Guild Wars 2

I suggest not deleting the email just so there is a record of it until after the matter is resolved. As long as the email is still in your inbox, it will exist somewhere on one of the GW2 servers.

I had the same problems. Authenticator wasn’t working, and the button to unlink it was greyed out.

I gave up on using the authenticator and just went to email authentication instead, and I had get support to unlink it for me (twice).

You asked ArenaNet to fix what you think is poor security, but I’m asking you to fix your security leaks.

It’s very easy to find free lists of user names and passwords that are used at forum sites, sites with weak or no security, etc. These are usually sites run by one or two people on a part-time volunteer basis, people who don’t know how to ensure security or don’t think it’s worth the effort.

Those sites are compromised due to their poor security. User lists (with passwords) are obtained and then used at hundreds of other bigger, well-known sites, such as GW2.

The most likely scenario is your user name and password was on one of those many freely available lists, and you re-used the credentials for GW2. Many people do this.

Change your password to something you don’t use anywhere else and something that isn’t easily guessed, and you’ll stop getting emails. Problem solved.

If you really do “work tech support for an industry-leading software company” then I’m sure you’re aware of tickets having varying response times. I’m sure the company where you work is no exception. It happens everywhere.

ArenaNet does not want you creating new tickets to reference existing tickets. Just update the existing one or post your ticket number in the stickied thread linked by bluestocking.

Check the stickied phishing link in this forum for sample phishing emails.

MasterYoda.8563:

10 gold says it’s much more than you just saying “African”

This.

We’re not naive enough to believe you said the word but nothing else, just like saying “American” or “European” by itself is fine. You know exactly what you did, and coming here to complain about it isn’t going to help your cause. Serve your suspension and use this time to think about how to appropriately interact with others so you don’t get another suspension since another one will likely be longer.

If you talk to your school and they are indeed blocking the port, and you can’t get it unblocked, and ArenaNet has no solutions, I suggest looking for a VPN that encrypts your traffic so that the school can’t tell what port you’re using. It would add hops to your connection and could possibly slow it down, but if you’re using a fast connection you might not notice the difference. It would have to be a VPN that encrypts all traffic, not just browser traffic.

A good VPN with unlimited use would likely cost you money each month, but it would be a lot cheaper than travelling home.

What do they get? They get a more peaceful experience without other players insulting them. If you were indeed reported and ArenaNet determines you violated the rules of conduct, you could end up with a 3-day suspension assuming this would be your first. You might want to read

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/guild-wars-2-rules-of-conduct/

especially #1

If outsiders had access to ArenaNet’s customer database, I’m beyond 100% sure we would be flooded with spam at the email addresses we use for GW2. I have received a few phishing emails at an email address I only used at a couple of gaming sites not related in any way to GW1 -or- GW2.

Use a unique email address at EVERY site where you enter an email address so you will know how your email address was likely obtained. Re-using email addresses at multiple locations means you WILL eventually get phishing emails for site X shortly after registering at site X even when site X hasn’t been compromised.

Most of the retail boxes I have purchased in prior years for various games did have the serial code on an insert. It’s probably cheaper to print it that way.

Also check the inside and maybe outside of the CD case if that’s still available.

Just yell your obscenities, like I do. You can yell all you want and ArenaNet won’t suspend you. If they knew the things I say during PVP fights I’d have been perma-banned long ago.

When people take the extra time to type obscenities in chat instead of saying them, it’s ONLY to get a reaction from other players. Avoid doing that and you’ll be fine.

How is it possible to go afk for 6-8 hours and not get automatically get logged out?

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Birthday-present-4-5-got-it

Cracking passwords is only necessary when they have lists of encrypted passwords. Since various lists of usernames and plaintext passwords are freely available for those who know how to find them, and since people tend to reuse the same usernames and passwords at many sites, it’s too easy for the evil doers to grab those lists and try them at various sites/games/services, including GW2.

If someone has your username and password, they likely got it from a site or guessed it based on a list of common passwords. I believe ArenaNet started blocking common passwords (yaaay! I wish more companies would do that), so I’d bet it’s the first scenario. While it’s possible some people lose their accounts doe to keyloggers, that’s generally unnecessary since people reuse credentials from site to site. Once a site is exposed (often a generic forum site that’s easily compromised), the list of users and passwords are grabbed and shared with others. Doing that is easier and more efficient than trying to get people to install keyloggers.

If you use the same username/email and password for other sites that you use for GW2 (either previous or current password), you should change those immediately.

Would you rather be “gassy”? lol :p

Usually when I look at my friends list or guild list, I see the name of the character that was on last, not the account name. I have no idea what the account names are of the people in my guild and there only 3 of us.

And I agree with Shady. I like the name.

