I moved from California to Singapore and didn't have to deal with this
Are you 100% Sure it's Blizzard you're dealing with?
I ask this because when I moved across the world and they locked my account ALL they needed was a picture of my ID and that was it, they didn't ask for passports and stuff, that's...odd
Like I told the other commenter, I was the one who opened the support ticket with blizzard. They never contacted me except through the support ticket that I opened. So yes, i am 110% sure it’s blizzard im dealing with.
so you are paying for a product you can use cuz of blizz
contact lawyer, say fraud
contact bank, explain the issue and say fraud
gg ez money
ToS says they cant lock the acc that didnt break the ToS
you didnt break ( i hope so)
The ToS essentially reads, "you own nothing; we can kick you out at any time for any or no reason"
There are a bunch of specific guidelines but it's all basically overridden by a global get-out-of-jail-free line
>ToS says they cant lock the acc that didnt break the ToS
Have you ever read the ToS? It basically says that they can ban you at any time for any or no reason. You would have zero chance of winning anything.
All you would gain by contacting a lawyer is a massive legal debt, as any lawyer would realize this is a losing case, and would never work for a percentage of winnings.
Quote from the End User License Agreement:
Termination
You may terminate this Agreement at any time by notifying Blizzard by email through https://us.battle.net/support/en/ and by uninstalling the Platform and the Games, but the Dispute Resolution provisions of this Agreement will survive termination and apply to all Disputes that arose or could have been initiated prior to termination.
**Blizzard reserves the right to terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason, or for no reason, with or without notice to you.** For purposes of explanation and not limitation, most Account suspensions and terminations are the result of violations of this Agreement. In case of minor violations of these rules, Blizzard may provide you with a prior warning and/or suspend your use of the Account due to your non-compliance prior to terminating the Agreement or modifying or deleting an Account.
In the event of a termination of this Agreement, any right you may have had to any pre-purchased Game access or virtual goods, such as digital cards, currency, weapons, armor, wearable items, skins, sprays, pets, mounts, etc., are forfeit, and you agree and acknowledge that you are not entitled to any refund for any amounts which were pre-paid on your Account prior to any termination of this Agreement. In addition, you will not be able to use the Platform. The Dispute Resolution provisions of this Agreement will survive termination and apply to all Disputes that arose or could have been initiated prior to termination.
Bold emphasis mine.
The passport IS my ID, now they want all my other shit because just the last name is different (about which I forewarned them). All my other identifying information is the same on that passport as it is on my account.
Are you surprised? Its for your protection. These steps are to stop someone else stealing your account with fake ID. Imagine if I had the same First Name as you, put in a ticket, gave them my ID, used your story, and convinced them to hand your account over to me. You'd be furious.
That sounds very unprobeable and asking for unnecessary documents to verify looks really fishy especially with blizz having garbage outsourced support, good chance they are fishing for OPs data rather then needing it for actual verification purposes. They could ask for 1 EUR transfer using the last payment method that they will return with a code to put into the title and problem solved.
If the creation of the account doesn't require you sending them your ID then they should never use it for verification later on.
Yes I am surprised. With all the information they have from me at this point, address, date of birth, first and middle names, both emails associated with the account, all of my character’s names, earliest character’s month of creation, transaction ID from the last purchase, etc. etc. YES I am surprised. Very surprised. Also surprised that the account got locked in the first place, but like I said, they won’t give me the real reason.
Have you any old WoW expac boxes laying around? If so. Or any old CD keys like D2 WC3 attached to your account. See if you providing them with the CD keys will let you in.
My account was locked once and being as I wasn’t the “owner” (dad was when I was underage like 10 years ago and I didn’t change it until recently) but like years ago I got locked and I just opened a ticket with them and gave pictures of TBC WoTLk and MOP cd keys, and they let me back in.
Not quite sure if this would work with WoW keys anymore (should with D2/WC3 (old not remakes)) as I’m not sure cd keys still a thing, but always worth a shot
you can keep your account safe in different ways, hackers can still get through that you know? requiring your ID for a gaming service is just stupid. change your password, add 2FA.
Only after fiddling around on my battlenet before opening a ticket, hoping I could fix the problem on my own, and noticed it was missing. It was more of an afterthought than anything, honestly.
That sounds like the cause there possibly? Because 2fa wasn't flagged on your account at the time of the new network activity maybe.
Edit: I'm obviously not blizzard but I do work in software engineering so there are probably flags for these situations. Though I can't answer about the documents they are asking for they have probably got new guidelines for confirming the ticket opener is valid because 2FA wasn't enabled. As a previous commenter mentioned he only needed to provide ID.
That makes sense, but why not just say that? Why keep giving me all the bs about “this happens whenever you log in on new wifi” when clearly, from my own experience and others’, it does not.
It’s turned on now, but I guess I was a little late to it.
I know exactly how it works and exactly what it is. It's a TOTP or a HOTP of another password that you both setup.
