Just buy the Authenticator. I'm trying to help you guys. There is no way in hell anyone can compromise your account if you have a Blizzard Authenticator. You will never, ever have to worry again about anyon hacking your account.
Even if someone hacks Blizzard and gets everyone's account info, they still cannot access your account if you have an Authenticaor. I'm tellin' you man, just do it. You'll never have to worry again. I swear.
from what i've seen here it looks like a big inside scam by Blizzard..just look at this post telling you to send more money to buy the authenticator from Blizzard..i would bet anything their behind all the customer account hacking going on just to rip people off..you have 2 choices
1) just quit playing anything made or run by Blizzard..
or
2) just keep paying out to Blizzard so you can get screwed over by them even more
I think you need to check your tin foil hat for leaks...
I SERIOUSLY doubt that Blizzard would have anything to do with any of that. Its more likely that hackers are targeting Blizzards accounts because of the money to be made in the gold and account market. I'm betting that some one with internal connections came up with the idiotic idea of using email addresses for log in, and wasn't slapped down by those who know better. That type of thing happens all the damn time in corporate systems. Authenticators are the way to go as a practical solution to the problem.
it's looks like you have chosen option number (2) Blizzard loves the suckers you better get your credit card ready like a good little mindless obedient stooge...
Just buy the Authenticator. I'm trying to help you guys. There is no way in hell anyone can compromise your account if you have a Blizzard Authenticator. You will never, ever have to worry again about anyon hacking your account.
Even if someone hacks Blizzard and gets everyone's account info, they still cannot access your account if you have an Authenticaor. I'm tellin' you man, just do it. You'll never have to worry again. I swear.
from what i've seen here it looks like a big inside scam by Blizzard..just look at this post telling you to send more money to buy the authenticator from Blizzard..i would bet anything their behind all the customer account hacking going on just to rip people off..you have 2 choices
1) just quit playing anything made or run by Blizzard..
or
2) just keep paying out to Blizzard so you can get screwed over by them even more
I think you need to check your tin foil hat for leaks...
I SERIOUSLY doubt that Blizzard would have anything to do with any of that. Its more likely that hackers are targeting Blizzards accounts because of the money to be made in the gold and account market. I'm betting that some one with internal connections came up with the idiotic idea of using email addresses for log in, and wasn't slapped down by those who know better. That type of thing happens all the damn time in corporate systems. Authenticators are the way to go as a practical solution to the problem.
What are you payed by the Authenticator unit you sell? Jesus fucking christ I can't believe the shit I hear from you people, it's really sickening. So you admit that the email login was not smart, but still endorse the authenticator as the solution, that baffles me.
I guess if you are a Blizzard employee then this makes sense, you'll get some benefit in your year-end bonus I suppose.
I'm not at liberty to disclose those numbers Citizen...<evil grin> Really guy, the only practical solution is to lock down your account. I'd love to join the witch hunt for the moron who came up with the email idea, but the senior partners are holding a profit sharing meeting over at Wolf, Ram and Hart, so I need to go...
Just buy the Authenticator. I'm trying to help you guys. There is no way in hell anyone can compromise your account if you have a Blizzard Authenticator. You will never, ever have to worry again about anyon hacking your account.
Even if someone hacks Blizzard and gets everyone's account info, they still cannot access your account if you have an Authenticaor. I'm tellin' you man, just do it. You'll never have to worry again. I swear.
from what i've seen here it looks like a big inside scam by Blizzard..just look at this post telling you to send more money to buy the authenticator from Blizzard..i would bet anything their behind all the customer account hacking going on just to rip people off..you have 2 choices
1) just quit playing anything made or run by Blizzard..
or
2) just keep paying out to Blizzard so you can get screwed over by them even more
I think you need to check your tin foil hat for leaks...
I SERIOUSLY doubt that Blizzard would have anything to do with any of that. Its more likely that hackers are targeting Blizzards accounts because of the money to be made in the gold and account market. I'm betting that some one with internal connections came up with the idiotic idea of using email addresses for log in, and wasn't slapped down by those who know better. That type of thing happens all the damn time in corporate systems. Authenticators are the way to go as a practical solution to the problem.
What are you payed by the Authenticator unit you sell? Jesus fucking christ I can't believe the shit I hear from you people, it's really sickening. So you admit that the email login was not smart, but still endorse the authenticator as the solution, that baffles me.
I guess if you are a Blizzard employee then this makes sense, you'll get some benefit in your year-end bonus I suppose.
