One of the sadder parts of this job is reporting on the numerous scams that sweep across the World of Warcraft landscape. It's no secret that your WoW account is valuable to thieves -- the entire gold-selling industry is built on a foundation of hacked accounts and stolen items.

Their latest scam vehicle? Our inherent desire for sparkle ponies. Let's get two things straight off the bat:

1. You did not just win a free Celestial Steed mount. That in-game tell is an attempt to steal your account.
2. No one just bought you a Celestial Steed mount. That email you got is an attempt to steal your account

If it sneaks by your spam filter, the latest scam email can be quite convincing. The message, which appears to be from sales@mail.blizzard.com, masquerades as a receipt for the purchase of the $25 Celestial Steed mount. Of course, the email is not actually from Blizzard (the "from" email is spoofed), and the links to Battle.net and Worldofwarcraft.com inside send you to a phishing website designed to steal your password or infect your computer with a keylogger.

Attempt to collect your sparkle pony, and within a few short hours, your entire account will be under someone else's control. If you haven't put an authenticator on your account, the scammers will do it for you, locking you out of your own account and severely hampering your ability to get it back.

More information on the latest scam, what you can do to protect yourself and what to do if you're a victim, all after the break.

Continue reading New scam tries to give you a free Celestial Steed

Filed under: News items, Account Security

New scam tries to give you a free Celestial Steed originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments