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What you should do if your World of Warcraft or WoW account has been hacked
There is a lot money to be made by people hacking World of Warcraft, or WoW, accounts. Hackers will hack users accounts and then transfer gold to another "mule" account. This gold will then be sold to other WoW users for real money. WoW accounts can be hacked either through brute force attempts or by malware that was installed on a user's computer that steals your account's username and password.
If you have found that your World of Warcraft account has been hacked, then please immediately follow these steps:
- The first thing you should do, even before changing your password, is to scan your computer with a few anti-virus and anti-malware programs. You should do this first because if you have a keylogger, then the hacker will learn the new password even after you change it. Therefore it is important to clean your computer first.
To do this, install an anti-virus program and update it or if you already have an existing anti-virus program, please make sure it is updated. Then scan your computer using your installed anti-virus program. As it is not uncommon for anti-virus programs to miss various malware, we suggest you scan your computer with multiple programs. Good scanners to use are Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, SuperAntiSpyware, Kaspersky Online Scanner (only scans, does not remove), and ESet Online Scanner.
Remember to update the definitions of any locally installed programs before scanning with them!
If you need any help with the malware removal part of this guide, then please follow the steps in this topic:Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help
- Immediately change your account password using the Battle.net Account Management system or Automated password recovery. If you are unable to login to Account Management or reset your password, then you should contact Blizzard Billing & Account Services to regain control of your account and its login information. The Billing & Account Services department is open 7 days a week from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. For US customers, you should dial 1-800-59-BLIZZARD, or 1-800-592-5499. If you are an international customer you should find the appropriate number listed here.
There may be quite a long hold time, so some have found it easier to just emailing billing@blizzard.com.
- If you use the same password on any banking, email, or other online services, immediately change the password to these services as well!
- Purchase a Battle.net Authenticator from Blizzard. These devices come in two versions, a United States and a Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America version, for $6.50 USD. These devices are connected to your Battle.net account and make it so your account cannot be hacked. It protects your account by requiring you to enter a unique one-time use password that is used in addition to your normal password. This unique password is displayed on the authenticator. There are no shipping fees for these devices.
If you have a iPhone, iTouch, or iPad you can download and install a free Battle.net Mobile Authenticator. More information about this application can be found here.
- Immediately read this guide on how to keep your World of Warcraft account secured against future hacks.
How to protect your World of Warcraft account from being hacked
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