I'm not at liberty to disclose those numbers Citizen...<evil grin> Really guy, the only practical solution is to lock down your account. I'd love to join the witch hunt for the moron who came up with the email idea, but the senior partners are holding a profit sharing meeting over at Wolf, Ram and Hart, so I need to go...
The discussion is not about how stupid using an email address for a username is, but you obviously have no clue what we have even been talking about the whole time, so just recommend that we all buy Authenticators and go on your merry way. tah tah...
Same here. I haven't played in 2-3 months and just last week I received emails on 2 different occasions of my password being reset. Upon looking at my account it seems a WoTLK trial was put on it and several new low lvl toons were created all with the same name, but on different servers. It would also appear that my account is now banned. I haven't logged into Blizzards site or the game in 2-3 months and I'm on a brand new built PC with a new install of windows 7. I tried calling Blizzard support, but everytime I did it told me the call volume was to high and to call back later. Not sure if i will ever want to play again or not, but I would atleast like to have the choice, especially with Cataclysm coming.
Currently Playing: Toying around with AoC and bored with Darkfall
Thinking of Playing: Fallen Earth or Darkfall after this months update.
Have Played: EQ1, EQ2, WoW, WAR, Vanguard, EvE, Requiem, PW, Lotro, Lineage2, AoC, SWG...
The number of accounts being comprimised is getting quite high recently; my account got hacked on the 11th of january actually. After several petitions, emails, and a phone call (i was on hold for like an hour then i gave up). i managed to get my account back about 4 days later after they removed the authenticator the fucking cunt attatched to my account. I logged in (with a new password and such) to find at least one character with a gibberish name on almost every server and all my characters deleted(75 pally, 70 warrior, 73 druid, 70 warlock,), except my beloved death knight that i worked my ass off on (apparently the dude found it in his heart to not delete him or any of his main spec gear) but he did take all my money and spent all my frost badges on primordial saronite... I've opened petitions and e-mails immediately after this and i was told that blizzards looking into my account for my reimbursment..its been two weeks and i have yet to hear from them. I'm just glad that i wasn't really into WoW when this happened, if this were to happen when say Wotlk launched? i would have lost my mind.
Edit: i also just want to state that I've had the account since april of 2005 and never canceled for more than 3 months at a time, and i've NEVER had any problem with this so i never though of any reason to buy myself an authenticator since I quite careful when surfing the interwebs.
The number of accounts being comprimised is getting quite high recently; my account got hacked on the 11th of january actually. After several petitions, emails, and a phone call (i was on hold for like an hour then i gave up). i managed to get my account back about 4 days later after they removed the authenticator the fucking cunt attatched to my account. I logged in (with a new password and such) to find at least one character with a gibberish name on almost every server and all my characters deleted(75 pally, 70 warrior, 73 druid, 70 warlock,), except my beloved death knight that i worked my ass off on (apparently the dude found it in his heart to not delete him or any of his main spec gear) but he did take all my money and spent all my frost badges on primordial saronite... I've opened petitions and e-mails immediately after this and i was told that blizzards looking into my account for my reimbursment..its been two weeks and i have yet to hear from them. I'm just glad that i wasn't really into WoW when this happened, if this were to happen when say Wotlk launched? i would have lost my mind.
Unfortunately this is what I am also expecting. It's really not even worth it to me to go through the trouble to get my account back. I don't really care about the account itself, I am just mad that my account was inactive for like over a year, then I login maybe three times for this damn Anniversary Re-Activation thing, convert to battle.net, and then out of nowhere I get this email that my account is now closed due to "Exploiting The Economy".
I mean I guess I should not be mad because I really don't care too much about the account, but I would still like to have the OPTION to re-activate it if I want to, and i played this game completely legitimate for 4 years, and this is how it ends...
It's just really frustrating to me, and it's obvious that other people are going through the same WTF?!?!?! shit, so all I can really say is, hey blizzard go fuck yourself.
I'm just glad that i wasn't really into WoW when this happened, if this were to happen when say Wotlk launched? i would have lost my mind.
I TOTALLY agree.
I haven't played since August, but I still didn't like the idea of some china man running around on my character. If this had happened 6 months ago I would have been seriously bumming.
I must say, Blizzard has been very understanding and cooperative in the matter. They knew straight away that my account was hacked because of the IP address of the person who was signed on to the account when I called.
I'm a bit anxious to re-sub (using thier 7 day free thingy) just to check the condition of my main character. The Blizz rep assured me that any lost items would be returned by a GM in game, and that all I needed to do was create a ticket (if necessary).
I've paid for the original game at launch. Then later bought the original client with the Burning crusade and started from scratch. I then purchased WotLk. I've paid for 1 character transfer and 1 character name change.
