World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

There are several very simple things to do that can almost completely eliminate your risk of getting scammed in wow.  I say almost as there is always the possibility that someone sniffs network traffic to get your account info or happens to crack it by brute force, however these are not the normal methods used to get it due to the time and effort involved.

So, how do you avoid being scammed?  Follow these simple guidelines:

Never give anyone your accounts username or password – There is no valid need for anyone else to know this information.  Blizzard will never ask for it either, so don’t be fooled by an email, in-game message or anything else into supplying it.

Never create a character name with the same name as your account name – This is a common desire, since it makes everything simpler to remember, however it gives hackers half your information right away.  Many scammers will attempt to access your account by the character names they see, don’t let them have that option.

Never respond to people about gold, leveling, hacks, etc – Do not reply to emails, instant messaging or in game messages for any illicit activities.  Responding verifies that they have reached a valid person or account.  If it is in the game take a screen shot and forward a complaint to Blizzard to deal with the person.  If it is an email or instant message add that person to your block list or junk list.

Never use your account name or password on another place – It is human nature to keep things simple. Unfortunately this also makes it simple for hackers.  All they need to do is setup WoW site with forums promising information on something (usually quick gold farming methods) and trust that many players will sign in with there favorite username and password combination. They then use the information you used to create an account on their servers to log into your WoW account.

Change you password often and keep it complex – Many players never change their password, and even more have a simple password.  At a minimum you should change it every 3 months and ensure it is complex enough that it can’t be hit by accident.  An easy way to do this is swap out a few letters for numbers, such as replacing i’s with 1’s, e’s with 3’s or o’s with 0’s.  It makes a word like “secret” turn into “s3cr3t” which makes guessing it almost impossible.

Do not run programs you are unsure of on your system – There have been a few keyloggers around lately focusing on WoW players.  If you are not sure of the software you are going to run (IE: if it is not legitimate), then don’t run it.

If you must run UI mods, stick to well know ones – It could be possible for an unscrupulous coder to embed something into a mod to supply them with information about your account.  If you must run mods (most of us do), make sure you stick to well know and popular mods.  The odds of them turning crooked are lower although they still exist.

If you have questions or comments we would love to hear from you! Email me (Messiah@TenTonHammer.com) or post on our forums!