Spleen Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 As some of you may know, sometime early this afternoon, my account was taken over. I'm not sure how this happened, I'm still running various scans that have, so far, turned up nothing. The only thing that I recall doing differently was an update of a addon for Equip Compare using wowmatrix. I really can't say that this is what caused it, but you might want to beware the addon. I contacted blizz by email (since the phones are off for the weekend) and a couple of people sent in tickets in my behalf. So far there's been no word. The two main characters have been moved to another server altogether, and I'm assuming that by the time blizz does something, they'll be completely stripped of all my schtuff. I don't know if anyone has had any experience with this, in as far as what resolution was reached, but I do know that if the characters cannot be return entirely intact, I will not be returning. There are many monsters in this game, but the worst ones are the ones you can't see... people. Be careful out there, have fun, and I hope to see you all again soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muru Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 Sorry to hear it! I had my account hacked 2 years ago from a trip to Allakhazam. After a bit of frustration, a fax of my license to Blizz to prove who I was, a few testy emails i sent to Blizz, my case was resolved successfully. They returned my characters intact! Hopefully, your case will also be resolved to your satisfaction. Let me know if ya need any help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldonnis Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I was sorry to hear about this earlier Personally, I'd suspect the ads provided via wowmatrix (but not saying it's their fault). My personal feelings about wowmatrix aside (let's just say I do not approve of their methods), most websites contract ad providers to serve and track the ads you see...some of which may contain viruses, worms, and other nasty things. Often times, the ad companies don't even know they're serving malware, sadly. Recent exploits against outdated versions of Adobe Flash and some other scripting languages used in many ads are even causing problems for non-gamers, so it's always best to keep everything updated as best you can. It's very unlikely that an add-on can cause those kinds of problems, since there is limited interaction possible between add-on code in-game and the rest of your computer's functions outside of the game (add-ons cannot even launch external programs and are restricted to certain types of operations). Could it happen? I suppose it could somehow, but it certainly would require more knowledge of the WoW internals than is documented. Aside from that, I'd recommend skipping wowmatrix and going to the author's preferred publishing site for their add-ons for a few reasons. It lets you see their notes and change lists directly and provides an avenue for feedback to them should you feel that something went wrong...not to mention that it's as close to "from the horse's mouth" as you can get. It's a bit more painful when you use as many add-ons as I do (over 100 for me), but I've made it a bit easier by creating a local html page with links to each that I can just click on to check for new versions. From a "where to go from here", several folks have mentioned the Blizzard Authenticators as a bit of extra reassurance. While I don't own one myself, I do feel that it's a good investment considering how much time and effort we put into our characters...and how much enjoyment we get from the game itself. With the widespread keylogger/hacking problems recently, I'll probably be ordering one at least for my main account soon to avoid any potential problems as well. Better to spend a tiny bit of cash now than worry about losing game time and items that I enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orcala Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Here's ways to prevent future attacks if you ever plan on coming back (i've had it happen to me twice personally) **stolen from WoW Forums** 1. Change your password now from another computer. Account Management Page Link. https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/login/login...e-password.html 2. Scan hard drive with your Anti-virus software. 3. AVG Free Anti-virus http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/ 4. Trend Micro HouseCall http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ (free service scan) 5. Link Scanner http://linkscanner.explabs.com/linkscanner/default.asp (this will save you the v-scan sometimes.) 6. http://www.sarc.com Symantec Antivirus Research Center. Education. Education. Education. http://www.symantec.com/norton/security_re...lorer/index.jsp 7. Keyscramblers http://www.qfxsoftware.com (free and very powerful) 8. Most virus attack your system through security whole in the Operating System, so update on a regular basis. Microsoft Windows Update http://www.update.microsoft.com/windowsupd...t.aspx?ln=en-us Apple Update http://www.apple.com/downloads/ **Also if you don't have it already get a Blizzard Authenticator, it's $6.50 but well worth the price. (haven't been hacked since or worry about it) http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000182 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holyssa Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 **Also if you don't have it already get a Blizzard Authenticator, it's $6.50 but well worth the price. (haven't been hacked since or worry about it)http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000182 Best seven bucks (or more if you factor in shipping, hehe) you'll ever spend on a Blizzard product. People have gone to crazy extremes to get WoW information, and it's only gonna get worse with the new xpac running full steam now. Here's hoping you can recover quickly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasena Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Spleen, I know someone who's account was hacked awhile back. Their characters were transferred to a different server. Fill out this form and they should look into it: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?tag=transferform Best of