Blizzard warns on Twitter about scammers targeting your account in World of Warcraft. They share a forum post with information on what you can do to protect yourself from phishing attempts.
What is Blizzard warning about? Blizzard warns on Twitter about so-called phishing messages, which in this specific case have recently been increasingly spread through social networks.
As Blizzard writes, these messages try to lure you into using third-party websites, thus disclosing personal and account-related information.
Blizzard gives tips on how to protect your account
What does Blizzard say about how to protect yourself? Blizzard has shared a forum post from 2018 where they elaborate on what to look out for to recognize phishing messages and protect yourselves and your information.
According to Blizzard, you should pay attention to the following:
- Spelling mistakes, typos, and poor grammar
- Poor or misleading links
- “Often, the links contained in a phishing email appear to lead to a legitimate website, but instead redirect you to a completely different, ‘official-looking’ website,” says Blizzard’s customer service
- Blizzard explains: “If you see a link in a suspicious email message, you should be cautious when clicking on it. If you hover your mouse over the link, you should be able to see if the address the link leads to matches the link in the message. Usually, there is an attempt to include the term ‘Blizzard’ in the URL to give the impression that it is a legitimate company, with Blizzard often being misspelled (e.g., Bizzard, Bilzzard, Bilzard, etc.).”
- Threats and requests for account information
Blizzard also notes that an email from Blizzard comes from an official domain. This is usually Blizzard.com or Battle.net.
Phishing messages on social media – what to watch out for
What should you watch out for on social media according to Blizzard? As Blizzard writes in the forum post, it can happen on social networks that you receive messages from accounts/people claiming that your account has been hacked or suspended.
These accounts allegedly want to help you with the problem and thereby try to get you to log in with your personal data on a third-party website.
However, as Blizzard emphasizes, account recovery, whether after a compromise or by appealing an account action, can only be done through the official website and only by the registered user of the account. No other person or entity is able to restore an account or contest a measure.
If you receive such a message via Facebook or Twitter, the social networks actually offer you the option to report the messages.
- Reporting function via Facebook
- Reporting function via Twitter
Phishing messages in-game
What should you watch out for according to Blizzard? If you receive a message from a Blizzard employee in-game – whether via whisper or in-game mail – this will be marked with a special note.
This is how you recognize a Blizzard employee;
- In-game mail: In the upper left corner of the message, there is a Blizzard logo
- In-game whisper message: If you are contacted by a Game Master in-game, the Game Master will not only have a special blue Blizz-tag next to their name, but every chat initiated by a Game Master will take place in a special chat box that opens when you are contacted.
According to Blizzard, individuals impersonating a Game Master often use [GM] or Blizz/Blizzard as part of their name.
