with malicious software such as a keylogger or trojan, simply changing your password may not deter future attacks without first ensuring that your computer is free from these programs. Please visit our Account Security website to learn how to secure your computer from unauthorized access.

Step 2: Secure Your E-mail Account
After you have secured your computer, check your e-mail filters and rules and look for any e-mail forwarding rules that you did not create. For more information on securing your e-mail account, visit our Support page.

Step 3: Restore access to Your account
We now provide a secure link for you to verify whether you have taken the appropriate steps to secure the account, your computer, and your email address. Please follow this site to restore the access to your account: XXX.blizzardnet.net

If you still have questions or concerns after following the steps above, feel free to contact Customer Support at XXX.battlenet.net

Sincerely,
The Battle.net Account Team
Online Privacy Policy

Today, I received one better (or worse) than the ones I am used to....Now I would cut and paste this one, but due to all the malicious code imbedded (basically you click anywhere in the email and you go to some "scaaary" site, I had to screenshot...

 As you can see, they get quite sneaky to try to get your account information from you. This is ugly. I can see how the "uninformed" have lost their account, had someone log into your account, bla, bla, bla.

The funniest part of this one is the "If you are so lucky that you can won our mysterious prize and 5000 gold or a free Blizzard Authenticator". Really? Come on...

Some people will say "Change your email to one you don't use for anything else, just your account". To this I say "Why?". I have spoke to GM's in game, on the phone, and through email on these. I forward every email that I get to them. Blizz admin told me to ignore ANYTHING from ANYONE in my email. There are very, very, very few times they will "suspend" your account due to you not responding....

* Flashing Lights here if I knew how to do it.....

BLIZZARD WILL NOT EMAIL YOU TO CHANGE ANYTHING. EVER....DON'T CLICK.....

BLIZZARD WON'T LOCK YOUR ACCOUNT EVEN IF YOU DON'T RESPOND TO A LEGIT EMAIL.

I was told there are very few reasons they will email you....

#1. If you email them first.
#2. If you signed up for a battle.net contest- I was advised to call the 800 number to speak with an actual blizzard rep when this happens (last month, I actually did win one through their twitter contest).
#3. For a lock/ban/suspension of your account (once again, call to verify. Only get the number from the actual website you log into at battle.net).

These are just examples that I was given, I am sure there are more, but do not trust what people say, or email, or /tell, or whatever. If your account is as valuable to you as mine is to me, then CALL THEM DIRECT. Talk to a real human being. Find out whatever issue you have or are experiencing. That is truly the only way to know for sure that you are clear (and NEVER call a phone number that is emailed to you- use the number at battle.net where you log into services).

I know I capped quite a few words here and there, I am just trying to get the point across. I hope I did.