I refuse to pay for that damn authenticator out of principal.
I
If they have found a way to make accounts more secure... then I feel they should provide it... FREE.
I also found out recently my account was hit after I canceled it last year. I kept getting spammed with emails, all of which just screamed phishing attempt, and as time progressed I had a hunch to check the armory for my level 80. Come to find out he was off earning achievements at the very end of December and they were the quests done and money looted ones (gee seems like a farmer) I know theres nothing on my computer as Ive completely formatted my computer after I deactivated my account, and it was reactivated 3 months after. I use different passwords for each game, and I input my passwords with the on screen keyboard (yea call me paranoid)
Anyways Im still trying to work it out with Blizzard. I have to call them now to regain control of my account which has been linked to a different battlenet account, and I only have a small window during the time they are open to call, and sadly they always seem to be busy.
Your Authenticator is $6 dollars times 10 million subscribers
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Now subtract what it cost to have those designed and programmed. Add in the back end server infrastructure required to support them, and what it costs to have them manufactured, shipped out to Blizzards store locations, and the personnel to deal with them, and their delivery. I'm betting that what remains is a MUCH less impressive figure, if its positive at all. But thats irrelevant. Blizzards success(more than 11 million players) and the market for gold/accounts is what attracted the hackers. The practical solution is to lock down accounts with authenticators. Blizzard should ideally offer one to everyone. But they are a corporation, and suits seldom come up with such simple solutions.
Your Authenticator is $6 dollars times 10 million subscribers
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Now subtract what it cost to have those designed and programmed. Add in the back end server infrastructure required to support them, and what it costs to have them manufactured, shipped out to Blizzards store locations, and the personnel to deal with them, and their delivery. I'm betting that what remains is a MUCH less impressive figure, if its positive at all. But thats irrelevant. Blizzards success(more than 11 million players) and the market for gold/accounts is what attracted the hackers. The practical solution is to lock down accounts with authenticators. Blizzard should ideally offer one to everyone. But they are a corporation, and suits seldom come up with such simple solutions.
The point is - If they want us all to use Authenticators why don't they just come out and say "To play this game starting 2/1/2010 you will be required to use an Authenticator."
Fucking awesome! Great I'm more secure now yay! But that's not the point of this thread! It's about why we all got converted to battle.net and then our FUCKING ACCOUNTS GOT HIJACKED!
Your Authenticator is $6 dollars times 10 million subscribers
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Now subtract what it cost to have those designed and programmed. Add in the back end server infrastructure required to support them, and what it costs to have them manufactured, shipped out to Blizzards store locations, and the personnel to deal with them, and their delivery. I'm betting that what remains is a MUCH less impressive figure, if its positive at all. But thats irrelevant. Blizzards success(more than 11 million players) and the market for gold/accounts is what attracted the hackers. The practical solution is to lock down accounts with authenticators. Blizzard should ideally offer one to everyone. But they are a corporation, and suits seldom come up with such simple solutions.
The point is - If they want us all to use Authenticators why don't they just come out and say "To play this game starting 2/1/2010 you will be required to use an Authenticator."
Fucking awesome! Great I'm more secure now yay! But that's not the point of this thread! It's about why we all got converted to battle.net and then our FUCKING ACCOUNTS GOT HIJACKED!
I am sure blizzard would love to do that, but you have to realize there would be a lot of backlash. Ideally they should find a way to do it free for every member, or offer a discount for X months until the cost of the authenticator is paid.
As for the topic of the thread I think you are using a bit of hyperbole when you speak for everyone, because quit literally everyone playing wow right now is on the battlenet system.
My guild has had 1 hacked account since the change and we have about 300 members. This same person has been hacked 3 times now.
Your Authenticator is $6 dollars times 10 million subscribers
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Now subtract what it cost to have those designed and programmed. Add in the back end server infrastructure required to support them, and what it costs to have them manufactured, shipped out to Blizzards store locations, and the personnel to deal with them, and their delivery. I'm betting that what remains is a MUCH less impressive figure, if its positive at all. But thats irrelevant. Blizzards success(more than 11 million players) and the market for gold/accounts is what attracted the hackers. The practical solution is to lock down accounts with authenticators. Blizzard should ideally offer one to everyone. But they are a corporation, and suits seldom come up with such simple solutions.
The point is - If they want us all to use Authenticators why don't they just come out and say "To play this game starting 2/1/2010 you will be required to use an Authenticator."
Fucking awesome! Great I'm more secure now yay! But that's not the point of this thread! It's about why we all got converted to battle.net and then our FUCKING ACCOUNTS GOT HIJACKED!
