Welcome,

Recently there has been an increase about people asking whether a certain email (address) is from Blizzard or not. With this guide I hope to reduce those questions a little.

Feel free to ask questions, but first read all I wrote. Chances are I already discussed the thing you are going to ask about.

Yours sincerely,
Schwick (Shadowsong-EU)
schwickster@gmail.com
MVP (http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=87109062&sid=1)

Please note, I’m not an Blizzard employee nor related

Blizzard emails will ALWAYS come from <EMAIL>@blizzard.com! Here you can find a list of known email addresses that are valid:

• WoWAccountReviewEU@blizzard.com (used for EU account reviews)
  
• WoWAccountReview@blizzard.com (used for USA account reviews)
  
• Newsletter@email.blizzard.com (used by Blizzard insider)
  
• Newsletters@enews.blizzard.com (used by Blizzard insider)
  
  So for example email addresses like
  
• blizzard@gmail.com
  
• WoWaccountreview@msn.com
  
• wow_account_review@hotmail.fr
  
• BlizzardVerification@gmail.com
  
• worldofwarcraftaccountrevieweu@gmail.com
  ARE NOT valid!
  

There are a couple of things that will instantly pop up the question if a mail is from Blizzard or not. Most of the times fake emails will ask for your password; Blizzard will NEVER asks for these things! DO NOT reply to these kind of emails!

Blizzard however will sometimes ask for things like:

• Your account details
  
• Other Character details
  Etc..
  
  Unless the email you received is a direct response to an email you have sent, never reply to such emails. Use the web-form found here: http://www.wow-europe.com/support/securitywebform/securitywebform.html?lan=en
  
  You can also use the above mentioned web-form to contact Blizzard in case you are unsure about the authenticity of an email from Blizzard.
  

The mail sometimes contains links. BEWARE that you are sure it’s a valid link. For example:

• WoWaccountReviewEU@blizzard.com (while it links to worldofwarcraftaccountrevieweu@gmail.com)
  
• https://www.wow-europe.com/account/ (while it links to www.imstealingyourpassword.com)
  
  Always double check the link you are going to click! Also note the difference between a “0” (zero) and “o” (for example w0w-europe.com) or a “1” (one) and “l” (for example 1inks.wow-europe.com). Also as of lately scammers use www.vvovv-europe.com & www.vvorldofvvarcraft.com (two "V"'s next beside each other instead of a "W").
  
  This is also known as “Phishing”. For more details read this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing
  
  To make sure a link is valid; Blizzard always used a secure connection. You can recognize this by the link provided is “https://”. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer display these website locations with a lock-icon.
  

If you are still not sure about the email address you can check some technical information.

Blizzard US
DNS: ob3.blizzard.com
IP: 216.148.0.68

Blizzard EU
DNS: eu-smtp02.blizzard.com
IP: 80.239.172.105
Or
DNS: eu-smtp01.blizzard.com
IP: 80.239.174.216

Blizzard insider
DNS: info.cme.vugames.net
IP: 12.129.240.41
Or
DNS: email.blizzard.com
IP: 12.129.200.219

OK here’s an example of an email scam.
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/741/fakewlkuj9.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5829/fakewlk2fb6.jpg

As you can see in the images this a beta invite for WLK (or so it seems). But do note the following things:

• Typo in the email: Worlf of Warcraft
  
• The URL is a spoof (check the link in the email and note the link left under)
  
• The header data says it’s from wotlkBETA@blizzard.com but the received from says another address
  
• The received SPF says it’s not permitted nor denied. A real Blizzard email shows up as accepted.
  
  So remember, keep your eyes out for such things!
  
  Here’s a fun test to test your knowledge: http://www.sonicwall.com/phishing/index.html
  

You can always ask questions here or use the web-form found here: http://www.wow-europe.com/support/securitywebform/securitywebform.html?lan=en

Also here’s a blue-post you could read: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=286852043&sid=1

Always keep your PC/Mac protected with the latest updates and security programs. More a guide about that, read this: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=273198555&sid=1

[ Post edited by Schwick ]