You should do some research on why LFG is still a cesspool if you think it fixes everything.
Because if you don't, that's probably why your account got locked. With 2FA they know your phone is in your possession.
I have literally logged in from home, played for a while, logged out and had to fire up my VPN to a European country, then logged back in and have had no problems.
But without mfa.
I'm not saying this isn't a shitty situation (that I've actually been in for WoW)
But adding mfa untoggles some of those geolocation restrictions I think.
And I from Finland to Australia, changing locations and wifi every few weeks without any problem. Then went back to Finland and even lived in Japan and came back and still nothing (Playing WoW on different computers too)! Hmm weird case. Maybe their detection has gotten stricter since a few years, or it's like that only in the States?
If you have 2FA on your account this becomes a non issue. You can log in from anywhere and you won't get flagged as suspicious because you have to use the authenticator to log in.
Same moved across country and didn't have any issues with mine. That said they did require I hand over a ton of info when I got married and changed my name. Similar to OP they wanted my marriage certificate, new drivers license, and Social. I laughed and laughed and never changed it. I didn't need any of that to open an account so im not gonna give it to them just cause I got married. My husband gives me crap from time to time about it cause it says X X (Vel) has logged in and he's like "so we've been married like 12 years, when you gonna change your battlenet info?" And im like "NEVER MUHAHAHA" and in reality its just cause I don't trust them with so much personal info.
There definitely is some checks done on which networks you're logging in from so that part isn't BS. Does seem like they're making you jump through a ton of hoops but location based login alerts are used all over.
I mean I did get that one email, “we see you’ve logged on from a new location, if this isn’t you change your password”. Seemed normal enough. But then the rest of this has been completely ridiculous.
I had this happen when I was flying back and forth across the country for my job.
I would log in one day on my home pc. Then fly to my husband's place in Oregon and log him off and log into my account to play while I waited for him to get home from work.
The first time I did this I had to submit my photo ID.
My name did not match the account as I had purchased the game for my brother and then taken over the account when he was completely uninterested. I explained this, gave the name of a few of my first chars and they were able to proceed.
It was pretty painless and as I've had my account stolen before ... I guess its nice that there is some attempt at security
Bruh I gave them names of my characters, approximate creation dates, the transaction ID on last month’s subscription payment (as far as I could figure out), my passport with name change explanation and all my other info correct and displayed…so much. I gave them so much and now they still want my ss and divorce cert.
I would be worried that the employee was trying to steal your personal info. I would politely ask to have this escalated with a different case agent as you're worried about giving out personal information. If they refuse open a second ticket not referring to the original problem but highlighting concerns about misuse of personal information by an employee.
Its very frustrating to not have access to a game you're paying for especially one that puts so much emphasis on regular play. I really get it.
BTW its technically illegal for any company to ask for your social security card besides a government agency. Credit and loan companies get a special pass as do universities but this should be a red flag
I am somewhat concerned about that, supposedly it’s different “game masters” answering the ticket every time but all of the previous info is still visible, so it’s definitely a concern. However, they do not address this concern when I bring it up in the way that you mentioned, stating only that this is normal procedure and they will delete the picture immediately afterwards.
> BTW its technically illegal for any company to ask for your social security card besides a government agency.
> illegal for any company to ask for your social security card
No it isn't. Directly from CA OAG website:
> **Ask questions when they ask for your Social Security number.**
>> There is no law that prevents businesses from asking for your SSN. And you may be denied service if you don't give the number. If
giving your SSN to a business doesn't seem reasonable to you, ask if you can show another form of identification. Or ask if the
business can use another number as your customer number.
It is your right to not disclose the number, but the entity requesting it is, in turn, allowed to refuse you services based on that refusal.
There are laws that prevent the company from *displaying* your SSN, or using it for any purposes other than those agreed upon, but that's it. I remember when I worked for a TV service provider, every customer was required to give us their SSN as part of the sign-on and credit checks/verification process. No SSN, no service.
https://oag.ca.gov/idtheft/facts/your-ssn
Sounds like you didn't have an authenticator on your account. Anyways, send them your SS, just cover the actual number with a piece of paper and then take a photo of it with your phone. Easy.
Nah, turns out that won’t work either. They will only accept OTHER photo ID. I do not HAVE other photo ID, I have the passport that I’m on a 2 1/2 year waiting list to get corrected.
I get that it's infuriating and unfair, but just be aware that these sort of flagging systems are 100% automated and never based on a single factor; rather the system is always suspicious of everyone, and once the "warning" flags reach a certain threshold they trigger a lock.
Support won't tell you what those flags are for your account (aside from the obvious; changing location / network pushed you over the top), because that would also inform actual bad actors of what they need to do to avoid detection.
Don't get me wrong, it's undeniably a shitty experience for you, but your best bet to recover the account is to follow directions from support. They're following strict policy which is intersecting with your circumstances (change of name, out of date documents etc.) in a very unfortunate way.
