Occasionally, players may receive official-looking e-mails asking for their account name, password, and other account information. These e-mails, which are made to look as though they come from Blizzard Entertainment, sometimes threaten dire action unless the player provides his or her login information (perhaps to verify the legitimacy of the account). Do not fall for these scams!

REMEMBER: Blizzard employees will NEVER ask for your password.

• How can I tell whether or not the e-mail I received was fake? What should I do if it is fake?
  
  There are a few things to look for when determining whether or not an email is legitimate.
  
  
  • Emails from Blizzard Entertainment will originate from an @blizzard.com or @battle.net address.
    
  • Blizzard employees will NEVER ask you for your account password. No matter how legitimate an email may appear, if it asks for your password, it is not from Blizzard Entertainment.
    
  • Correspondence from Blizzard Entertainment will employ proper spelling and grammar.
    
  • Often, phishing e-mails will claim that an account has been found in violation of a specific policy and will be closed if the owner does not "verify ownership." The "verification" process usually includes replying directly to the e-mail and providing very detailed account information (name, password, e-mail address, CD key, etc).
    
  • In some cases, these phishing e-mails will ask account owners to visit a malicious website. These websites will frequently ask the account owner to enter an account name and password to "log in" and are able to glean your account information through this method. If you are ever asked to visit a website linked within an email, please be extremely cautious and always double-check the destination of the hyperlink.
  
  
  
  
  For additional tips on how to determine the legitimacy of a questionable e-mail, please review the following support article:
  
  
  How to Identify Fake or Phishing Emails
  http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=25133
  
  If you determine that you have received a fake e-mail, please forward the e-mail to hacks@blizzard.com.
  
  
  
• Why am I receiving these e-mails? What can I do to ensure malicious parties do not have my e-mail address?
  
  In most cases, e-mail addresses are gleaned from unofficial World of Warcraft web pages (guild websites, fan sites, etc) and social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace, etc). To help prevent the reception of these emails in the future, you may wish to set-up a new, separate email address and register it to your Battle.net account. When selecting the username and password for this new email address, ensure that neither overlap with that of any World of Warcraft account merged with your Battle.net account or any other login type (guild websites, Facebook, MySpace, etc).
  
  Once this address is registered, do not use it for anything else: no additional registrations, no guild websites, no newsletter sign-ups, et al. Keep this address isolated to your Battle.net account.
  
  IMPORTANT NOTE: Your registered Battle.net email address is also your account name. Creating an email address exclusively for this purpose and keeping it secret can be an important step in securing your World of Warcraft account.
  
  
  
• I replied to a fake e-mail and now they have my private billing information (e.g. Secret Answer, CD-key, etc.). What do I do?
  
  Remain calm and change your Battle.net password (https://us.battle.net/account/management/index.xml?), as well as your email's password. Also, to ensure the receiving party knows as little information as possible, we also recommend that you update your Battle.net e-mail address to a new, secure e-mail. If you desire an extra layer of security, we recommend obtaining a Blizzard Authenticator (http://us.blizzard.com/store/search.xml?q=authenticator) or using our Mobile Authenticator app for several mobile carriers (http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=26109).
  
  
  
• I clicked a link contained within a fake e-mail. Am I safe?
  
  Sadly, we are unable to verify whether or not your computer is infected with a malicious program. As a result, it’s virtually impossible for us to determine whether or not your computer is “safe”. We strongly recommend that you review our Computer Security Recommendations sticky (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1778038509&sid=1) for more information on how to locate and remove key-loggers and how to protect your computer from malicious programs.

For more information, please review the following thread:

Account Compromise Info Center:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14318909866&sid=1

In the following posts, you will find an ever-growing list of the phishing e-mails that have been reported on the Customer Service Forum.

Receive a phishing e-mail not listed in the posts below? Or have a question regarding the legitimacy of an e-mail?
Let us know by creating a new thread on the Customer Service Forum!

REMEMBER: Blizzard employees will NEVER ask for your password.

Here is a sample of an e-mail that is usually sent.