Correlation does not imply causality. From various reports, the numbers of accounts being compromised before the conversion were showing an alarming increase. I suspect that is one of the factors that prompted the move. Though why anyone who knows anything about computer security, would make such a bone headed mistake as to use email addresses for log in, I have no idea what so ever. But attempting to claim that its the switch to Bnet itself that has caused these incidents is entirely speculation. They might just as well have been hacked under the old system. As I said ideally Blizzard should offer an authenticator to everyone.
Well, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has been hacked as the official forums seem to have an increase in hacked accounts.
I received an e-mail today saying that my account has been banned ("Type of Violation: Involvement in online trading activities"), my account has been in-active for a few months now.
I'm paranoid that I may have a keylogger, though no anti-virus shows anything, but anti-virus programs are useless for keyloggers - any fool can make one.
I've never had my account hacked before, but, once (few years ago, had a few upgrades since (new HDD's)) I Iogged out of the game to quickly install an add-on to help raid zul'gurub and WoW said my PC was compromised and I was unable to log into the game. Turned out that wowinterface.com had been giving people keyloggers through an Ad. Was a simple matter of deleting the file and quickly changing my password - my account was saved.
Since then I always use Firefox, with NoScript and ABP. I don't visit dodgy sites, I'm not stupid enough to fall for phishing attempts (I'd also like to point out that I've never had a phishing e-mail and I have absolutely no spam, nor have I ever with my ISP e-mail), I don't even download porn *shock!!*. I have taken all the pre-cautions that I can.
Obviously it's not 100% safe, but I am praying that this is an issue with battle.net, because if I do/did have a keylogger then everything I use my PC for (other games... lots of other games, e-mail accounts and bank account) could now be compromised.
Whatever the issue is, it seems like it's done by one group of people, it's way too much of a coincidence for all these accounts to be "hacked" at roughly the same time.
Your Authenticator is $6 dollars times 10 million subscribers
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Let's not get carried away here, approximately 6 million of the active subscribers are in China and I don't believe they're security is kept by Blizzard, that is done thru the Chinese distributor (used to be the 9, not sure who it is now). The US and EU subscriber count is approximately 5 or 6 million. Still that's a lot of subscribers, but heck those subscribers already pay around $14 a month, it's not like Blizzard is screwing them over a one time fee of $6. Let's get real here folks.
Well, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has been hacked as the official forums seem to have an increase in hacked accounts. I received an e-mail today saying that my account has been banned ("Type of Violation: Involvement in online trading activities"), my account has been in-active for a few months now. I'm paranoid that I may have a keylogger, though no anti-virus shows anything, but anti-virus programs are useless for keyloggers - any fool can make one. I've never had my account hacked before, but, once (few years ago, had a few upgrades since (new HDD's)) I Iogged out of the game to quickly install an add-on to help raid zul'gurub and WoW said my PC was compromised and I was unable to log into the game. Turned out that wowinterface.com had been giving people keyloggers through an Ad. Was a simple matter of deleting the file and quickly changing my password - my account was saved. Since then I always use Firefox, with NoScript and ABP. I don't visit dodgy sites, I'm not stupid enough to fall for phishing attempts (I'd also like to point out that I've never had a phishing e-mail and I have absolutely no spam, nor have I ever with my ISP e-mail), I don't even download porn *shock!!*. I have taken all the pre-cautions that I can. Obviously it's not 100% safe, but I am praying that this is an issue with battle.net, because if I do/did have a keylogger then everything I use my PC for (other games... lots of other games, e-mail accounts and bank account) could now be compromised. Whatever the issue is, it seems like it's done by one group of people, it's way too much of a coincidence for all these accounts to be "hacked" at roughly the same time.
Yes it is a coincidence, I also want people to consider another possibility, which is that an internal employee at Blizzard who had access to the database where login credentials are stored decided to steal them and sell them to some third party company.
The only reason I mention this is because there is NO FUCKING WAY my credentials were stolen by some website installing a keylogger or trojan onto my computer, because I am not a dumbass. And I have not even logged into this game for the last 2 months, not had it installed on any computers, etc, so where the hell did they get the password from, I have not been typing it anywhere!
So anyways, I'm sure when you call Blizzard they will say the same shit to you that they told me "You probably have a virus. And it's possible your password was stolen over a year ago and they are just now using it!"
LOL it's all a load of BULLSHIT. The bottom line is that I know there's no way my password was compromised by any fault of my own.
Originally posted by Varchar LOL it's all a load of BULLSHIT. The bottom line is that I know there's no way my password was compromised by any fault of my own.
