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Keeping Your Warcraft Account Secure. 5 Things You Should Do.

By Paul Rone-Clarke | January 28, 2010

Hacking season is upon us. What with he Christmas holidays just past and people perhaps being excited about the forthcoming expansion, the hackers have been having a field day. Many accounts have been lost.

Apparently there is a scam that invites the player to join a fictitious \”Alp

ha\” test for \”Cataclysm\”. You hand over your account name and password then…Well nothing, they steal your account. There is no official Alpha test for Cataclysm. Within minutes you account is hacked, your bank (and in all likelihood your guild bank) is ransacked and if you are high level, your account is offered for sale to a third party.

There are now several sites looking just like the official Warcraft Armory. (Check the URL). They send you an email. The tag says Warcraft Armory, so you click it. It looks exactly like the armory on site. You sign up for some bogus \”special offer\” (often a pet or mount). And again, they have your account.

So what should you do if the worst happens?

First, unless they have secured your account with an authenticator, you should be able to get your password back – even if it has been changed – through Blizzards password retrieval form

If you get past this, change your account password straight away. Something with upper and lower case characters, mix in a few numbers and perhaps a few special characters as well. Phew.

If you think you have been targeted by a new form of scam, get on the websites and broadcast the details. Let others know about it. Many will thank you for it later.

Whether you have your account back or not, contact Blizzard. If the account has not been \”authenticated\” they may be able to freeze activity on it until they investigate. This happens more than you think, Blizzard tech are pretty good at sorting these problems out if there is a way out (like I said though, if the hackers used an authenticator, then you will lose your account).

Finally, consider getting an authenticator yourself. So far no account with these devices has been reported as lost or hacked. It\’s an extra one off cost, but if (like me) you\’ve ever lost an account, you\’ll know how valuable it seems.

Don\’t forget your guild mates. As you read this the hacker is at your guild bank emptying it into his backpack. Ruining your reputation with your guild – so go to your guild forum and get an e-mail address of a guild mate. Ask someone else you know to post on chat on your server. Anything. Let your guild mates know, otherwise they may well assume you have stolen from the guild bank, and you may not be welcome back.

It\’s a sad situation, but you can avoid it. Never give up your password, and consider the possibility of extra account security.

Take Care.

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