14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that any popular means of communication can and will be abused by cybercriminals. More recently, they have started sending phishing messages via the in-game mail system of World of Warcraft (WOW).
“Pandaren explorers began to gather on the back of a giant turtle: Shen- Zin Sv. The great sear turtle roamed Azeroth’s oceans. You have been randomly selected to participate in the testing,” reads the shady message.
“Please activate the test status within 24 hours! You will receive the Dragon Turtle Mount as a pull-style horse event awards,” continues the email entitled Mists of Pandaria close Beta Test.
Well, who wouldn’t want to participate in beta testing?
However, this is nothing more than a scam that’s designed to lure users to a replica of battle.net. The perfectly forged website steals the account credentials of all the gamers who make the mistake of “logging in.”
After analyzing the server on which this particular site is hosted, Trend Micro researchers have made an interesting discovery. The same server also hosts other phishing websites specially created to steal Battle.net accounts.
“It is interesting to note that some of the phishing websites were registered just days after Blizzard announced that Mist of Pandaria will be the next World of Warcraft expansion. This clearly shows that the bad guys are up to date and are always in the lookout for events and opportunities to expand their nefarious schemes,” Trend Micro’s Menard Osena wrote.
On the other hand, Blizzard is busy raising awareness among gamers on the risks posed by such types of schemes. They’ve released a security page and introduced the authenticator which players can use when transferring funds from their Battle.net Balance.
Gamers are also advised to check out the Security and Gaming e-Guide published by the security firm.
