Account Banned - Question

#0 - Oct. 23, 2009, 10:33 p.m.
Blizzard Post
(I'm using a friend's account to post this.)

My account was recently banned and according to the email that I just saw, my account was banned due to abuse of the in-game economy. I received this email 2 days ago. I don't understand why my account is banned because I have not actually played WoW for the past couple of months because the computer that I own that can actually run WoW hasn't been working correctly due to numerous viruses/trojans. I've attempted to log on many times with this computer, but it simply can't handle the game anymore. The only times in the past couple of months I've successfully logged on was when I have had access to a friend's computer.

The email i received said that my account was using exploitative activity and abusing the economy by gaining "real-world" currency from in-game gold. I am wondering if my account was hacked because I haven't even been on much, and no one else has access to my account that I know of. I just looked on the armory, and my character "Orphodrood" on Lightninghoof isn't even the same level that he was when I stopped playing. When I stopped playing because of computer issues, he was level 73. Now he is 78.

The email that said I was banned was the second email that I received from Blizzard recently. I also got one on 10/15/09 saying that I had a 72 hour suspension. My account password was also changed, by Blizzard I assume to keep my account safe, but I thought the suspension was a mistake since I have not played recently, so I just changed it back to the original password which was obviously a mistake. A few days later, I was banned.

If you view your records, I have been playing for three years, I have never had a suspension or ban prior to these, and I'm sure you'll agree that evidence shows I must have been hacked.

Please try to help me solve this issue.
Thank you.
#3 - Oct. 23, 2009, 10:55 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
I am wondering if my account was hacked because I haven't even been on much, and no one else has access to my account that I know of.


This is indeed the greatest likelihood.

While we are not in a position to resolve these matters directly via the forums, I'd like to help set you on the right track toward recovering your account. It is most likely that your account was suspended due to actions taken while your account was compromised, it may be necessary to dispute the account action by contacting our Account Administration department via email at [email protected]. You can also report the compromise itself via this address. Be sure that any contact with Account Administration occurs exclusively from the email address registered to your account.

If you wish to recover your account and rejoin us within World of Warcraft, then it is very important that you please ensure that your computer is secure. You may find the following thread contains quite useful information for this purpose:

** Computer Security Recommendations **
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1778038509&sid=1

After you've done all that, it's time to report the compromise and recover your account.

This thread covers the majority of the pertinent information related to an account compromise, including how to recover your account, how to report the compromise, as well as some of the complications that can occur:

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

After your computer is secure and your account has been recovered, it is also important to change your account password, as well as the password to your registered email address. After you regain access to your account, it might be prudent to create a new email address that you use exclusively as the registered email address for your World of Warcraft account. When selecting the username and password for this email address, ensure that none of the information overlaps with that of your WoW account or with any other service you may use (guild websites, Facebook, MySpace, etc). Register this new address to your account and do not use it for anything else: no additional registrations, no guild websites, no newsletter sign-ups, et al.

A Blizzard Authenticator can bring not only a valuable layer of added security for your account, but peace of mind as well.
You can find out more about the Authenticator via this FAQ, the second link leads to the Blizzard store where you can purchase an Authenticator of your own:

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=24660
http://www.blizzard.com/store/search.xml?q=authenticator

You can also check the following sites to see if your wireless provider and mobile device are compatible with our free Mobile Authenticator, as well as read our FAQ on the subject:

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=26109
http://mobile.blizzard.com/support-compat.html/

Good luck!