---

Q u o t e:

From: "WoWAccountAdmin" <WoWAccountReview@blizzardadmins.net>

Greetings,

It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell or trade your personal World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, these actions conflict with the EULA and Terms of Service (TOS) of Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft. If upon further investigation you are indeed attempting to obtain monetary profit against the TOS agreement, your account can and will be disabled. Blizzard has the right to consider legal action if necessary, based on the severity of the action.

If you hope to avoid account suspension you should verify your personal possession of the account in question. We at Blizzard Entertainment take infractions of the TOS quite seriously and we must confirm the original ownership of the account. This is easily done by supplying your account information below.


Please use the following template below to verify your account and information via email.

* Account Email:
* Account Name:
* Account Password:
* Secret Question and Answer:


If you ignore this communication your account can and will be closed permanently due to suspicions of alternative ownership. We ask that during the investigation you give approximately twenty-four hours of inactivity after sending a response email. This should provide enough time for Blizzard to confirm your identity and that the TOS are being followed as outlined.

Blizzard Entertainment Inc
Account Administration Team
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623

Regards,

Krondel
Account Recovery Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc.

---

Here is another example of a phishing e-mail:

---

Q u o t e:
It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell/trade your personal World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement. If this proves to be true, your account can and will be disabled. It will be ongoing for further investigation by Blizzard employee's. This action is taken because we at Blizzard Entertainment takes these sales quite serious.

If you wish to not get your account suspended you should immediately verify your account. We need to confirm you are the original owner of the account. This is easiest done by confirming your personal information along with concealed information about your account.
You can confirm that you are the original owner of the account by replying to this email with:

* First and Last name
* Address
* Zip code
* Phone number Daytime
* Country
* Account e-mail
* CD-key, or a photograph of your CD-key that is located on your manual for World of Warcraft.
* Account name
* Account password
* Secret Question and Answer

And attach a screen shot of the key on your instruction booklet ( if possible). Reply to this with the information within 1 week, or your IP will be banned permanently, which will not let you play and/or make an account. Feel free to visit http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowbilling/ to contact us or for more information


Regards,
Account Administration Team

Blizzard Entertainment Inc
Account Administration Team
P.O. Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623

---

I can not stress this enough: No employee of Blizzard will ever ask for your password. Even if the e-mail looks legit, if it asked for your password it is not from Blizzard Entertainment.

And here we have yet another sample, thank you, Kraevac.

Outside of an initial mistake with the greeting the links look to be real. Unfortunately what you see isn't necessarily what you get.

The link to the Account Management site actually takes you to www.worldof v v arcraft.com/account if you click the worldofwarcraft.com\account link found in the e-mail.

---

Q u o t e:
In attention of our World Of Warcraft customer,

Our automated security systems have indicated that access
to your online account was temporarily blocked due to to repeated
login failures. Our logs indicate that your account received 20
authentication failures during this time. It is most probable
that your account was subject to malicious attack through automated
brute forcing techniques. While World Of Warcraft were able to successfully
block this attack, we would recommend that you ensure that your password
is sufficiently complex to prevent future attacks.

You must click the link below and enter your password on the following page to confirm the reactivation of your account.

https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account

- Verify that your contact information is accurate and update it if
necessary.

- Create a new, not-easily guessed, secure personal password; an
example of this may include letters and numbers.

- Please be sure to scan the computer system you are using to remove
all viruses, Trojan files, and key loggers.

- Maintain safe Internet practices and safeguard all World of Warcraft
account information for the most secure gaming experience.

======================================================

Website Support:

A wide variety of Account Administration questions and answers are available on our web site at: http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa

======================================================
======================================================

Server Status Forum:

If you cannot log onto World of Warcraft, you may want to check the
Server Status Forum for current maintenance downtime and information at: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&forumId=11113

======================================================
======================================================

Game Masters:

Game Masters (GMs) are Blizzard Entertainment personnel that are available
in-game to assist you with your gameplay related questions, problems, etc. Learn
more about Game Masters, including how to contact them at http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowgm/

======================================================
======================================================

Best regards,
World of Warcraft Account Administration Team
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa
Blizzard Entertainment

*Emails to our Account Administration team may not receive a response for the following reasons:
- Use of profanity
- Spamming (sending the same email multiple times)
- Attachments containing viruses (these are deleted automatically)
- The message is a form of feedback or comment which does not require or request a reply

---

And yet another (thanks Simpuhl)! The link on this one leads to a screen similar to the Account Management login screen, and is designed to trick you into entering your login information. If you receive a suspicious email, it's always a good idea to check with an official Blizzard source prior to following such links.