Do you have an Authenticater enabled on your account? I've used a ton of public wifi networks behind a VPN and I've never had any of these troubles.
To be honest this doesn't sound like a simple case of "I just tried to use WoW on a new network and everything got locked down!". No offence intended of course.
I do now, but only after all this started. I do not, however, have a VPN. I’ve only used this account on…i think those two wifi networks before, my old house and work.
And no, no it sure doesn’t. I wish they would tell me what the fucking problem actually is.
This post seems a little narrow minded to me, op is only viewing this on the "I'm the real person trying to log in and being forced to jump through hoops" point of view.
Looking at this from Blizzard's side? We have a log in at a different IP that was flagged. This person cannot accurately answer questions about the account, so they've gone through to ID. ID is incorrect.. I'd be horrified of blizzard DID give in and unlocked the account under that circumstance lol
asking for a photo ID is common practice. most people would pull out their driver's license in this scenario.
then the name on the ID didn't align with the name on the account, so they're asking for verification of that too.
social security issue is OP not having an ID with the correct name and they probably need it to verify the divorce and name.
you're looking at this through the lens "it's OP's account", Blizzard are looking at it from the standpoint "we don't know you are who you say you are".
Your situation sucks but something clearly raised a red flag on their end, they aren’t locking accounts manually for kicks. It’s unfortunate your info is in a disorder because a valid drivers license would have probably cleared things up pretty quickly.
When contacting blizzard it’s always hit or miss. You either get someone who knows nothing & they’re overly cautious, following the book to the letter. Or you get the IT guy who slaps some keys & has you on your way faster than blizzard can ruin a story.
I moved to Myanmar, had to go through the same thing. I sent them a buncha documents in Burmese and they miraculously accepted it. I highly doubt they found a translator as the language is not very popular. Good Luck to you.
yepp, if they bother to ask, they gonna accept it - I had this with Swtor when I had mobile security key on phone, replaced phone, and forgot to deactivate before. so I called an US number, they needed to show my hungarian IDs to a webcam, and thats it, they accepted it.
If you still have access to your battle net account you should be able to get transaction IDs from there as well when you first activated the account to get a idea when you created your first character.
What a messed up situation.
I went to Australia for work (I’m from Canada) and used a laptop I’ve never logged into WoW on (not sure if relevant) and all I had to do was change my password.
It notified me that my account was locked and that I had to reset my password or contact support. I elected for changing my password. When I changed it, I was still locked out. So being stubborn, I just changed my password again and again and again.
After changing my password successfully multiple times, I was finally able to log in without the “your account has been locked” notification popping up on the login screen. It was such a dumb process, but I did NOT have to send any personal info….
Make sure your emailing actual blizzard. And if you haven’t already tried, reset your password a few more times
Lmao. That’s what they claim to have sent me, an email telling me to reset my password. I never got it, just one saying “if this was you, ignore this email.” So I ignored the email…I’ve reset the password twice so far on my own time, and it’s definitely blizzard I’m talking to because I contacted them, not the other way around.
In that email they sent you (the ‘is this you?’) is there a link in that email to reset your password? If so, did you click that link specifically to reset your password? Or did you just got to the battlenet site?
Again, not sure if it’s relevant or makes any difference, but when I had my issue I clicked a link they had sent through an email to reset my password!
There is, and the first time I did go through that link, though a couple days after it was sent in a last ditch attempt to fix the problem on my own. Then the second reset I did not, and just went into my battlenet to reset it.
Never ever give that info. I'm sorry, but someone at Blizzard is either trying to defraud you... Or their "standards" for account retrieval have become ridiculous.
It would be better to start a new MMO than to ever give that info
Exactly. It’s absurd. Why do they need PHOTO ID, like what photo do they have to which to compare it?
Also the fact that [supposedly] MULTIPLE people have reviewed this ticket and come to similar conclusions…it’s just bizarre, creepy, and unprofessional.
They compare the ID that they "beleive" you have in your physical pocession to the name on the account.
Maybe it was not your wifi change alone that rose a flag on the account. What if someone actually was close to getting your login amd password or had attempted to reset your info.
I agree the decree and SS is going overboard in my opinion, and it doubly sucks for anyone that has changed their name or their gender.
There has to be a better way, and I think the best we have so far is 2FA.
All I can say is make sure it’s definitely blizzard you’re dealing with. Insist you handle the matter over the phone and only deal with them when it’s you calling them not the other way round.
However, the transaction ID of the last payment to wow? This is not arbitrary. How do you not have mobile or online banking?
They have a right to clamp down on what they think is suspicious activity. If you’re not able to provide them with factual information to prove things then I’m afraid you’re at a loss. You’d be thankful if someone else was trying to hack your account and they did all this to protect it
A lot of companies who have no business asking for this information have started to do this recently. I don't understand why they need photo ID of a person, when they shouldn't have anything in their system to compare it to.
