Blizzard Account Recovery

[MasterDex]

The other day I received an email from Blizzard informing me that my account had been hacked and was being used to spam in-game. Until this point, I was entirely unaware that this had happened since I hadn't used the account in a couple of years and had received no other notification from Blizzard that my account may have been compromised before this email. Considering no other account on the email was hacked, I didn't click any of those dodgy "blizzard" emails and I've kept my PC clean of viruses and so on to the best of my knowledge, I don't know how this occured. But that's beside the point of this thread. It got hacked, I found out and so I've set about reclaiming the account.

 

The first step was changing the password. With that done I moved on to the next step, changing my email. At this point I hit a wall as I could no longer remember what I put down for my security question - I explain why in the following support ticket.

 

I think it's time to get to the point of this thread. To get my email and security account changed, Blizzard requests proof of ID. The level of proof of ID, however, I feel is too great as surely they don't need as much as they ask for to be sure I am who I say I am and I'm not too comfortable sending the level of proof they require.

Read the following ticket to find out how things are going and then I'd love to hear your opinions on this. Is it too much? Just right?

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

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Me: Hi, I recently became aware that my account was hacked. Having been inactive in WoW, I was unaware of this but I have now begun to go about taking back control of my account. I have changed my password but believe that the old email address I used is compromised so I would like to change that as well. Unfortunately, I can no longer recall the answer I provided to my security question. "First model of car" as it was wishful thinking so to speak and I have yet to actually have a first car. I have the original boxes and keys if proof of ID is needed.

Thank you for your help and I hope to hear from you soon,

Declan

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CSR: Greetings,

 

We have determined that your account has been compromised using a Key Logger or Trojan virus which can be used to obtain the account name and password of Battle.net or World of Warcraft accounts used on that computer, or through means such as account details scamming via malicious websites or e-mail.

 

If you like to change your secret answer and question and also your email we need you to make a new ticket and attach a scan or photo of your photo ID to it.

 

1. Go on to eu.battle.net log in and click on support.

2. You click on ""Ask a question"" (Create a support ticket)

3. You choose ""I can't play at all"" -> ""I can't log in""

4. You go down to step 2

5. You enter a description of the issue and say what you like to change.

We need from you:

- Your full name

- Your "old" email address

- Your new email adress

- Your new secret question / answer

 

Choose one of the following for that:

 

- First elementary school I attended?

- The high school I graduated from?

- Mother's city of birth?

- Father's city of birth?

- Your city of birth?

- Name of your first pet?

- Best friend in high school?

- Your favorite sports team?

- Your first employer (company name)?

 

6. Under the description field you see

 

Attachment:

To expedite this ticket, please upload the following files:

Attach a file (acceptable file formats are BMP, GIF, JPG, LOG, PCX, PNG, SPX)

 

You can attach the picture of the photo ID there.

 

7. You submit the ticket and wait for us to get back to you ;-)

 

 

To ensure the security of your account, we recommend following the Security Checklist on our Account Security Site, which can all be found at:

 

http://eu.battle.net/security/

 

We have now reset your password and you will receive further details in a separate e-mail. Please make sure you have performed a virus scan before using this password. You will be able to change this password at your leisure, using the Battle.net Account Manager feature on our web site, located at: https://eu.battle.net/login/

 

A link to change your password will be sent from noreply@battle.net. If you cannot locate your password, please make sure to add noreply@battle.net to your contact list. This can most easily be achieved by sending a blank mail to that address, which automatically ensures future mails will be accepted and put in your inbox.

 

You can then use the Password Retrieval feature found at: https://eu.battle.net/recover in order to retrieve your password, if the email address registered to your account is correct and you can provide your secret question and answer. If this fails, do not hesitate to contact us via our webform https://eu.blizzard....ort/webform.xml and we will issue you another password.

 

Please be advised that further incidents of unauthorised access may lead to suspensions and loss of characters, items and gold, all of which can be avoided by following the preventive measures on the Account Security Site.

 

We hope you continue to enjoy your experience in World of Warcraft and all other Blizzard Entertainment products!

 

If you wish to review our current Rules and Policies for World of Warcraft and Battle.net, they can be found at:

 

http://eu.blizzard.c...ndex/wow_policy

 

http://eu.blizzard.c...termsofuse.html

 

Best Regards

 

Gamemaster Nilozerro

Customer Support

Blizzard Europe

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Me: Thank you for your help. Could you clarify what it is you mean by Photo ID? Am I to take a photo of my CD keys?