Originally posted by Varchar LOL it's all a load of BULLSHIT. The bottom line is that I know there's no way my password was compromised by any fault of my own.
Originally posted by Varchar LOL it's all a load of BULLSHIT. The bottom line is that I know there's no way my password was compromised by any fault of my own.
There is nothing 100% in security.
Well no I guess not, so let's all just go home and go to sleep, there's nothing more to talk about.
So I guess I'll say this instead, I am 90% sure that my password was not compromised by any fault of my own. And I am 100% sure that I am very curious why all these people are having the same problem as me at the same time!
my account was hacked as well. i received an e-mail from blizzard today saying my account was banned for 3 hours due to spamming and that they had reset my password and i needed to login to change it on the website. i haven't logged into my account since call of duty modern warfare 2 came out because ive been playing the shit outta that game. anyways i changed my pw and now it shows that i must type in the code from the blizzard authenticator associated with my account. which again i don't have one and never in the past purchased one.
ive never purchased gold; ive never visited a false blizzard website and/or attempted to log into one. this was out of the blue and surprised me.
i emailed blizzard and currently waiting for a reply.
I guess that once they get control of the account, they put an authenticator onto the account so you cannot access it. I currently have been able to change my password for my account but it still says that I need to enter an authenticator code when I try to login so I'm not sure what is going on, or if I actually have been able to change the password. I think basically the new account owners want to make it as hard as possible for you get the account back, but it is still possible.
Maybe the account thief is still able to login to the account, who the fuck knows, Blizzard is definitely not going to tell you anything.
I have called customer support before about small things like getting an old character unstuck or whatever, and they are very friendly, but when you call about stuff like this they are d-bags, as expected.
The main issue is how the hell did my account credentials get compromised, yet they say nothing.
Comments
from what i've seen here it looks like a big inside scam by Blizzard..just look at this post telling you to send more money to buy the authenticator from Blizzard..i would bet anything their behind all the customer account hacking going on just to rip people off..you have 2 choices
1) just quit playing anything made or run by Blizzard..
or
2) just keep paying out to Blizzard so you can get screwed over by them even more
I think you need to check your tin foil hat for leaks...
I SERIOUSLY doubt that Blizzard would have anything to do with any of that. Its more likely that hackers are targeting Blizzards accounts because of the money to be made in the gold and account market. I'm betting that some one with internal connections came up with the idiotic idea of using email addresses for log in, and wasn't slapped down by those who know better. That type of thing happens all the damn time in corporate systems. Authenticators are the way to go as a practical solution to the problem.
it's looks like you have chosen option number (2) Blizzard loves the suckers you better get your credit card ready like a good little mindless obedient stooge...
from what i've seen here it looks like a big inside scam by Blizzard..just look at this post telling you to send more money to buy the authenticator from Blizzard..i would bet anything their behind all the customer account hacking going on just to rip people off..you have 2 choices
1) just quit playing anything made or run by Blizzard..
or
2) just keep paying out to Blizzard so you can get screwed over by them even more
I think you need to check your tin foil hat for leaks...
I SERIOUSLY doubt that Blizzard would have anything to do with any of that. Its more likely that hackers are targeting Blizzards accounts because of the money to be made in the gold and account market. I'm betting that some one with internal connections came up with the idiotic idea of using email addresses for log in, and wasn't slapped down by those who know better. That type of thing happens all the damn time in corporate systems. Authenticators are the way to go as a practical solution to the problem.
What are you payed by the Authenticator unit you sell? Jesus fucking christ I can't believe the shit I hear from you people, it's really sickening. So you admit that the email login was not smart, but still endorse the authenticator as the solution, that baffles me.
I guess if you are a Blizzard employee then this makes sense, you'll get some benefit in your year-end bonus I suppose.
I'm not at liberty to disclose those numbers Citizen...<evil grin> Really guy, the only practical solution is to lock down your account. I'd love to join the witch hunt for the moron who came up with the email idea, but the senior partners are holding a profit sharing meeting over at Wolf, Ram and Hart, so I need to go...
from what i've seen here it looks like a big inside scam by Blizzard..just look at this post telling you to send more money to buy the authenticator from Blizzard..i would bet anything their behind all the customer account hacking going on just to rip people off..you have 2 choices
1) just quit playing anything made or run by Blizzard..
or
2) just keep paying out to Blizzard so you can get screwed over by them even more
I think you need to check your tin foil hat for leaks...