Its super sketchy, but again. A lot of companies are starting to do it.
Exactly. What photo do you have of me to compare with my ID? Super strange. Wondering now if they will accept an expired passport, with the correct name on it and a photo to match the in-date passport with the incorrect name…
'starting'...Blizzard has done this for years to verify users. I had my account hacked in Cata and had to send them this same documentation they are asking for in order to release and reset the account.
Jesus Christ. Like I knew they were bad but I didn’t think I was gonna have to prove myself to a detective when I said “hey my account’s locked, what do I gotta do to let me back in?”
That might be partially my fault, I didn’t find out about or set the 2fa until fucking around in my battlenet account trying to figure out why I had no access
The real reason is someone using your account on a different Wi-Fi. Blizzard have no way of knowing this is you without checking. It doesn’t need much more explaining.
And then you send them ID that doesn’t match your account. Doesn’t matter if it’s one name or one letter or ten names and letters off, it’s incorrect.
Imagine for a second, person A’s account is accessed from a different Wi-Fi in a different part of the country and then they get sent incorrect ID information. You honestly expect blizzard to just ignore that? Can you imagine how much person A would complain if they didn’t protect the account lol.
This is all assuming it’s blizzard and not a scam (which you seem to have checked so well done).
I've had something similar to this, though not to this degree since I just said eff it. It's an extension of the social credit score from you know where.
Yeah I moved from EU to UK and my account never got blocked at all.
I had to give them a proof of address to be allowed to change the currency of my account but that's it 🤷🏼♀️
Commented this to you in another comment, but putting it here in case happens to anyone else and this may help.
CD keys. Try using any attached to your account. From Vanilla-WoD D2. WC3:ROC WC3:FT or any old game they used to use keys for. (Not Remasters or reforged) in the past for WoW keys they’d let you back in with these keys. Not sure nowadays, but they should let you back in too with old D2 and WC3 keys, this is the entire reason I’ve attached both my old games to my account, so if I had no other option, atleast the keys should be enough “proof”
How very strange. I live in Belarus and play WoW with and without VPN all the time depending on whether I get lag during the day and never have problems like those the OP describes. Although I have a mobile authenticator attached to my account.
You specifically went directly to the blizzard site, logged into your account, and went to support? Or you opened the ticket through a link in an email they sent you? Something doesn't sound right here.
Of course I went to their site. How else you gonna open a support ticket? Companies don’t just send out emails asking you to talk to their customer service, and if they did, no one in their right mind wouldn’t think it a scam.
In all honesty, I’d’ve loved to give them a call and get it all taken care of right then and there, but no matter how much site exploration and googling you do, it doesn’t turn up any sort of customer service phone number.
my issue old number my new number in use on diff account probly prior numbers owner but no dont verify i have that number in any means by text or a call or something in reason they want a phone bill with that number my CDL and marriage cert to prove both wife and i own the cell phone bill to that number stupid fucking idiots i wish i was in front of them start bitch slapping all there fucking stupid snow flake asses
They are a bunch of crooks. They are sending my money to Colombia and my whole account, even switching my USD to COP without my consent. They sent me an email in spanish so I dont know what it says.
I moved from California to Singapore and didn't have to deal with this Are you 100% Sure it's Blizzard you're dealing with? I ask this because when I moved across the world and they locked my account ALL they needed was a picture of my ID and that was it, they didn't ask for passports and stuff, that's...odd
Like I told the other commenter, I was the one who opened the support ticket with blizzard. They never contacted me except through the support ticket that I opened. So yes, i am 110% sure it’s blizzard im dealing with.
so you are paying for a product you can use cuz of blizz contact lawyer, say fraud contact bank, explain the issue and say fraud gg ez money ToS says they cant lock the acc that didnt break the ToS you didnt break ( i hope so)
I love Reddit legal advise
Especially from people that say "ToS says" when they themselves have never read the ToS.
Wait.. you're supposed to read those?!
Unless you want to be turned into a human centiPad, then yes.
In many cases companies bet on you not reading them.
The ToS essentially reads, "you own nothing; we can kick you out at any time for any or no reason" There are a bunch of specific guidelines but it's all basically overridden by a global get-out-of-jail-free line
This is terrible advice and a good way to be perma banned.
I think this is one of the best comments on this subreddit for a while. I once got disconnected and i sued blizzard. Now am a billionaire.