Please keep in mind that we do not currently request ownership confirmation via the Account Management page, nor will our staff ever ask for your password.

---

Q u o t e:

Greetings,


An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that the account in question is being sold or traded.
As you may not be aware of, this conflicts with Blizzard\'s EULA under section 4 Paragraph B which can be found here:
WoW -> Legal -> End User License Agreement

and Section 8 of the Terms of Use found here:

WoW -> Legal -> Terms of Use

The investigation will be continued by Blizzard administration to determine the action to be taken against your account.
If your account is found violating the EULA and Terms of Use, your account can, and will be suspended/closed/or terminated.

In order to keep this from occurring, you should immediately verify that you are the original owner of the account.

To verify your identity please visit the following webpage:

<removed>

Only Account Administration will be able to assist with account retrieval issues.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Sincerely,


Account Administration

Blizzard Entertainment

---

And yet another one, thank you, Maeglin.

---

Q u o t e:

Greetings,



We are writing to inform you that we have bad Personal info. To refresh you Personal info fallow this link:

[page that looks like an official page]


Please do not reply to this email as you will receive an automated response.



Regards,





English Game Master Team

Blizzard Europe

---

Let it be known that you can not identify these fake e-mails by grammar alone. :(

If ownership of the account was in question we would not ask you to visit a website and enter your information. A password alone doesn't prove that you are the registered user of the account, just that you have the password.

Depending on the validity of the claim we would either reset your password new one sent to the registered address for your account or lock the account and you would need to fax or send by postal mail the retrieval form along with a copy of your ID (possibly with a request of notarization).

Here is a copy of the fake e-mail received. Thank you for the example, Trponmytotem.

---

Q u o t e:

"Greetings,

It has come to our attention that you are trying to trade or sell your World of Warcraft account. As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement of Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft. If upon further investigation you are indeed attempting to obtain monetary profit against the terms of the user agreement, your account can and will be disabled.


Blizzard has the right to consider legal action if necessary, based on the severity of the violation. In order to avoid account suspension, you should verify your ownership of the account(s) in question. It is possible to have more than one accounts registered to one e-mail address; if you do, please verify both accounts.

We at Blizzard Entertainment take infractions quite seriously and we must confirm the original ownership of the account(s). This is easily done by supplying personal information about your World of Warcraft account. You can confirm you are the original owner of the account by verifying your information here.

If you ignore this email your account will be closed permanently for violation of the EULA (End User License Agreement).

We obtain this information due to a variety of circumstances; some of which are:
I) A post on an account selling/trading website
II) Suspicious behavior
III) Sudden Internet Protocol address changes


We look forward to your cooperation.




Regards,
Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623"

---

And we have yet another one going around.

As with a few of the others, the links are not as they seem; please make sure to check where the links in e-mails are actually directing you to before clicking on them. This one has quite a few grammatical issues as well, but as mentioned above that is not the only way you can determine what is fake and what is not.

---

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

It has come to our attention that your World of Warcraft account has been involved in a trade or has been sold. Selling/Trading World of Warcraft virtual property is against Blizzards EULA under section 4 Paragraph B which can be found here:


http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/eula.html


Your account has been investigated thoroughly and has been flaged for an account vertification process. If you feel that your account has been flaged improperly please read bellow:


Your account may have been compromised using a Key Logger or Trojan virus which can be used to obtain the account name and password of World of Warcraft accounts used on that computer. We therefore need to verify that your computer is secure before asking you to confirm the account’s ownership.