I SERIOUSLY doubt that Blizzard would have anything to do with any of that. Its more likely that hackers are targeting Blizzards accounts because of the money to be made in the gold and account market. I'm betting that some one with internal connections came up with the idiotic idea of using email addresses for log in, and wasn't slapped down by those who know better. That type of thing happens all the damn time in corporate systems. Authenticators are the way to go as a practical solution to the problem.
What are you payed by the Authenticator unit you sell? Jesus fucking christ I can't believe the shit I hear from you people, it's really sickening. So you admit that the email login was not smart, but still endorse the authenticator as the solution, that baffles me.
I guess if you are a Blizzard employee then this makes sense, you'll get some benefit in your year-end bonus I suppose.
I'm not at liberty to disclose those numbers Citizen...<evil grin> Really guy, the only practical solution is to lock down your account. I'd love to join the witch hunt for the moron who came up with the email idea, but the senior partners are holding a profit sharing meeting over at Wolf, Ram and Hart, so I need to go...
The discussion is not about how stupid using an email address for a username is, but you obviously have no clue what we have even been talking about the whole time, so just recommend that we all buy Authenticators and go on your merry way. tah tah...
Same here. I haven't played in 2-3 months and just last week I received emails on 2 different occasions of my password being reset. Upon looking at my account it seems a WoTLK trial was put on it and several new low lvl toons were created all with the same name, but on different servers. It would also appear that my account is now banned. I haven't logged into Blizzards site or the game in 2-3 months and I'm on a brand new built PC with a new install of windows 7. I tried calling Blizzard support, but everytime I did it told me the call volume was to high and to call back later. Not sure if i will ever want to play again or not, but I would atleast like to have the choice, especially with Cataclysm coming.
Currently Playing: Toying around with AoC and bored with Darkfall
Thinking of Playing: Fallen Earth or Darkfall after this months update.
Have Played: EQ1, EQ2, WoW, WAR, Vanguard, EvE, Requiem, PW, Lotro, Lineage2, AoC, SWG...
The number of accounts being comprimised is getting quite high recently; my account got hacked on the 11th of january actually. After several petitions, emails, and a phone call (i was on hold for like an hour then i gave up). i managed to get my account back about 4 days later after they removed the authenticator the fucking cunt attatched to my account. I logged in (with a new password and such) to find at least one character with a gibberish name on almost every server and all my characters deleted(75 pally, 70 warrior, 73 druid, 70 warlock,), except my beloved death knight that i worked my ass off on (apparently the dude found it in his heart to not delete him or any of his main spec gear) but he did take all my money and spent all my frost badges on primordial saronite... I've opened petitions and e-mails immediately after this and i was told that blizzards looking into my account for my reimbursment..its been two weeks and i have yet to hear from them. I'm just glad that i wasn't really into WoW when this happened, if this were to happen when say Wotlk launched? i would have lost my mind.
Edit: i also just want to state that I've had the account since april of 2005 and never canceled for more than 3 months at a time, and i've NEVER had any problem with this so i never though of any reason to buy myself an authenticator since I quite careful when surfing the interwebs.
Unfortunately this is what I am also expecting. It's really not even worth it to me to go through the trouble to get my account back. I don't really care about the account itself, I am just mad that my account was inactive for like over a year, then I login maybe three times for this damn Anniversary Re-Activation thing, convert to battle.net, and then out of nowhere I get this email that my account is now closed due to "Exploiting The Economy".
I mean I guess I should not be mad because I really don't care too much about the account, but I would still like to have the OPTION to re-activate it if I want to, and i played this game completely legitimate for 4 years, and this is how it ends...
It's just really frustrating to me, and it's obvious that other people are going through the same WTF?!?!?! shit, so all I can really say is, hey blizzard go fuck yourself.
I TOTALLY agree.
I haven't played since August, but I still didn't like the idea of some china man running around on my character. If this had happened 6 months ago I would have been seriously bumming.
I must say, Blizzard has been very understanding and cooperative in the matter. They knew straight away that my account was hacked because of the IP address of the person who was signed on to the account when I called.
I'm a bit anxious to re-sub (using thier 7 day free thingy) just to check the condition of my main character. The Blizz rep assured me that any lost items would be returned by a GM in game, and that all I needed to do was create a ticket (if necessary).
I've paid for the original game at launch. Then later bought the original client with the Burning crusade and started from scratch. I then purchased WotLk. I've paid for 1 character transfer and 1 character name change.
I refuse to pay for that damn authenticator out of principal.
I
If they have found a way to make accounts more secure... then I feel they should provide it... FREE.
LOL great reference.
