Scammers are betting you don't know a "vv" from a "w"

by Elizabeth Harper Jul 31st 2007 at 9:20AM

Scammers never stop trying, do they? They're always out there coming up with new and interesting ways to part players from their World of Warcraft accounts. Most recently, a European scam has set itself up by registering the domain www.vvovv-europe.com (currently, it's just redirecting to the main page), as opposed to the genuine EU site, www.wow-europe.com. (It shouldn't surprise us, then, that there's also a www.vvorldofvvarcraft.com -- but it hasn't been spotting using its domain for e-mail scams.) That's right, they've replaced the w in the authentic domain with a pair of v's. And while the difference is painfully obvious on a site like WoW Insider that uses a serif-style font, most browsers use a sans-serif style for their address bar in which the two v's look almost exactly like a w. (They're a bit wider than a normal w, but it's not a difference you're likely to notice at a glance.) So be extra careful of incoming e-mails that might try to convince you an e-mail from vvovv-europe is the real thing -- and remember, Blizzard will never ask you for your password!

[Thanks, Jon]

Tags: eu, scam, scammers, world of warcraft, WorldOfWarcraft, wow, wow-europe

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Joseph Jul 31st 2007 9:39AM

What will they think of next?

Franky Jul 31st 2007 9:45AM

That actually seems like it could be a rather dangerous/successful scam. Just glancing at links, I doubt anyone would notice the 'v v'. I guess it depends how well the scammers can duplicate the WoW main page and if they can actually fool someone.

jorelius Jul 31st 2007 9:47AM

May I please direct you all to a great warcraft blog:
http://www.vvovvinsider.com/
(I dont actually have it but hey, someone might have fun camping it)

Jellodyne Jul 31st 2007 9:49AM

Dude, Blizzard asks me for my password every time I log in. :P

Nick S Jul 31st 2007 10:01AM

it'd be rather clever of the account thieves to rip out the code for the WoW front-end and make a little password-stealing program. drop an icon on the desktop in the manner of innumerable malware programs, then when people double-click on what looks like WoW, they get the same login screen as always... except that it sends their username and password to the scammer.

not 100% foolproof, but i'll bet you'd get a few accounts that way.

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