luck, Jasena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadi Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) I actually heard about the most recent spate of them, and even though I try really hard to keep my main computer clean (by only doing casual browsing on my laptop and not my gaming machine, using Firefox and AdblockPlus, etc), I know it's never foolproof. I was getting some wierd messages on my firewall yesterday, and in addition to the usual cleaning/scanning/etc, I ordered a Blizzard Authenticator as well... before I even read this thread and I'm doubly glad for it now. It's seven bucks, and they even ship it to you for free. I hope they can get you fixed up, Spleen. Every case that I've heard of where it happened, Blizzard did take care of it, but unfortunately it usually takes time. Edited November 24, 2008 by Kadi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spleen Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 I appreciate the advice - thanks everyone. I've really done the majority of the things suggested. Scanned the computer a dozen or so times using various reputable anti-virus/malware/keylogger software. They all turn up nothing. I keep the computer up-to-date and clear trash using ccleaner probably way too often. I don't go to the wowmatrix page -- my son gave me the executable, and the addons were scanned as well. I don't click on any advertisements on any wow website. I am truly baffled. Interestingly, the transfers of Vierendelen and Periphery were done using someone else's credit card. I would think the culprit could be traced that way, but it's out of my control; I'll let Blizz do what they need to do. The bad thing is -- I was advised to keep a ticket open to talk to a GM in-game. I waited 3 1/2 hours last night - and and currently in waiting on my deathknight. No telling when I'll get a response. and yeah.. blizz should give those authenticators away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perthes Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Well from talking to you last night Spleen. It does seem like Blizz support is not taking the seriousness of this a 100%. I guess paying them a monthly fee is not enough. Well lets hope that your toons will be transferred back today and the stuff you lost will start to pop up. A time line of a week is some what slow... I know for a fact they can check the logs just the minute or an hour before any of this happened. Then take a mirror / copy of the toons the way the were right there and paste em in now. Sure they need to make sure all that happened was not intentional but when several people sends Blizz a ticket that something is wrong.. I do wonder... will Spleen's time during the "downtime" when Blizz is investigating this.. Will he be given an extension on payment etc.. as he have not had a chance to do much while waiting for blizz to go through the logs.. Prolly not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasena Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Well from talking to you last night Spleen.It does seem like Blizz support is not taking the seriousness of this a 100%. I guess paying them a monthly fee is not enough. Well lets hope that your toons will be transferred back today and the stuff you lost will start to pop up. A time line of a week is some what slow... I know for a fact they can check the logs just the minute or an hour before any of this happened. Then take a mirror / copy of the toons the way the were right there and paste em in now. Sure they need to make sure all that happened was not intentional but when several people sends Blizz a ticket that something is wrong.. I do wonder... will Spleen's time during the "downtime" when Blizz is investigating this.. Will he be given an extension on payment etc.. as he have not had a chance to do much while waiting for blizz to go through the logs.. Prolly not Perthes, It is not as simple as a mere cut and paste as you imply. As a person who did fraud and criminal investigations for a living, I would know. Yes, this may only be a game. However there are REAL LIFE laws that have been broken. And this type of investigation does take real time to put together. And yes, there maybe logs that can be checked. But remember this is NOT the only account that is been hacked. And IF these logs are to exist then they would to mine data for ALL these cases, and submit them to the proper authorities, and/or make restorations as needed. As well as weed out people who may CLAIM their account has been hacked when it really was not. So this would be a much more complex process then a mere cut and paste. :o) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perthes Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Ive typed up a reply but deleted it several times due to me being a concerned friend. Anyway... these things can be fixed so easy.. But due to some company policy.. they are not. But im not gonna go any further.. for my own sake. I hope all gets fixed fast so we can get back to the questing and exploring together Spleen. I miss you by my side when we are questing and exploring together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scryll Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Sure there are logs, but they're REALLY extensive. They take time to go through, even if you can give them minute-level precision, much less a period of hours. And there are only so many people to cover all of the petitions. And no, they won't give you game-time credit for the period your account has been hacked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oriahtundra Posted November 27, 2008 Share Posted November 27, 2008 Sadly I think Blizz may just not be able to prosecute the amount of people this is happening to. My Paypal was hacked about 5 years back, they attempted to take out 1k then 10k. BoA froze my account. I finally got my Paypal account reinstated a year later, and even with the guys full name the money was being sent to and friends in law enforcement trying to help me. I, to this day, never heard of ANY kind of legal action on thier part. They were more concerned with me sending the correct cover page for reinstating my account :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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