Please make sure that you are using the most current routines for your anti-virus software.

If your virus detection software is not able to detect or clean the infected files, or if you do not have any virus detection software, then please try one of the following web-based virus scanners:

Windows:

- Panda ActiveScan
- Trend Micro Housecall
- McAfee FreeScan

Mac:

- McAfee FreeScan

Please note that Key Loggers and Trojan viruses send information about your passwords to other people and should be considered a serious threat to the integrity of your account. If steps are not taken to remove any possible programs from your computer, it is highly probable that your account will become compromised once more.


Once you have performed the above steps, please use the webform to finish your account vertification process:


- <Removed>


If this vertification process is not completed within 5 days of the e-mail being recived the account will have the appropriate action will be taken:


Account Closure

Accounts are closed when a player has excessively and/or grossly violated our policies. When an account is closed, the player is no longer able to access the account. Account Closures are rare and represent a player who is unable to abide by our rules and insists on negatively affecting other players\' enjoyment of the game or harming the service itself.

Most serious account penalty
Very rare
Permanent service revocation


If you are experiencing difficulties finalizing this request, please call our Billing and Account Services department at 1-800-592-5499 between 8:00am and 8:00pm Pacific Time, Monday-Friday.


Regards,

The World of Warcraft Support Team
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowindex/

---

The below attempt is very, very convincing. Its grammar and diction are on par, and the links appear legitimate. The one to be incredibly wary of is the first, which looks like a redirect to Account Management. It instead sends you to a location ending in "freehostia.com/verify.html," requesting then for an account name and password.

Please note: Should ownership of an account come under question, the account will first and foremost be locked to prevent further access which may be unauthorized. If your account is still accessible and you receive an email of this nature, please proceed with caution. With this, we will never request for verification through either a link or through an email address which does not end specifically in "@blizzard.com".

---

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

Thank you for your attention in this matter regarding the compromised World of Warcraft account you are using. Unfortunately, multiple parties have contacted Blizzard Entertainment seeking restoration of the account in question. This message contains an updated Account Retrieval process, which will enable the rightful user of the account to resume their adventures in the World of Warcraft.

The investigation will be continued by Blizzard administration to determine the action to be taken against your account. If your account is found violating the EULA and Terms of Use, your account can, and will be suspended/closed/or terminated. In order to keep this from occurring, you should immediately verify that you are the original owner of the account.

To verify your identity please visit the following webpage:
https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/login/login?


Only Account Administration will be able to assist with account retrieval issues.

Please help us to avoid any further delays in restoring Account access by following the instructions exactly and in their entirety. We will contact you again once all information has been received and thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation in resolving this account issue. Please be sure to provide all pertinent data as soon as possible since Blizzard Entertainment is unable to offer any type of reimbursement for the time an account is locked for verification and investigation purposes.

In the meantime, please make sure to scan the computer system you are using to remove all viruses, Trojan files, and key loggers. For more computer/Internet security tips, please visit http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20572. In addition, World of Warcraft account passwords should be periodically changed by visiting <removed>.

Any inquiries concerning this account retrieval process can only be addressed by Account Administration. To learn more about how Account Administration is able to assist you, please visit us at <removed>. Thank you for your patience and anticipated cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely, <name removed>
Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/wowaa/
World of Warcraft , Blizzard Entertainment 2008 ©

---

And we have another one. :) Thank you, Davejohnsan.

---

Q u o t e:
Greetings,

An investigation of your World of Warcraft account has found strong evidence that you are eligible for an account upgrade. You are eligible for the Wrath of the Lich King Beta. To sign-up and get your download please visit our website at this special link:
http://worldofwarcraft.com/login This process usually last's one week. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Sincerely,

Account Administration
Blizzard Entertainment

---

The odd phrasing is a clear indication of a fake e-mail. For those with questions about WotLK Beta you should review our post regarding the Beta Opt-in.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=7722643353&sid=1

Unfortunately, additional phishing e-mails are being sent out in response to the clamor surrounding the Wrath of the Lich King beta. Once such e-mail is as follows:

---

Q u o t e:
Greetings -

We are sending you this e-mail to inform you that we are entering the beta stage of the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, initially in the form of an invitational beta for a random selection of players.We are happy to inform you that you have been selected for this initial testing stage!

