Tuesday 8 June 2010

The Anatomy of Phish


I got this little gem in my mailbox last night. Since this sort of thing is going around a bit at the moment, I thought I'd use it as a bit of an example.

There are several reasons why this is most likely not a legitimate invitation to the Cataclysm Alpha or Beta tests.

Firstly, I don't know anyone who works for Blizzard, so there's no reason I would be getting an invitation to the Alpha.

Secondly, I haven't even opted in to the Beta in my battle.net account, so there's no reason why I would be getting a Beta invite.

The other reasons are pretty obvious as well. Why would Blizzard be sending me an in-game mail (from a character called "Fudafgh" no less) to invite me to a test? C'mon guys, you can do better than that. At least the spelling was correct, even if the grammar and layout was a bit weird.

If you get a mail (in-game or via email) that you suspect to be dodgy:

  1. If you don't have one already, GET AN AUTHENTICATOR!

  2. DO NOT GO TO THE WEBSITE.  Even for a look - it may well install a keylogger on your machine that can be used to record your passwords and hack your account.

  3. Report the mail to Blizzard. In-game, press the "Report Spam" button. If you've received a dodgy email, forward it to hacks@blizzard.com.  There's more information about how to distinguish official emails in this page on the Blizzard Support site.

  4. Laugh as you foil the Evil Person's evil plans!

  5. Did you get an Authenticator yet?  Don't leave it until later, slackers!

This message was brought to you in the interests of having a giggle at a terrible attempt at phishing.
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