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  1. #1

    Banned early this morning for economy exploit but did nothing...

    Hello fellows
    This morning I found an e-mail from Blizzard saying I abused the economy and traded ingame currency for real currency and now my account is closed.
    How does this happen if I never did such thing?
    The only thing that comes to my mind right now is that I've been using pingzapper to play the game through my college firewall.
    I play in Kil'jaeden and I tunnel through Los Angeles servers of Pingzapper. Anyone out there with the same characteristics got banned too?

    How to approach the GMs when appealing this account closure action, I really don't want this to be the end of my account

    Thanks for all your constructive replies

  2. #2
    Try to call them up if you can, and if you really are innocent, and explain them carefully, you'll get your account back

  3. #3
    When you create your appeal, include the name of the app, a screenshot of it's interface if possible, and the IP that you've been forwarding to. If that was the reason for the ban they should lift it pretty quickly. If there was other nefarious activity involved you may not be so lucky.

  4. #4
    Deleted
    did you buy anything weird from the AH? like an expensive mount or item?

    sometimes, you can get involved in a RMT trade between other without being aware of it.

  5. #5
    have you tired loging in? it could be a scam email.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Moonsaw1 View Post
    have you tired loging in? it could be a scam email.
    This is pretty much my first though. My own rule is that unless I can't log into my account or I encounter problems through the game, I will ignore all emails I get regarding "blizz" or "wow" or whatever. So many people trying to scam.

  7. #7
    Well I didn't buy anything in fact I just started so I don't have much gold or any expensive items
    It is an authentic e-mail from blizzard, I checked that

    Has anyone had an experience like this with a positive outcome?

  8. #8
    Do they really close accounts for first offences?
    I used to buy a ton of gold a few years back and I THINK I got a warning once..
    I'm not sure if I dreamt that but I've never had anyone threaten to close my account over it.

    I havn't bought any in a long time though, so don't hate on me.

  9. #9
    Supposed it isn't a scam email - I wouldn't mention pingzapper to blizz when you contact them. They say it's because of economy exploit. Only talk about that.
    Sha of *Gay* Pride!

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Dzargok View Post
    Well I didn't buy anything in fact I just started so I don't have much gold or any expensive items
    It is an authentic e-mail from blizzard, I checked that

    Has anyone had an experience like this with a positive outcome?
    Could you post the e-mail on these boards?

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Milamber View Post
    Supposed it isn't a scam email - I wouldn't mention pingzapper to blizz when you contact them. They say it's because of economy exploit. Only talk about that.
    I mean it could help them understand that if they banned all the accounts from an implicated IP adress they would understand better why is that I'm innocent if I've just been using it for tunneling purposes due to firewall restriction in my college.

    There's no other reason I can think of for being banned like this, I'm 100% clean

    ---------- Post added 2013-03-21 at 08:46 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaelorian View Post
    Could you post the e-mail on these boards?
    World of Warcraft -- Account Closure Notification -- Exploitative Activity Found
    Inbox
    x
    XXXXXXX (Account name)
    x


    WoWAccountAdmin@blizzard.com
    05:41 (3 hours ago)

    ***Notice of Account Closure***

    Account Name: XXXXXXXX

    Reason for Closure: Terms of Use Violation -- Exploitative Activity: Abuse of the Economy

    This account was closed because one or more characters were identified exchanging, or contributing to the exchange of, in-game property (items or gold) for "real-world" currency. This exchange process negatively impacts the World of Warcraft game environment by detracting from the value of the in-game economy.

    Even if this is the result of account sharing, the account owner can still be held responsible for the penalty because of the impact it had on the game environment.

    We've found the above behavior is many times directly related to groups responsible for compromising World of Warcraft accounts; we take these issues very seriously. To better understand our position against exploitative activity and the risks involved, please review this article: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/services/anti-gold/

    The exploitative activity that took place on this account violates the World of Warcraft Terms of Use. We ask you take a moment to review these terms at http://us.blizzard.com/company/legal/index.html. Note that additional Terms of Use violations may result in more severe actions against this account, up to and including permanent closure.

    If you believe your account was compromised, please go to the following website https://us.battle.net/account/suppor...-recovery.html. Our support staff will assist you as soon as possible. If you are unable to access your account due to the password being changed, please visit our Login Support site here: https://us.battle.net/account/suppor...ord-reset.html

    For any disputes of this action or further information on exploitive activity, please visit the Account Administration Overview and contact page here: http://us.battle.net/support/en/article/300515

    Regards,

    Customer Services
    Blizzard Entertainment
    http://us.battle.net/wow/en/

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Dzargok View Post
    Well I didn't buy anything in fact I just started so I don't have much gold or any expensive items
    It is an authentic e-mail from blizzard, I checked that

    Has anyone had an experience like this with a positive outcome?
    Have you tryed logging into ur account yet?

  13. #13
    Honorary PvM "Mod" Darsithis's Avatar
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    Call Blizzard, talk to them. They're the only ones who can truly help you at this point. As much as we commiserate with you, we have no power to affect your ban.

  14. #14
    See if you can log in first of all in case of exploit. If you are indeed banned then start a ticket from the blizzard website or call them. If you really did nothing wrong you will get the account back with no issues, and TBH you'll probably get it back even if you did.

  15. #15
    Sadly can't call them right now I'm at work and too many people are near me to be talking about WoW or any game on the phone.

    I tried to log in and got a message of "this account has been closed"

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Dzargok View Post
    Sadly can't call them right now I'm at work and too many people are near me to be talking about WoW or any game on the phone.

    I tried to log in and got a message of "this account has been closed"
    Okey, just call them later. They'll fix it. Don't worry and Gl!

  17. #17
    Fluffy Kitten Sonnillon's Avatar
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    Saku, Estonia
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    8,168
    I got my account banned a while back by using bingzapper as well. Said that I was exploiting as well.

    I used Skype to make a free UK call (for you it US probably (as I play in Europe)), had a productive chat with support person and he sorted things for me and I got my account back. My ticket was closed with a warning though, that if I use a program for IP-routing again I will loose my account permanently.

    The support guy explained why my account was banned and me getting "I was exploiting game" message. He said the following:
    The IP-routing programs route your IP through various servers make it look you're logging from some place else. And you cannot be sure that you get a "clean" IP address. If the IP you get when you are routed, belonged to someone who did something bad, then they think you did something bad. The support guy/gal will probably ask you when you last logged and from which location and few other questions. Then he will probably tell you from which country you logged.

    Also of you don't have authenticator attached to your account and you log from another country, your account will be locked as well.

    If you explain the reason you used routing program, like pingzapper, give decent details on your account and don't have any other major violations to your account, you will probably get your account back. You just have to make a call personally.

    GL.

  18. #18
    I do have my own preferences.

  19. #19
    Go open a ticket through Battle.net, be sure you include key words like "banned" and "urgent". Not sure if that actually works but it seems like their tickets are filtered through levels of importance. Anyway, they should get to you by the time you're off work at the latest.

  20. #20
    Don't call them. They no longer deal with these issues by telephone. You need to put together an email/appeal via the website that will be sent up whatever current channels of communication they use for appeals.

    They're doing a lot of banning in the last month or two for economy-related issues and have swept up a fair number of innocent folks along the way. A couple of these have gotten their accounts restored; some are still appealing; at least two I know of have been told no further appeals will be accepted and they are perma-banned.

    Don't buy the baseless optimism of a few posters here ("don't worry -- if you did nothing wrong you'll get your account back"). You may, or you may not. You need to put together as much relevant information as possible in your appeal ticket, be sure it's stated courteously, and hope for the best.

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