We can’t answer that since we didn’t see the actual chat (don’t post it here) and we don’t work for ArenaNet. You can easily avoid these situations by being polite to others in chat. You aren’t going to get reported for being nice.

I don’t want to derail this thread more but did want to point out you can get a “cheap” Android phone on eBay ($20 or $30 US dollars) and just not hook it up to any phone service. Simply use wifi to connect a Google account, then download the Google authenticator app to the phone and register it with your GW2 account. There would be no monthly fee, just the cost of the phone. It can be heavily scratched if you don’t care about appearance, and that would likely lower the cost. All you have to make sure of is that the device has an Android OS that can run the authenticator app.

Just think of it as big hardware token that happens to have an unused phone inside.

And if you’re concerned about someone hacking the phone, you’d greatly reduce that chance by only using it with wi-fi and not installing any other apps.

If you used the same email address and password for your email account (or any other service), change the password there too.

Did you provide your serial number when you responded to the phishing email?

They probably marked the second account as a dupe as they thought it was related to the first (people whose accounts are compromised get their passwords changed).

Once they finish verifying you are the account owner they should be able to roll your account back to before he hack date and you’ll lose progress you (or the account thief) made since then. If you haven’t already asked for a rollback I suggest updating one ticket (the one they did not mark as a dupe) to ask for a rollback to a point before your account was compromised.

While I’ve read people can keep playing while waiting for a rollback, you would lose all progress and that would probably be frustrating.

Hang tight and they will process your account and get your account fixed for ya.

When did you submit the ticket? It might take a few days to get a response as they are apparently backlogged due to a problem with the ticket system (as mentioned in a different thread).

Did you open a ticket for the password reset thing and another for the apparent account hacking?

Are you getting a message saying wrong user name or password? If yes are you trying to sign in with your display ID? If yes, use your password. I googled your error and saw this thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/tech/Unable-to-log-in-4

and the person there was using display name and not email address to sign in.

As for your email with the serial, did you check your email provider’s trash bin?

File a support ticket. See this thread for info: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/How-to-Submit-a-Ticket-Account-Issues-2

Explain that your email account was hacked. You will need to provide enough info to ArenaNet so they can fully establish you are the account owner.

I would suggest signing up for the authenticator immediately if you can. If you have to enter a 6-digit number each time you sign in, only the person who has access to the device you are using (assuming you are able to sign up for it) will be able to access your GW2 account. Info on the authenticator is here: https://en.support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9238/~/guild-wars-2-two-factor-authentication

I’d also suggest finding an email provider that allows you to use 2-factor authentication (such as password and something else like sms message or 6-digit number displayed by a mobile app).

Uman.6150:

I know, but it will be considered as a spam if the spf is configured properly.

I was responding to the comment about how people can send mail using a “from” domain that they don’t own.

You can send email pretending to be anyone. If I knew your email address I could send spam or phishing emails pretending to be you.

No real need to post the emails here unless they’re different from the ones in the stickied thread you linked, and the email you posted is indeed in that thread.

People will be getting these emails as long as the game is around. It’s not going to stop before then.

double click requires 2 actions from your hand. If you use something that allows you to do one action to get 2 responses in return, that gives you an advantage over other players. Don’t do it.

sticky: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/A-Note-about-Phishing-Emails-1

I don’t know if this can be done with email auth, but when using the mobile authenticator you can choose to not remember the IP address when you sign in. Thus every authentication attempt will require the 6-digit authentication code. You might want to consider that if the option is available for email authentication.

Yeah that doesn’t look like a phishing email. No funky link, and the IP address is associated with an ArenaNet mail server. Looks like someone’s account was compromised.

“i don’t really think it was all that offensive” tells me that you did recognize there was some degree of offensiveness to it. The reason why you thought it could have been offensive is likely the reason why you were forced to rename.

What do you mean by “his email has been blocked”? Is he not able to access the email account because he doesn’t know the email account’s password?

If you are being told that the password you want is rejected, that’s probably because it’s a common password used by other people. When people reuse common passwords from site to site, it becomes easier to hijack those accounts. ArenaNet is trying to prevent this from happening so that people don’t lose their accounts, forcing them to wait for an account restoration.

If you are willing to store your password in an email message (can’t say I’d recommend that!), why not just send your self an email with a random password? It’s not difficult to think of random letters, numbers, and symbols, such as

kG2x7Rv0Eh
bUw6Vz1HwL

I just randomly typed letters and numbers. Don’t use those for passwords though… come up with your own.

If you’re using passwords such as

hammer1
majere1
gwpassword
123456
pass1111
bobspassword
OniOn
l3ttuc3
p1ckl3

and so on, yes those should be blocked. Come up with something that has just a bit of complexity and your account will be far less likely to be compromised.