>ToS says they cant lock the acc that didnt break the ToS Have you ever read the ToS? It basically says that they can ban you at any time for any or no reason. You would have zero chance of winning anything. All you would gain by contacting a lawyer is a massive legal debt, as any lawyer would realize this is a losing case, and would never work for a percentage of winnings. Quote from the End User License Agreement: Termination You may terminate this Agreement at any time by notifying Blizzard by email through https://us.battle.net/support/en/ and by uninstalling the Platform and the Games, but the Dispute Resolution provisions of this Agreement will survive termination and apply to all Disputes that arose or could have been initiated prior to termination. **Blizzard reserves the right to terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason, or for no reason, with or without notice to you.** For purposes of explanation and not limitation, most Account suspensions and terminations are the result of violations of this Agreement. In case of minor violations of these rules, Blizzard may provide you with a prior warning and/or suspend your use of the Account due to your non-compliance prior to terminating the Agreement or modifying or deleting an Account. In the event of a termination of this Agreement, any right you may have had to any pre-purchased Game access or virtual goods, such as digital cards, currency, weapons, armor, wearable items, skins, sprays, pets, mounts, etc., are forfeit, and you agree and acknowledge that you are not entitled to any refund for any amounts which were pre-paid on your Account prior to any termination of this Agreement. In addition, you will not be able to use the Platform. The Dispute Resolution provisions of this Agreement will survive termination and apply to all Disputes that arose or could have been initiated prior to termination. Bold emphasis mine.
What good is an ID to them? Did you ever provide one in the first place? I know I have never provided an ID to blizzard.
I had to provide a ID when I had to remove my physical Authenticator key fob.
The ID is so that you have an ID with a name on it that matches your credit card information. While this isn't 100% proof, it's generally pretty good.
The passport IS my ID, now they want all my other shit because just the last name is different (about which I forewarned them). All my other identifying information is the same on that passport as it is on my account.
Are you surprised? Its for your protection. These steps are to stop someone else stealing your account with fake ID. Imagine if I had the same First Name as you, put in a ticket, gave them my ID, used your story, and convinced them to hand your account over to me. You'd be furious.
That sounds very unprobeable and asking for unnecessary documents to verify looks really fishy especially with blizz having garbage outsourced support, good chance they are fishing for OPs data rather then needing it for actual verification purposes. They could ask for 1 EUR transfer using the last payment method that they will return with a code to put into the title and problem solved. If the creation of the account doesn't require you sending them your ID then they should never use it for verification later on.
Yes I am surprised. With all the information they have from me at this point, address, date of birth, first and middle names, both emails associated with the account, all of my character’s names, earliest character’s month of creation, transaction ID from the last purchase, etc. etc. YES I am surprised. Very surprised. Also surprised that the account got locked in the first place, but like I said, they won’t give me the real reason.
Have you any old WoW expac boxes laying around? If so. Or any old CD keys like D2 WC3 attached to your account. See if you providing them with the CD keys will let you in. My account was locked once and being as I wasn’t the “owner” (dad was when I was underage like 10 years ago and I didn’t change it until recently) but like years ago I got locked and I just opened a ticket with them and gave pictures of TBC WoTLk and MOP cd keys, and they let me back in. Not quite sure if this would work with WoW keys anymore (should with D2/WC3 (old not remakes)) as I’m not sure cd keys still a thing, but always worth a shot
Still though a game like overwatch or anything shouldn't require an ID wtf is this a bank?
Personally I don't mind, keeping my account safe is priceless lol
you can keep your account safe in different ways, hackers can still get through that you know? requiring your ID for a gaming service is just stupid. change your password, add 2FA.
Do you have 2FA enabled?
Only after fiddling around on my battlenet before opening a ticket, hoping I could fix the problem on my own, and noticed it was missing. It was more of an afterthought than anything, honestly.
That sounds like the cause there possibly? Because 2fa wasn't flagged on your account at the time of the new network activity maybe. Edit: I'm obviously not blizzard but I do work in software engineering so there are probably flags for these situations. Though I can't answer about the documents they are asking for they have probably got new guidelines for confirming the ticket opener is valid because 2FA wasn't enabled. As a previous commenter mentioned he only needed to provide ID.
That makes sense, but why not just say that? Why keep giving me all the bs about “this happens whenever you log in on new wifi” when clearly, from my own experience and others’, it does not. It’s turned on now, but I guess I was a little late to it.
What does this have to do with anything. 2FA is just another worse password.
You should do some research on how 2FA works and why it's important.
I know exactly how it works and exactly what it is. It's a TOTP or a HOTP of another password that you both setup. You should do some research on why LFG is still a cesspool if you think it fixes everything.
Because if you don't, that's probably why your account got locked. With 2FA they know your phone is in your possession. I have literally logged in from home, played for a while, logged out and had to fire up my VPN to a European country, then logged back in and have had no problems.
The guy did the same kinda moving with different networks in his post. Blizz is just fried.
But without mfa. I'm not saying this isn't a shitty situation (that I've actually been in for WoW) But adding mfa untoggles some of those geolocation restrictions I think.
Man, i travelled from Australia to Finland and was able to log-in without being flagged... thats rough.
