Guild Wars 2

We’re talked about account security and phishing in the past, such as in this legacy forum thread. However, because we’ve noted a modest uptick in account thefts related to phishing, we wanted to share some info with you.

One of the more common phishing attempts today is coming from within the game. The in-game message claims to come from ArenaNet or the Guild Wars 2 Team or it may be signed by someone who purports to be a member of our GM team. Some of the in-game mails may resemble a common phishing attempt we noted a couple of years ago, which you can view here.

So what can you do, to prevent this sort of thing?

• First, you should secure your account through SMS or Mobile Authentication. There’s a good article on our Knowledge Base that will give you a lot of info about securing your account. If you need extra help with the Authentication App, you can find that in this article.

Beyond that, please heed these reminders:

• We won’t send you an in-game mail and tell you to visit a website to, for instance, secure your account or avoid an account termination. Don’t visit those sites, and don’t let the apparent “officialness” of the linked address deceive you.
• Always check to see if the mail you’ve received truly is from The Guild Wars 2 Team or from ArenaNet.
  • For in-game mail: look for gold text immediately above the “Reply” and “Delete” buttons that reads, “Note: This message was sent by another player. It was not sent by the Guild Wars 2 Team.” If it says that, believe it.
  • For e-mails, always keep in mind with anyone can set anyone as the “Sender” of an e-mail. (I am getting nearly daily phishing e-mails that appear to come from… me!) You might check the Properties of the mail for more information.
• If you get an e-mail or an in-game mail, reach out to Customer Support first, before any damage is done, and not later, when your account has been jeopardized or stolen. Just click “Support” that the top of our website or forum, then click “Submit a Ticket.” (You should include the message that you received, so the team is aware of it.)

Again, the first and best protection for your account comes through SMS or Mobile Authentication. The second line of defense is caution and care in how you react to e-mails and in-game mails.

Let’s all band together to stop phishers in their tracks!

You can share your thoughts, questions, input, tips, and suggestions in this thread, and we invite you to do so!

Hey folks,

If you have questions you’d like to ask, suggestions you want to share with fellow players, or concerns about the topic, please post them in this thread. (I edited to add that to the main thread, but because the input thread is new, wanted to make a separate post, as well.)

Thanks!