I also found out recently my account was hit after I canceled it last year. I kept getting spammed with emails, all of which just screamed phishing attempt, and as time progressed I had a hunch to check the armory for my level 80. Come to find out he was off earning achievements at the very end of December and they were the quests done and money looted ones (gee seems like a farmer) I know theres nothing on my computer as Ive completely formatted my computer after I deactivated my account, and it was reactivated 3 months after. I use different passwords for each game, and I input my passwords with the on screen keyboard (yea call me paranoid)
Anyways Im still trying to work it out with Blizzard. I have to call them now to regain control of my account which has been linked to a different battlenet account, and I only have a small window during the time they are open to call, and sadly they always seem to be busy.
My Guild Wars 2 Vids
LOL great reference.
Glad someone caught it... ^^ This conversation is losing all contact with reality, so it fits in rather well. ^^
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Now subtract what it cost to have those designed and programmed. Add in the back end server infrastructure required to support them, and what it costs to have them manufactured, shipped out to Blizzards store locations, and the personnel to deal with them, and their delivery. I'm betting that what remains is a MUCH less impressive figure, if its positive at all. But thats irrelevant. Blizzards success(more than 11 million players) and the market for gold/accounts is what attracted the hackers. The practical solution is to lock down accounts with authenticators. Blizzard should ideally offer one to everyone. But they are a corporation, and suits seldom come up with such simple solutions.
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Now subtract what it cost to have those designed and programmed. Add in the back end server infrastructure required to support them, and what it costs to have them manufactured, shipped out to Blizzards store locations, and the personnel to deal with them, and their delivery. I'm betting that what remains is a MUCH less impressive figure, if its positive at all. But thats irrelevant. Blizzards success(more than 11 million players) and the market for gold/accounts is what attracted the hackers. The practical solution is to lock down accounts with authenticators. Blizzard should ideally offer one to everyone. But they are a corporation, and suits seldom come up with such simple solutions.
The point is - If they want us all to use Authenticators why don't they just come out and say "To play this game starting 2/1/2010 you will be required to use an Authenticator."
Fucking awesome! Great I'm more secure now yay! But that's not the point of this thread! It's about why we all got converted to battle.net and then our FUCKING ACCOUNTS GOT HIJACKED!
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Now subtract what it cost to have those designed and programmed. Add in the back end server infrastructure required to support them, and what it costs to have them manufactured, shipped out to Blizzards store locations, and the personnel to deal with them, and their delivery. I'm betting that what remains is a MUCH less impressive figure, if its positive at all. But thats irrelevant. Blizzards success(more than 11 million players) and the market for gold/accounts is what attracted the hackers. The practical solution is to lock down accounts with authenticators. Blizzard should ideally offer one to everyone. But they are a corporation, and suits seldom come up with such simple solutions.
The point is - If they want us all to use Authenticators why don't they just come out and say "To play this game starting 2/1/2010 you will be required to use an Authenticator."
Fucking awesome! Great I'm more secure now yay! But that's not the point of this thread! It's about why we all got converted to battle.net and then our FUCKING ACCOUNTS GOT HIJACKED!
I am sure blizzard would love to do that, but you have to realize there would be a lot of backlash. Ideally they should find a way to do it free for every member, or offer a discount for X months until the cost of the authenticator is paid.
As for the topic of the thread I think you are using a bit of hyperbole when you speak for everyone, because quit literally everyone playing wow right now is on the battlenet system.
My guild has had 1 hacked account since the change and we have about 300 members. This same person has been hacked 3 times now.
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Now subtract what it cost to have those designed and programmed. Add in the back end server infrastructure required to support them, and what it costs to have them manufactured, shipped out to Blizzards store locations, and the personnel to deal with them, and their delivery. I'm betting that what remains is a MUCH less impressive figure, if its positive at all. But thats irrelevant. Blizzards success(more than 11 million players) and the market for gold/accounts is what attracted the hackers. The practical solution is to lock down accounts with authenticators. Blizzard should ideally offer one to everyone. But they are a corporation, and suits seldom come up with such simple solutions.
The point is - If they want us all to use Authenticators why don't they just come out and say "To play this game starting 2/1/2010 you will be required to use an Authenticator."
Fucking awesome! Great I'm more secure now yay! But that's not the point of this thread! It's about why we all got converted to battle.net and then our FUCKING ACCOUNTS GOT HIJACKED!
Correlation does not imply causality. From various reports, the numbers of accounts being compromised before the conversion were showing an alarming increase. I suspect that is one of the factors that prompted the move. Though why anyone who knows anything about computer security, would make such a bone headed mistake as to use email addresses for log in, I have no idea what so ever. But attempting to claim that its the switch to Bnet itself that has caused these incidents is entirely speculation. They might just as well have been hacked under the old system. As I said ideally Blizzard should offer an authenticator to everyone.