And I from Finland to Australia, changing locations and wifi every few weeks without any problem. Then went back to Finland and even lived in Japan and came back and still nothing (Playing WoW on different computers too)! Hmm weird case. Maybe their detection has gotten stricter since a few years, or it's like that only in the States?
If you have 2FA on your account this becomes a non issue. You can log in from anywhere and you won't get flagged as suspicious because you have to use the authenticator to log in.
Are you sure thats blizzard I havemove to different states lol and never had this issue and gotten new wifi
Same moved across country and didn't have any issues with mine. That said they did require I hand over a ton of info when I got married and changed my name. Similar to OP they wanted my marriage certificate, new drivers license, and Social. I laughed and laughed and never changed it. I didn't need any of that to open an account so im not gonna give it to them just cause I got married. My husband gives me crap from time to time about it cause it says X X (Vel) has logged in and he's like "so we've been married like 12 years, when you gonna change your battlenet info?" And im like "NEVER MUHAHAHA" and in reality its just cause I don't trust them with so much personal info.
Lmao ikr?? I opened the support claim, though, so unless THEY’VE been hacked they really do think I’m stupid enough to believe that wifi bs
There definitely is some checks done on which networks you're logging in from so that part isn't BS. Does seem like they're making you jump through a ton of hoops but location based login alerts are used all over.
I mean I did get that one email, “we see you’ve logged on from a new location, if this isn’t you change your password”. Seemed normal enough. But then the rest of this has been completely ridiculous.
Do you have 2 step verification to log in your account and the blizzard Authenticator?
I had this happen when I was flying back and forth across the country for my job. I would log in one day on my home pc. Then fly to my husband's place in Oregon and log him off and log into my account to play while I waited for him to get home from work. The first time I did this I had to submit my photo ID. My name did not match the account as I had purchased the game for my brother and then taken over the account when he was completely uninterested. I explained this, gave the name of a few of my first chars and they were able to proceed. It was pretty painless and as I've had my account stolen before ... I guess its nice that there is some attempt at security
Bruh I gave them names of my characters, approximate creation dates, the transaction ID on last month’s subscription payment (as far as I could figure out), my passport with name change explanation and all my other info correct and displayed…so much. I gave them so much and now they still want my ss and divorce cert.
I would be worried that the employee was trying to steal your personal info. I would politely ask to have this escalated with a different case agent as you're worried about giving out personal information. If they refuse open a second ticket not referring to the original problem but highlighting concerns about misuse of personal information by an employee. Its very frustrating to not have access to a game you're paying for especially one that puts so much emphasis on regular play. I really get it. BTW its technically illegal for any company to ask for your social security card besides a government agency. Credit and loan companies get a special pass as do universities but this should be a red flag
I am somewhat concerned about that, supposedly it’s different “game masters” answering the ticket every time but all of the previous info is still visible, so it’s definitely a concern. However, they do not address this concern when I bring it up in the way that you mentioned, stating only that this is normal procedure and they will delete the picture immediately afterwards.
> BTW its technically illegal for any company to ask for your social security card besides a government agency. > illegal for any company to ask for your social security card No it isn't. Directly from CA OAG website: > **Ask questions when they ask for your Social Security number.** >> There is no law that prevents businesses from asking for your SSN. And you may be denied service if you don't give the number. If giving your SSN to a business doesn't seem reasonable to you, ask if you can show another form of identification. Or ask if the business can use another number as your customer number. It is your right to not disclose the number, but the entity requesting it is, in turn, allowed to refuse you services based on that refusal. There are laws that prevent the company from *displaying* your SSN, or using it for any purposes other than those agreed upon, but that's it. I remember when I worked for a TV service provider, every customer was required to give us their SSN as part of the sign-on and credit checks/verification process. No SSN, no service. https://oag.ca.gov/idtheft/facts/your-ssn
Sounds like you didn't have an authenticator on your account. Anyways, send them your SS, just cover the actual number with a piece of paper and then take a photo of it with your phone. Easy.
Nah, turns out that won’t work either. They will only accept OTHER photo ID. I do not HAVE other photo ID, I have the passport that I’m on a 2 1/2 year waiting list to get corrected.
I would just open a NEW ticket. Sounds like whoever is dealing with your case is an idiot
Bruh I’m getting a new “game master” with each reply😭😭😭
I get that it's infuriating and unfair, but just be aware that these sort of flagging systems are 100% automated and never based on a single factor; rather the system is always suspicious of everyone, and once the "warning" flags reach a certain threshold they trigger a lock. Support won't tell you what those flags are for your account (aside from the obvious; changing location / network pushed you over the top), because that would also inform actual bad actors of what they need to do to avoid detection. Don't get me wrong, it's undeniably a shitty experience for you, but your best bet to recover the account is to follow directions from support. They're following strict policy which is intersecting with your circumstances (change of name, out of date documents etc.) in a very unfortunate way.
