Hacked!

[Kamalia]

Hey guys. I tried logging into my account this morning only to be met with an authenticator code request. Thing is, I've never gotten an authenticator on my account. Zoomed over to the armory and checked my two highest leveled characters. Sure enough, they're running around in their undies. So far my Petopian hunter, Tyrii, hasn't been touched, but if she starts acting strangely, don't blame me! I've already sent off an email to Blizzard, but so far have only gotten an automatic response. I'm also currently scanning my computer. I've never bought gold, leveling services, ect.
Do you guys have any more tips on what to do? Or what to expect from an email once an actual person answers it? I've never had any problems before, and I've been playing for three years!

[Saturo]

That sucks. Just remember:

If they ask if you want a care-package, SAY NO. That means that you will get a few emblems instead of your gear. Ask instead that they restore your characters. They'll do that.
JUST DON'T TAKE THE CAREPACKAGE. One of the guys in my old guild thought that it was a character restore. He was very disappointed, and didn't get his gear back afterwards.

[Teigan]

I've never been hacked, knock on wood, so don't really know. But, maybe try calling? And most always, things are restored fairly quickly from what I hear. The keylogger that made this possible could have come from almost anywhere. Hell, even MMOChampion got hacked and was handing out a free virus with every visit on Friday morning. You should get an authenticator after this blows over, cause the interwebz is a scary place.

[Kamalia]

Thank you, guys. Care Packages = NO, got that. /half-hearted laugh
I hope it doesn't happen to you, Teigan. It's a very awful feeling when it dawns on you that your account has been hacked...

[Saturo]

This should help you:
(Some tips on what to do after getting hacked) http://www.wow.com/2010/01/21/help-my-a ... en-hacked/
(Info about the carepackage (don't take it...)) http://www.wow.com/2010/01/08/blizzard- ... -concerns/
(Password restore) http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/loginsup ... sword.html

[Ungoro]

The exact same thing happened to me in November, didn't get my account back for 2 months, and if I did then it would get hacked again. Which means my scans and ways of protection were useless against the trojan I had. They might be farming Relics of Ulduar, which is what they done with me and they possibly made level 1's on different realms aswell as your main realm and are selling gold.

Seeing as I couldn't get rid of this trojan I decided I was going to get a new better computer, which I have. Hopefully though you'll be able to get rid of it fast!

[Phyra]

Also, if you've not done so, you'll want to CLEAN YOUR COMPUTER.


TIPS:

* You'll probably want to run antivirus software when you've your Warcraft screen up and gibberish typed in the user name / password sections. A number of viruses/trojans/whatever are dormant / hidden until after you've activated Warcraft.

* From a CLEAN computer, you'll want to change your passwords for both your Warcraft account AND at least your email account. It may be a good idea to change up all your passwords after you've a clean computer. Make strong passwords by creating them at least 7 characters long and at least one number or special character.

* Get your own authenticator. Seriously. Less than $7 with tax + shipping.

* Notify your guilds if you can, to have them remove you so they don't have to submit tickets for missing items and the like.


There's probably more stuff, but this is the stuff remembered off the top of my head. Cleaning your computer / finding the problem is the biggest priority as is changing your information to make it more secure.

In addition, if you don't use it already, I would suggest using a browser like Firefox with No Script, Flash Blocker, and Ad Blocker. This can help tremendously in helping further safeguard your computer and web activity.

[kairii]

Emailing again will take time
hackers nowday will sometimes use a authenticator to make it harder to get your account back
a fellow lock i know had this happen i dont know how it works in other countries but from belguim this is what he did ;
- ran his anti virus system to find keylogger/hacker
- sent a email to blizz inform then on the matter also he added he would call them later (i dont know if that helps but he was rahter mad at the slow service he has heard of in teh past via emails)
- after 5 hours and no email back he called blizz
- 30 min wait time and got though was asked to prove teh account was his so copied his driving and passport and emailed that to them
- after 10 mins trying to prove he was teh account owner and never hhad bought a authenticator blizz told him to wait a day so they could delete teh authenticator off his account and restore his item

what he did in a sum up version
this matter will take time but dont get down about it :3
and as Phyra has wonderfully listed use firefox!

[Kamalia]

I am currently using Firefox and have been for a while, so I'm still not sure how this keylogger managed to get my password...
Anyway, I got an email form Blizz telling me that my account was closed because one of my characters was involved in selling gold. So... is this a good thing? It's good because my account is no longer being violated, it seems, but does that mean I can't get my account back to me, the rightful owner...?