Well, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has been hacked as the official forums seem to have an increase in hacked accounts.
I received an e-mail today saying that my account has been banned ("Type of Violation: Involvement in online trading activities"), my account has been in-active for a few months now.
I'm paranoid that I may have a keylogger, though no anti-virus shows anything, but anti-virus programs are useless for keyloggers - any fool can make one.
I've never had my account hacked before, but, once (few years ago, had a few upgrades since (new HDD's)) I Iogged out of the game to quickly install an add-on to help raid zul'gurub and WoW said my PC was compromised and I was unable to log into the game. Turned out that wowinterface.com had been giving people keyloggers through an Ad. Was a simple matter of deleting the file and quickly changing my password - my account was saved.
Since then I always use Firefox, with NoScript and ABP. I don't visit dodgy sites, I'm not stupid enough to fall for phishing attempts (I'd also like to point out that I've never had a phishing e-mail and I have absolutely no spam, nor have I ever with my ISP e-mail), I don't even download porn *shock!!*. I have taken all the pre-cautions that I can.
Obviously it's not 100% safe, but I am praying that this is an issue with battle.net, because if I do/did have a keylogger then everything I use my PC for (other games... lots of other games, e-mail accounts and bank account) could now be compromised.
Whatever the issue is, it seems like it's done by one group of people, it's way too much of a coincidence for all these accounts to be "hacked" at roughly the same time.
-iCeh
This statement speaks very loudly. Even if Blizzard isnt to blame, which im not so sure, its a pretty good pay day for them.
Let's not get carried away here, approximately 6 million of the active subscribers are in China and I don't believe they're security is kept by Blizzard, that is done thru the Chinese distributor (used to be the 9, not sure who it is now). The US and EU subscriber count is approximately 5 or 6 million. Still that's a lot of subscribers, but heck those subscribers already pay around $14 a month, it's not like Blizzard is screwing them over a one time fee of $6. Let's get real here folks.
Yes it is a coincidence, I also want people to consider another possibility, which is that an internal employee at Blizzard who had access to the database where login credentials are stored decided to steal them and sell them to some third party company.
The only reason I mention this is because there is NO FUCKING WAY my credentials were stolen by some website installing a keylogger or trojan onto my computer, because I am not a dumbass. And I have not even logged into this game for the last 2 months, not had it installed on any computers, etc, so where the hell did they get the password from, I have not been typing it anywhere!
So anyways, I'm sure when you call Blizzard they will say the same shit to you that they told me "You probably have a virus. And it's possible your password was stolen over a year ago and they are just now using it!"
LOL it's all a load of BULLSHIT. The bottom line is that I know there's no way my password was compromised by any fault of my own.
There is nothing 100% in security.
There is nothing 100% in security.
That is what I have been telling you.
There is nothing 100% in security.
Well no I guess not, so let's all just go home and go to sleep, there's nothing more to talk about.
So I guess I'll say this instead, I am 90% sure that my password was not compromised by any fault of my own. And I am 100% sure that I am very curious why all these people are having the same problem as me at the same time!
my account was hacked as well. i received an e-mail from blizzard today saying my account was banned for 3 hours due to spamming and that they had reset my password and i needed to login to change it on the website. i haven't logged into my account since call of duty modern warfare 2 came out because ive been playing the shit outta that game. anyways i changed my pw and now it shows that i must type in the code from the blizzard authenticator associated with my account. which again i don't have one and never in the past purchased one.
ive never purchased gold; ive never visited a false blizzard website and/or attempted to log into one. this was out of the blue and surprised me.
i emailed blizzard and currently waiting for a reply.
Still don't believe there is an upswing? Blizzard just posted this Thursday afternoon:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=22748999538&sid=1
same as above poster 2 above me but i havnt played in last 4 months
I guess that once they get control of the account, they put an authenticator onto the account so you cannot access it. I currently have been able to change my password for my account but it still says that I need to enter an authenticator code when I try to login so I'm not sure what is going on, or if I actually have been able to change the password. I think basically the new account owners want to make it as hard as possible for you get the account back, but it is still possible.
Maybe the account thief is still able to login to the account, who the fuck knows, Blizzard is definitely not going to tell you anything.
I have called customer support before about small things like getting an old character unstuck or whatever, and they are very friendly, but when you call about stuff like this they are d-bags, as expected.
The main issue is how the hell did my account credentials get compromised, yet they say nothing.