 

Thanks again,

Declan

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CSR: - A scan or digital image of nationally recognised photo ID, such as passport or drivers license (please do not include public transport cards, library cards etc, as these are unsuitable for our needs) as a separate attachment.

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Me: I don't have a valid passport or drivers license. Would a college ID suffice? If the college ID on its own isn't sufficient, I also have an old age card (issued by An Garda Siochana) that shows my name and date of birth. If these are not sufficient, I have some other cards that don't feature a photo but do have my name.

 

Thanks for the continued assistance,

Declan

In this response I attached the picture of the two above mentioned ID cards.

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CSR:Greetings Declan,

 

Unfortunately, the identification you provided was not accepted for the following reason(s):

 

The quality of the submitted image is too poor. (Blurry, low resolution).

The ID is no longer valid. (Expired).

The document provided is not an acceptable ID. (Not nationally accepted, e.g. school cards, library cards, insurance cards etc).

 

While these requirements may seem overly strict, we consider it to be of vital importance that accounts are claimed by their rightful owner. As such, these measures are necessary.

 

Please reply to this ticket and provide us with the following:

 

- A scan or digital image of nationally recognised photo ID, such as passport or drivers license.

 

Once we have received this information, we will be able to process your account further.

 

Regards,

 

Pholdure

English Game Master Team

Blizzard Europe

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Me:Hi Pholdure,

 

As I explained in my previous message, I do not have access to a passport or drivers license so there's no way for me to provide such without first going through the processes involved which here in Ireland can take months. If the provided ID is not sufficient, I can also send photos of my PSRI card (social security card) and my medical card. Both do not have a photo on them but they do have my name. I can also provide images of the original retail game boxes along with the original CD-key stickers inside those boxes. I have several bills that feature my name and the old address that I have here on my account.

 

Surely all this would be as sufficient, if not more sufficient, for proving my identity. After all, it's not as if a photo of myself was ever on file at Blizzard. I can also provide a link to my facebook account and if needed, get several testimonials that I am who I say I am from friends and family. There are many photos of me on Facebook also.

 

Thanks for the help, I hope this can be sorted soon,

Declan

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CSR: Greetings Declan,

 

Unfortunately, we couldn't use those for verification; what we could possibly use though, would be a scan of your birth certificate if you have that available to you - failing that, it would have to be something like a driving licence or passport I'm afraid.

 

Regards,

 

Lyanenaz

English Game Master Team

Blizzard Europe

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Me:Thank you for the quick response. I should have my birth certificate around here somewhere so it should be no problem providing that. However, if I do not have it, it may be another week before I can get a copy of it. Is my account in danger of suspension and loss of characters, etc within that time and if so, is it possible to ensure this does not happen until this problem is resolved?

 

Also, along with my birth certificate, should I provide anything else such as proof of address or a photo of my CD-keys? I would also like to know if it is possible to fax this information rather than transmit it over the internet. Finally, I would appreciate information on what would be done with the copy of my birth certificate after this issue has been resolved. Would it be kept on record or expunged?

 

Thank you for all the help thus far,

Declan

 

 

 

I really admire the level that Blizzard goes to to ensure account security but I feel this might be too much. So fire away with your opinions! Tell me how wrong I am!

[Johnny]

On the one hand it's a pain when you need to go through all the hoops. On the other, it insures that it's pretty close to impossible for someone to permanently take control of your account.

 

I've been down that road twice myself, and while it's a bit of a pain, I think it's mostly for the best.

 

If I was still playing WoW, I'd buy one of those cheap-ass authenticators they sell. It's not impossible to hack through that added security either, but it lowers the chance REMARKABLY.

[madbassman39]

I had the same issue. My email got hacked, and so did my Blizzard account. Someone used my email to create a battle.net account so I couldn't even recover my anything. I called blizzard support and they basically asked for my credit card number and then fixed everything for me. I really appreciated their help and registered it to a new gmail account. Then I was hacked again. I called again and they were like "yea, someone really likes your account" I then just asked them to delete it, and figured if I was going to play again, I had to start over anyways since my characters were deleted for too long to recover and I would just rebuy the battlechest for 25 bucks and start over. Frankly its been over a year since this happened and haven't really wanted to spend the money to get back in the game. So, for me, this was somewhat of a good thing. Still annoying, but I always check my credit card spending, so it didn't really change much else.... except for the spam mail that I get asking for my email and password to my battle.net account... and I know those are scams. One did promise me into the diablo 3 beta though...

[Mal]

Same as Johnny. The hoops are understandable but annoying.