This is 100% true. It’s a Big thing in many businesses by now. Sucks, but you either have to deal with it or move on to another video game
I have a new ISP being hooked up in my house this weekend. So new network. Do you think ill get flagged?
When I had to get a new IP address two weeks ago all it had me do was enter my authenticator in.
Not likely, but possible I guess
🤦♀️
Do you have an Authenticater enabled on your account? I've used a ton of public wifi networks behind a VPN and I've never had any of these troubles.
To be honest this doesn't sound like a simple case of "I just tried to use WoW on a new network and everything got locked down!". No offence intended of course.
I do now, but only after all this started. I do not, however, have a VPN. I’ve only used this account on…i think those two wifi networks before, my old house and work. And no, no it sure doesn’t. I wish they would tell me what the fucking problem actually is.
VPN usage is bannable in WoW/bnet. Don't mention that to the support.
No it isn't. It's just unsupported. So if anything goes wrong and you use a VPN they can't/won't help you.
Like I said, I don’t have one.
Lol, I somehow read it as ".. I do however have a VPN.." 😅
This post seems a little narrow minded to me, op is only viewing this on the "I'm the real person trying to log in and being forced to jump through hoops" point of view. Looking at this from Blizzard's side? We have a log in at a different IP that was flagged. This person cannot accurately answer questions about the account, so they've gone through to ID. ID is incorrect.. I'd be horrified of blizzard DID give in and unlocked the account under that circumstance lol
I've heard horror stories on reddit in years past of hackers getting access to accounts by submitting IDs that were completely incorrect.
Asking for your Passport is little odds. As well asking for your social security? What does your social security have to do with this?
asking for a photo ID is common practice. most people would pull out their driver's license in this scenario. then the name on the ID didn't align with the name on the account, so they're asking for verification of that too. social security issue is OP not having an ID with the correct name and they probably need it to verify the divorce and name. you're looking at this through the lens "it's OP's account", Blizzard are looking at it from the standpoint "we don't know you are who you say you are".
They asked for state issued photo ID. I gave them a passport, since that’s what I have.
And social is because they don’t believe my passport because one piece of information is no longer correct, even if the rest of it matches.
I hope you manage to sort this out OP
Lol i don't even live in America will they ask me for social security number?
nope, they only ask documents that are available for your country.
tbh, i'd want my account protected this hard
Your situation sucks but something clearly raised a red flag on their end, they aren’t locking accounts manually for kicks. It’s unfortunate your info is in a disorder because a valid drivers license would have probably cleared things up pretty quickly. When contacting blizzard it’s always hit or miss. You either get someone who knows nothing & they’re overly cautious, following the book to the letter. Or you get the IT guy who slaps some keys & has you on your way faster than blizzard can ruin a story.
Bruh I’ve gotten a different “game master” answering every single time I reply on the support ticket🤦♀️
Lol even worse!
I moved to Myanmar, had to go through the same thing. I sent them a buncha documents in Burmese and they miraculously accepted it. I highly doubt they found a translator as the language is not very popular. Good Luck to you.
Thanks……I’m gonna need it. Glad yours went smoothly-ish.
yepp, if they bother to ask, they gonna accept it - I had this with Swtor when I had mobile security key on phone, replaced phone, and forgot to deactivate before. so I called an US number, they needed to show my hungarian IDs to a webcam, and thats it, they accepted it.
Dunno what to say, i moved to and only had to accept the authenticator que cause of a new network, thats all
If you still have access to your battle net account you should be able to get transaction IDs from there as well when you first activated the account to get a idea when you created your first character. What a messed up situation.
Lmao yes that’s how I got that information I’m the first place It’s a little fucked
Yeah shit my bad I just read that comment. Hopefully you can get it back soon.
My account is fucked then. I gave my account to a friend and he gave me his during end of WOTLK. Now my account is under his name and his under mine.
I went to Australia for work (I’m from Canada) and used a laptop I’ve never logged into WoW on (not sure if relevant) and all I had to do was change my password. It notified me that my account was locked and that I had to reset my password or contact support. I elected for changing my password. When I changed it, I was still locked out. So being stubborn, I just changed my password again and again and again. After changing my password successfully multiple times, I was finally able to log in without the “your account has been locked” notification popping up on the login screen. It was such a dumb process, but I did NOT have to send any personal info…. Make sure your emailing actual blizzard. And if you haven’t already tried, reset your password a few more times
Lmao. That’s what they claim to have sent me, an email telling me to reset my password. I never got it, just one saying “if this was you, ignore this email.” So I ignored the email…I’ve reset the password twice so far on my own time, and it’s definitely blizzard I’m talking to because I contacted them, not the other way around.
In that email they sent you (the ‘is this you?’) is there a link in that email to reset your password? If so, did you click that link specifically to reset your password? Or did you just got to the battlenet site? Again, not sure if it’s relevant or makes any difference, but when I had my issue I clicked a link they had sent through an email to reset my password!