OR use a phrase you can remember. If you have a dog named Buster and he likes squishy toys, try something like BusterL1k3sSquishyToys

And regardless of what password you use, don’t use it at other sites!

I use a Mumble overlay and have had no problems and have been using it since open beta. All it does is show me who is talking. It has nothing to do with characters, combat, movement, gameplay, etc.

It’s fake. There’s info in a “phishing” emails stickied thread.

You’re probably going to get these for years to come.

You’re getting them, along with many other people, because your email address appears on one or more email lists that are possessed by the people sending out the emails. They’re just trying to get your account credentials. Don’t click anything.

And no, it’s not a breach in ArenaNet’s system. Even people who have never played GW1 or GW2 get them, just like I get the same types of emails for other games I’ve never played.

Wherever you get your serial code, make sure it’s from a legitimate seller. Don’t use eBay or some other place where the code might not be legit since an account that uses an illegitimate code will likely be blocked.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Friend-Account-Wrongly-terminated/first#post1793960

I suggest not posting any more “testimonials”.

I’m pretty sure you know what “moobs” means but do a google search for it anyway. Names referring to sexuality / some body parts aren’t allowed.

I meant to say they don’t offer phone or chat support, but it was late and I said phone or email.

I’m guessing she has told them specifically what happens when clicking they links they give her?

Has she tried with a different browser?

I’m not sure how those emails are formatted, but I’ve received emails in the past from other companies that had URLS that were broken by the email program I was using. So when I clicked the email link, I would get an error in the browser. She might want to check that her browser is picking up the entire URL.

And no, I don’t think your sister is stupid. Not at all. But all I or anyone else who doesn’t have access to the tickets can do is ask questions that might hopefully lead to an answer.

You said in your second post that she never received the serial code or that it was moved to the spam folder, but in your first post you said she deleted the email. I’m not sure which is the case, but she should check the trash folder of her email.

If she ever logged into the forums here AND she happened to save her password in her browser’s settings, she might be able to retrieve it that way.

Unless someone here has had experience with the exact situation you mention in your second post, your sister is likely going to have to resolve this via support ticket updates. ArenaNet doesn’t offer phone or chat support. From what I have read, the norm for ticket resolution is around 1-3 days. I suggest she update her existing ticket and add the results you mentioned in your second post.

AreanNet requires a certain degree of information to ascertain someone is really the account’s owner before trying to help the person fix a password issue. Otherwise people would have a much easier time taking over other people’s accounts. I’m sure neither you nor your sister would want anyone else to be able to contact ArenaNet and claim to be her and take over her account.

edited to change “email” to “chat”. It was late and I was tired.

I did a search and found this thread which answers your question: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Mailing-Gold-To-Partner

He, not you, should file a ticket with support and provide as much info as possible. There is a stickied thread in the accounts forum that you can view to tell him what info he needs to put in the ticket: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/How-to-Submit-a-Ticket-Account-Issues-2

But before he does that, he should check his spam folder to make sure the emails didn’t go there. I also suggest he go to the account info page at https://account.guildwars2.com/ to make sure the email address that shows is correct.

The record of the suspension will not be removed from your account. They keep those things tracked because as people earn more infractions for this or that, the suspensions get longer and longer. I believe the next one is 7 days long.

It’s definitely not mumble. I’ve been using mumble since open beta, just about every week, and some guildmates use it almost daily (again, since open beta) and none of us have had problems.

There are many families, from what I have read, that play together on a local network at the same time, and I have never read of any of them being banned. ArenaNet is well aware that people share IP addresses.

By the way, they are not going to tell you exactly what triggered the flag on your account.

It’s the weekend. People sometimes go home to spend time with families and get away from work once in a while. You will probably hear something in the next few days.

I suggest posting in the tech support forum. The accounts forum is for people whose accounts have been suspended, banned, or hacked, or those with billing issues, etc.

crosa I suggest you file a ticket to ask about the status of your account. It might have been compromised during your break.

See this thread about how to file a ticket: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/How-to-Submit-a-Ticket-Account-Issues-2/first#post3954

Did he buy, sell, or trade that account at any time?

I don’t work at ArenaNet but am 100% sure, and then some, that this is not possible. This would be an invasion of privacy and a major security problem. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a service that intentionally let people find others’ email address based on an account name, aside from email services like AOL or Yahoo.

You have no other way of contacting this friend?

Ven Zehn.6573:

But, I was wondering why we don’t just “unlock” the servers we pay to transfer to, and then are allowed to move between those servers free of cost. I mean, $25 to transfer and we can’t go back to our starting servers without another $25?

I am sure the pvp griefers would love this idea.

If it’s your first suspension, I’ve read you should be able to log in after an hour or so (just an approximation) to rename the character. If this is your second name suspension, or second suspension for anything, you might have to wait it out.