The beta site, which contains both signup and additional information, including the terms of use, regarding this limited testing phase can be found at
[website removed]

So get ready! Enter the distant lands of Northrend and participate in yet more vicious battles as you fight your way to the Lich King at his citadel on the Icecrown Glacier!

Best Regards,
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/

---

And here we have another Wrath of the Lich King Beta invitation e-mail that is most definitely fake.

---

Q u o t e:
Greetings!

You are receiving this email to notify you that you are have been accepted by the opt-in for beta testing of our exciting new expansion pack, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King!

The beta testing will run through the summer of 2008 until December 31, 2008! The opening day of the beta testing has not been released yet. However, you will be notified via email after you sign up the day it is opened.

During the beta testing you will be able to copy up to three(3) characters and/or automatically create one(1) character of the new hero class in our Wrath of the Lich King expansion, the Death Knight! We are seeking loyal customers, previous beta testers, and endgame players to beta test for us.

You have received this email for one of the following reasons:
-You have been accepted in the Wrath of the Lich King opt-in!

You will need to sign up at <Link to a non-Blizzard site> to finish your registration for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Wrath of the Lich King Beta Key:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623


World of Warcraft , Blizzard Entertainment 2008 ©

---

Notice the bad grammar of the first sentence: "you are have been accepted". While bad grammar does not always mean that it's fake, it definitely raises suspicion. The key factor with this one is the link being fake as well as this portion:

---

Q u o t e:
The beta testing will run through the summer of 2008 until December 31, 2008! The opening day of the beta testing has not been released yet. However, you will be notified via email after you sign up the day it is opened.

---

The beta has already entered it's beginning phases and we have not published an end date as of yet. Please be very cautious when looking at the invitation e-mails.

We've seen a few different variations of the Beta scam. Check out this e-mail:

---

Q u o t e:
Wrath of the Lich King Beta Signup
From: noreply@blizzard.com
Sent:July 24, 2008 3:03:23 AM
To: xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.com


Greetings,

We are proud to announce the release of our new expansion pack, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King! You are invited to join in the beta testing to experience the new features and provide your input to our design team.

The beta testing will run through the summer of 2008 and will end on September 31, 2008. Your application will be reviewed and accepted within the next 24 hours and you will receive an email detailing how to download the patch and more.

If interested, please sign up at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wotlkbeta/id=327924 to register for a chance to be one of our beta testers for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Features:
-Brave the harsh new continent of Northrend, the icy domain of the Lich King.
-Test the powers of the Death Knight - the new class introduced in this expansion.
-Quest to level 80, gaining potent new abilities and talents along the way.
-Learn the craft of spell augmentation with the new Inscription profession.
-Click here to learn more!

Thank you for your time and on behalf of Blizzard Entertainment, we hope to you enjoy the testing period of our exciting new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King!

Regards,

The World of Warcraft Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623

---

Similar to the post above, the e-mail lists a set beta period; however, no such dates have been set.

Be careful, everyone.

Sadly, we have another to add to our collection:

---

Q u o t e:
Wrath of the Lich King beta test.

You have been selected to participate in the beta test of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Welcome!
In the beta test you will get an opportunity to play the new Northrend continent, the Death Knight hero class, and character levels above 70. We look forward to your feedback on the overall experience, including quests, monsters, zones, aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter. These can be logged using the /bug command explained below.
Getting started:
-In order to participate in the beta test, you must upgrade an existing retail account which has been upgraded with The Burning Crusade, allowing you to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade game client that you use must be patched up to version 2.4.2 or later in order to install the beta test client.
Go to http://beta.wow-europe.com/expansion to download the installer, and once your account is upgraded, copy character(s) to our test realms.
-Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft account name and password you use, and the appropriate beta code listed below to authenticate your eligibility to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. To participate in the beta tests, you must have a valid retail World of Warcraft account active and in good standing as of July 15, 2008. Below is a beta code that will allow you to upgrade the Account you use to play World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Each beta code can be used only once to upgrade an active retail World of Warcraft account.