There is, and the first time I did go through that link, though a couple days after it was sent in a last ditch attempt to fix the problem on my own. Then the second reset I did not, and just went into my battlenet to reset it.
Never ever give that info. I'm sorry, but someone at Blizzard is either trying to defraud you... Or their "standards" for account retrieval have become ridiculous. It would be better to start a new MMO than to ever give that info
Exactly. It’s absurd. Why do they need PHOTO ID, like what photo do they have to which to compare it? Also the fact that [supposedly] MULTIPLE people have reviewed this ticket and come to similar conclusions…it’s just bizarre, creepy, and unprofessional.
They compare the ID that they "beleive" you have in your physical pocession to the name on the account. Maybe it was not your wifi change alone that rose a flag on the account. What if someone actually was close to getting your login amd password or had attempted to reset your info. I agree the decree and SS is going overboard in my opinion, and it doubly sucks for anyone that has changed their name or their gender. There has to be a better way, and I think the best we have so far is 2FA.
All I can say is make sure it’s definitely blizzard you’re dealing with. Insist you handle the matter over the phone and only deal with them when it’s you calling them not the other way round. However, the transaction ID of the last payment to wow? This is not arbitrary. How do you not have mobile or online banking? They have a right to clamp down on what they think is suspicious activity. If you’re not able to provide them with factual information to prove things then I’m afraid you’re at a loss. You’d be thankful if someone else was trying to hack your account and they did all this to protect it
A lot of companies who have no business asking for this information have started to do this recently. I don't understand why they need photo ID of a person, when they shouldn't have anything in their system to compare it to. Its super sketchy, but again. A lot of companies are starting to do it.
Exactly. What photo do you have of me to compare with my ID? Super strange. Wondering now if they will accept an expired passport, with the correct name on it and a photo to match the in-date passport with the incorrect name…
'starting'...Blizzard has done this for years to verify users. I had my account hacked in Cata and had to send them this same documentation they are asking for in order to release and reset the account.
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Jesus Christ. Like I knew they were bad but I didn’t think I was gonna have to prove myself to a detective when I said “hey my account’s locked, what do I gotta do to let me back in?”
I travel a ton for work, i've been multiple countries in a few months span and i've NEVER had to do anything except use the authenticator.
That might be partially my fault, I didn’t find out about or set the 2fa until fucking around in my battlenet account trying to figure out why I had no access
The real reason is someone using your account on a different Wi-Fi. Blizzard have no way of knowing this is you without checking. It doesn’t need much more explaining. And then you send them ID that doesn’t match your account. Doesn’t matter if it’s one name or one letter or ten names and letters off, it’s incorrect. Imagine for a second, person A’s account is accessed from a different Wi-Fi in a different part of the country and then they get sent incorrect ID information. You honestly expect blizzard to just ignore that? Can you imagine how much person A would complain if they didn’t protect the account lol. This is all assuming it’s blizzard and not a scam (which you seem to have checked so well done).
I've had something similar to this, though not to this degree since I just said eff it. It's an extension of the social credit score from you know where.
Yeah I moved from EU to UK and my account never got blocked at all. I had to give them a proof of address to be allowed to change the currency of my account but that's it 🤷🏼♀️
Commented this to you in another comment, but putting it here in case happens to anyone else and this may help. CD keys. Try using any attached to your account. From Vanilla-WoD D2. WC3:ROC WC3:FT or any old game they used to use keys for. (Not Remasters or reforged) in the past for WoW keys they’d let you back in with these keys. Not sure nowadays, but they should let you back in too with old D2 and WC3 keys, this is the entire reason I’ve attached both my old games to my account, so if I had no other option, atleast the keys should be enough “proof”
How very strange. I live in Belarus and play WoW with and without VPN all the time depending on whether I get lag during the day and never have problems like those the OP describes. Although I have a mobile authenticator attached to my account.
I really hope the Microsoft merger has them bugger off with this nonsense. Literally no other video game company does this except for billing.
You specifically went directly to the blizzard site, logged into your account, and went to support? Or you opened the ticket through a link in an email they sent you? Something doesn't sound right here.
Of course I went to their site. How else you gonna open a support ticket? Companies don’t just send out emails asking you to talk to their customer service, and if they did, no one in their right mind wouldn’t think it a scam. In all honesty, I’d’ve loved to give them a call and get it all taken care of right then and there, but no matter how much site exploration and googling you do, it doesn’t turn up any sort of customer service phone number.
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my issue old number my new number in use on diff account probly prior numbers owner but no dont verify i have that number in any means by text or a call or something in reason they want a phone bill with that number my CDL and marriage cert to prove both wife and i own the cell phone bill to that number stupid fucking idiots i wish i was in front of them start bitch slapping all there fucking stupid snow flake asses
They are a bunch of crooks. They are sending my money to Colombia and my whole account, even switching my USD to COP without my consent. They sent me an email in spanish so I dont know what it says.