Monday, August 16, 2010

Scumbags (and how to not fall prey to them)

I'm sure I'm not the only person who has been seeing an increase in spam emails from "wowaccountadmin" or "noreply@blizzard.com" or any other number of bullshit addresses claiming to be Blizzard. The amazing part for me is not that I'm receiving these emails, but that a) they're being sent to an email address that was never associated with any WoW/battlenet account and b) that people still fall for this. So, for those of you who haven't already learned how to spot the fakers, I give you the following:

1) Look for typos. I know... seems silly, right. I mean, these guys are going to all the trouble (not really) of spamming tons of people with their fake email, you'd think they'd catch a few typos, right? Wrong. While these scumbags may be good at spoofing and creating fake login sites, they've got poor English skills. So, read the whole email and look for English Fail!

2) Read the entire link. http://www.blizzard-account-notice.net/account...(blah blah blah) is not a valid address for Blizzard or WoW. Some aren't as blatant as this, so pay attention. Also, look for typos in the address, such as www.worldofwarrcraft.com or similar typos. The guys trying this are really just too lazy or unskilled to do #3. Don't give them the satisfaction.

3) Don't fall for the spoofed link! Pay attention to what link you click. If you're using Google Chrome, mouse over the link or with IE, just right click and the address you're being directed to should pop up in the lower status bar. If the link says "www.worldofwarcraft.com" but the mouseover bubble or status bar shows the link as something else, then it's safe to say, you're about to be duped. If you don't have this mouseover bubble thingie (like my technical terms?) when you click on the link, look at the address you've just been directed to, then see #2 above.

I'm sure there are all sorts of other things to pay attention to, but these are the most obvious clues. Don't give scumbags the satisfaction. Don't fall for this crap. If you're ever unsure, go directly to the source and check with Blizzard (type in the correct address, don't use a link unless it's YOUR link). They're pretty good about responding. Don't just assume that an email that claims that blizzard is going to delete your account if you don't respond immediately is legit. The worst thing that happens is that your account gets deleted until you can correct the problem with blizzard over the next few days. If you click on the link and give these scumbags your info, your account gets hacked and you lose a lot more.

If you have more tips, please post them below.