[removed]


To upgrade your current World of Warcraft account, please visit https://www.beta.wow-europe.com/expansion/betaoptin/id=18873.

Please retain this email for your records. If you experience any issues creating or accessing the temporary Blizzard Account, please email Billing Support at wowbetabilling@blizzard.com.
Sending us feedback:
-Typing /bug in chat will open an error reporting interface, and we encourage you to use it any time you encounter a problem or want to send us a suggestion.
Troubleshooting:
-If you experience any difficulties installing the beta game client, or have problems connecting to the test servers, please contact Technical Support either by posting on the appropriate forum at http://beta.worldofwarcraft.com or by email at wowbetatech@blizzard.com. Please remember that this software is still undergoing development, so any in-game issues should be reported using the /bug feature.

Regards,

Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com ; http://www.blizzard.com

---

---

Q u o t e:
Wrath of the Lich King Beta Invitation!


You have been selected to participate in the beta test of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King®. Welcome!

In the beta test you will get an opportunity to play the new Northrend continent, the Death Knight hero class, and a character above 70. We look forward to your feedback on the overall experience, including quests, monsters, zones,
aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter. These can be logged using the /bug command explained below.

Getting started:

In order to participate in the beta test, you must upgrade an existing retail account which has been upgraded with The Burning Crusade, allowing you to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. The World of Warcraft:
The Burning Crusade® game client that you use must be patched up to version 2.4.2 or later in order to install the beta test client.

go to http://beta.wow-europe.com/expansion to download the installer, and copy a character(s) to our test realms.

Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft account name and password you use, and the appropriate beta code listed below to authenticate your eligibility to connect to the Wrath of the Lich King test realms. To
participate in the beta tests, you must have a valid retail World of Warcraft account active and in good standing as of july 15, 2008

Below is a beta code that will allow you to upgrade the Account you use to play World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade®. Each beta code can be used only once to upgrade an active retail World of Warcraft account.





Please retain this email for your records. If you experience any issues creating or accessing the temporary Blizzard Account, please email Billing Support at wowbetabilling@blizzard.com

Sending us feedback:

Typing /bug in chat will open an error reporting interface, and we encourage you to use it any time you encounter a problem or want to send us a suggestion.


Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623

---

This e-mail looks fairly legitimate. Unfortunately, however, the links used within the e-mail are very deceptive. Just because a full link is posted does not mean that clicking it will lead to that destination. In the above email if you were to click http://beta.wow-europe.com/expansion you would find that it leads to an address other than http://beta.wow-europe.com/expansion. In most cases, you can see the destination of a link in the lower left-hand corner of your web-browser. If the destination does not match the text version of the link do not click it.

Please proceed carefully when you receive a "beta invite".

For more information on how to identify phishing e-mails, please review the following support page:

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=25133

And here's our North American version. :)

Note: The signature is not valid, and the sending address—"noreply"—does not apply to Beta invites.

---

Q u o t e:
You have been selected to participate in the beta test of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Welcome!

In the beta test you\'ll get an opportunity to test the first zones of the new Northrend continent, and the new levels above 70. We look forward to your feedback on the overall experience, including quests, monsters, zones, aesthetics, and more. We would also appreciate reports on any bugs you may encounter. These can be logged using the /bug command explained below.

Getting started:

In order to participate in the beta test, you must upgrade an existing retail account that has been upgraded with The Burning Crusade, allowing you to connect to Wrath of the Lich King test realms. The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade client that you use must be patched up to version 2.4.2 or later to install the beta test client.

Go to http://beta.worldofwarcraft.com and follow the detailed, step-by-step instructions to begin playing the Wrath of The Lich King beta.

Please be prepared to enter the current retail World of Warcraft account name, password, and more infomation to authenticate your eligibility to connect to Wrath of the Lich King test realms. To participate in the beta tests, you must have a valid retail World of Warcraft account active and in good standings as of July 15, 2008.

