The most current phishing scam is most sophisticated we have seen so far, and we’ve seen our share. The phishing scam arrives in the form of an email informing you that your World of Warcraft account will be disabled. The email gives a link for you to follow where you are sent to a login page. IT DOES APPEAR TO BE MUCH LIKE AND OFFICIAL BATTLE.NET login account page, making it far more sophisticated than those whom preceded this spam.
So the email you receive in your mailbox looks extremely legitimate, but is not at all. However, one of the links in the email directs to the phishing web site. Here’s the scam email letter you would receive if you fall victim to this scam.
Here is what the scam email looks like
Greetings,
Account Action: Warning
Account Offense: Violation of EULA and Terms of Service – Transfer of Account Ownership
Details: An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the account in question is being sold or traded, and a dispute has been filed regarding your account ownership. Blizzard Entertainment can provide no details regarding the origin of the dispute. In accordance with EULA section 4, Paragraph B, listed below:
World of Warcraft -> Legal -> End User License Agreement
and Section 8 of the Terms of Use:
Blizzard Entertainment -> Legal -> Terms of Use
A 3-hour probationary suspension is pending on this account, awaiting confirmation from a specialist. A warning has been issued. The investigation will be continued by the Account Administration team to determine the any further suspensions. If the account in question is found in violation of the EULA and Terms of Use, further action will be taken. Be aware that any additional inappropriate actions may result in the permanent closure of the account.
Thank you for respecting our position on this matter.
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It is recommended that you verify legitimate ownership of the account here:
http://us.battle.net/login?service=https2F%2Fbattle.net%2Findex.html
THIS IS THE LINK THAT DIRECTS TO THE PHISHING SCAM PAGE. THE LINK LOOKS LIKE A BATTLE.NET LINK. IT IS NOT A BATTLE.NET LINK. MOVE YOUR MOUSE OVER THE LINK, IN THE STATUS BAR OF YOUR COMPUTER YOU WILL SEE THE LINK ACTUALLY DIRECTS TO: http://is.gd/HN6m
Any further changes in account information, including email address, security question answer, account name, password, and/or account ownership name will be duly noted during the investigation and may or may not lead to further disciplinary action.
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Any disputes or questions concerning this account action can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/.
Account security is solely the responsibility of the accountholder. Please be advised that in the event of a compromised account, Blizzard representatives typically must lock the account. In these cases the Account Administration team will require faxed receipt of ID materials before releasing the account for play.
Please visit the World of Warcraft Policies and Terms of Use Agreement: http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/?id=agm01712p and http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/termsofuse.shtml for further information.
Regards,
Billing & Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/accountadmin/
How to protect yourself from this scam
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO YOU CLICK THE LINK IN THE EMAIL. You must first check the true destination of a link by running your mouse over the top of the link to see the text of where the link is headed. Or if by a mistake you did click the link, check the status address bar in your top browser, if you don’t see “blizzard.com” exit immediately.
PLEASE REMEMBER BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR ACCOUNT SPECIFIC INFORMATION OVER THE INTERNET. THE ONLY TIME BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT WILL EVERY REQUEST INFORMATION FOR AN ACCOUNT IS OVER THE PHONE. NEVER PROVIDE ANY OF YOUR ACCOUNT DETAILS TO ANYONE.
These phishing scam emails are just like the PayPal and eBay ones that are so popular, just avoid the headache and delete it or report it as spam.
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