[Palladiamorsdeus]

Bah, they went that route. When I got hacked, I had some one in my guild contact a GM the first time, and the GM sent me an e-mail to change my password, and removed the authenticator from my account. The SECOND time they actually went through Blizzard.com, and my Yahoomail account. I changed my mail over to another, safer mail carrier and I haven't had any problems since.

But no, it's not a good thing. It is on the one hand, since they can't screw with your characters, but now you have to go through the process of convincing them that that was NOT you. This happened to a friend of mine years ago, back in TBC, and when they finally unbanned him, he had lost ALL of his gear.

[Ungoro]

This case sounds pretty much the same that I went through, my account got banned for a week because of gold selling. Seeing as this situation seems so familiar the chances are you have a trojan that when you typed in your password, the torjan/keylogger quickly took your password sent it to the hacker and then he was ablet o change the password and put an authenticator on it...Or something along those lines anyway.

[Noor]

I am currently using Firefox and have been for a while, so I'm still not sure how this keylogger managed to get my password...
Anyway, I got an email form Blizz telling me that my account was closed because one of my characters was involved in selling gold. So... is this a good thing? It's good because my account is no longer being violated, it seems, but does that mean I can't get my account back to me, the rightful owner...?

Yes, that is a good thing. My account got hacked last week Friday, and I called Blizzard to have it closed. I dialed the 1-800-59-Blizzard number over and over and over until I got through to the queue, and then waited for 1 hour 15 mins to actually TALK to someone. Anyway, they removed the authenticator from my account, and sent off a request to have my account restored. I was lucky, that only one character was stripped of equipment, the rest, I assume, were used to farm with. My DK was in Hellfire when I regained control of my account. Anyway...

Install AVG Anti-Virus, Spybot Search and Destroy, Malwarebytes and Advanced systemcare. They are all free, the first three detect malware and viruses, whilst the latter fixes your registry. When you scan your PC, go to the log in screen of WoW before you scan your system. Apparently some keyloggers and stuff do not start up until you're at that point.

What is so weird, is that I hadn't logged into my WoW account or blizzards website for some time (my account was frozen at the time). So, it must have been something I've had on my PC for some time. Anyway, in my case, a week later my account got "banned", and I had to call again, and get it sorted. And the following morning, my stuff was returned to me. Unfortunately my DK lost everything, except the gear she was wearing, because the gold farmer had been using her to farm for nearly 18 hours before we caught on to the hack. So, I took all the grays and greens that I was re-imbrused and sold them to a vendor as a "reimbursement" for her huge stash of herbs and gems.

Good luck in getting your account back!

[Kamalia]

Good news everyone! We managed to talk to an employee over the phone and it seems like everything is getting cleared up. I'm not sure how long it will take to get my account fully restored, but it's still good news. I just have to change a few passwords and email addresses, and I think I'll be okay.

Thank you all for your support! <3

[Palladiamorsdeus]

Oh good! I was worried about that, I am glad you are getting it back safely.

[kamoodle5]

I ended up getting the same authenticator confirmation when I tried to log in on Battlenet today.

[Rarako]

If at all possible have an email account just for battle.net, nothing else. My account was hacked because someone tracked down my email address and hacked it. They then put their email address as primary (like when you set up a new one) so they could have all Blizzard emails forwarded to them and know if I changed my password. I checked my Mac after the fact and there were no viruses or trojans on it so they must have just old-school hacked my password (it took them four days) then they were off like a bullet. My room mates woke me up around 4:00 am one morning and I had to watch Sers run from the bank to the mail box in Dal over and over... I was able to get my password rest and change the email my account was attached to in a little over an hour, so they couldn't access it anymore but the damage was done. It took about ten hours to get a GM to contact me and four-six days to get my stuff back depending on the character. Most I can say is keep WoW to it's own email account and buy an authenticator! In the long hall it will save you a lot of tears and grief.

[Ghanur]

Flash is known for beeing the biggest attack vector as of today!
It has more vulnerabilities than IE 6.0

And keep a Linux boot CD ready, to reset your passwords after you suspect an attack.
Ubuntu install is a live CD too, no need to install anything on your computer. http://www.ubuntu.com/

Remember, an infected PC can't be scanned and cleared while the OS is active - you need a boot CD with malware-removal tools. (IE http://www.avira.com/en/support/support_downloads.html : Avira AntiVir Rescue System, the .iso).

[Saturo]

Excellent ideas Ghanur. Having a Linux system just works too

[Ghanur]

Excellent ideas Ghanur. Having a Linux system just works too

Well, I am paranoid - I do play EVE Online

[Saturo]

Hehe. A common factor, then.

But really. If you want security, Linux is the way to go. It's also known as literally lag-less, and I can testify that WoW on a Linux-system is one of the nicer things I've ever played.