Please retain this email for your records. If you experience and issues setting up the beta account or accessing the test realms, please email Billing Support at wowbetabilling@blizzard.com

Sending us feedback:

Typing /bug in chat will open an error reporting interface, and we encourage you to use it any time you encounter a problem or want to send us a suggestion.


Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623

---

Latest email. This one has a few key elements:

- wowgametimesurveys@gmail.com
- invalid link
- inaccurate signature

Blizzard Entertainment possesses its own domain; valid emails will come from "@blizzard.com" and not from popular hosts. With this, the link is not Blizzard-sanctioned and the signature from Account Administration—although a common set-up for these fake attempts—has never been used in any of our departments' correspondence.

---

Q u o t e:
Greetings!

You are receiving this email to notify you that you are have been chosen to take our free Blizzard Entertainment Game Survey, when you are done, you will recieve 10 free days of game time added to your account.

The Survey is meant to rate and critique Activision Blizzard games so we know what to do for future games releases. The survey is one-hundred percent free, and we highly suggest you take it.

During the survey you will be asked to answer some personal and non-personal info, so please be prepared.

You have received this email for one of the following reasons:
-You have been a level seventy for more than 2 months, at which point we can prove that you are a satisfied customer.
-Or also, you have been in the beta for a previous Blizzard Entertainment Game

You will need to take the survey at <link removed> to finish your registration for
Blizzard Entertainment: The Survey


Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.


Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623




World of Warcraft Survey For Game Time Promo

wowgametimesurveys@gmail.com

---

From Beta to Authenticators... We have a new phishing e-mail to bring to your attention:

---

Q u o t e:

Congratulations!

You have been randomly chosen to receive one brand new Blizzard Authenticator. If you choose to activate this with your account you will have to enter the numbers on the Authenticator to access your account every time. This is to help prevent unwanted account compromises.

Protect your World of Warcraft account with industry leading account security - introducing the Blizzard Authenticator! The Blizzard Authenticator is designed as a supplemental authentication method for your World of Warcraft account, giving you the security of Two-Factor authentication. Each time you log in using the Blizzard Authenticator you are provided with a unique, one-time use password to use in addition to your regular password. Log in with both and you can rest easy knowing that your account is now even more secure from malicious attacks such as keyloggers and trojans.
Simple and easy to use – press one button to display the digital code. Setup of the token is simple and takes only a few minutes.
Small and convenient – take your token to wherever you play World of Warcraft and know that your account is secure.
Tough and durable – lasts for years and replacement is easy.
Provides for the highest account security available in the game industry today

In order to receive your Authenticator, you will have to verify your account information at the following link:
<link to false site>

You will receive your Authenticator to the address you provide. You will receive your new Authenticator in 2 weeks. Shipping and handling will be free of cost.

To activate your Authenticator you must log into your account. From there, click on the \"Add Blizzard Authenticator\". You will be required to enter in your 10 digit serial number found on your Authenticator.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and your continued interest in World of Warcraft.

Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment Inc
P.O Box 18979, Irvine,CA 92623

---

Here's the latest and greatest (not really):

---

Q u o t e:
The Emerald Nightmare Has Begun!

Greetings!

The time has come yet again to begin on our next expansion: World of Warcraft: The Emerald Nightmare!

This exciting expansion will offer many new features including two new races: Ice Trolls and Variants, Under Water Cities, New Professions, and even a new Realm type!

For the first time Blizzard Entertainment is holding pre-Closed Beta Opt-ins to a lucky few of our dedicated players and you have been chosen! You will receive your Beta Opt-in Key BEFORE the Closed Beta is opened to testers, assuring you a place in (link removed led to a ripaway always mouse over before you click)

Follow the link below and fill out the required forms to add you to our list of soon-to-be Beta Testers! World of Warcraft: The Emerald Nightmare

The Nightmare has begun…..

Please do not delete this email, or show it to anyone.

Regards, Account Administration Team Blizzard Entertainment Inc P.O Box 18979, Irvine, CA 92623

---