I tried to login to Starcraft 2 tonight and it asked for my Authenticator code. I have never activated an authenticator for my account. I get the same request when I try to login to Diablo 3 or my battle.net account.
On battle.net, on the page where I enter my authenticator it does have a link for “I didn’t attach an authenticator to my account”. But when I click it, it sends an email to my account that allows me to reset my password (which was correct before, and I changed it and its still correct). It doesn’t allow me to remove any authenticator.
Am I doing something wrong? It doesn’t seem like I got hacked (since my password hasn’t been changed). But it is frustrating that I can’t play any of my Blizzard games.
I do see another option in Battle.net to remove an authenticator from my account that involves sending them a copy of a government issued id. Not an option Im eager to pursue.
As Mini-Cyn said, if you’ve got an authenticator on your account that you didn’t put there, that means you’ve been compromised. They probably don’t bother changing passwords anymore since they know you can’t log in once they add the authenticator.
AFAIK, the only option will be to call Blizzard customer service and work it out with them, possibly using the the government ID option. But if you bought physical copies of any of the games on your Battle.net account, I’ve heard that they will sometimes accept a CD Key as proof that it’s your account.
I agree with Mini. If you want to play Blizzard games again, I’d go ahead and copy your ID and send it in. Definitely try Hansey’s approach, but I would get that copy ready.
I didn’t have exactly this problem, but I did have another issue where they wanted me to send in a scan of an ID. I didn’t want to do that and told them so and after a fairly short exchange I got them to remove an authenticator without sending the ID. I did have the authenticator serial number and they had me send it along with the answer to my secret question.
So if you want to avoid the need to send an ID, it might be possible if you raise a stink about it and are able to satisfy them on your identity without the ID.
Also, once you do get the offending authenticator removed, I would highly recommend getting one yourself. I’m not sure it’s 100% foolproof, but it would definitely prevent this sort of thing happening again, and is the best defense against account hacking in general that you’re going to get right now.
With the number of people seemingly getting their account compromised, i can really see no reason not to get an activator, preferably a smart phone app one.
While i can’t say it has never happened, i have yet to hear of someone with an authenticator getting their account compromised.
As a note, if you do get a physical authenticator, make sure you register your phone number sms for the validation thing. That way you can administer the authenticator via text messages. When i bought a physical authenticator and added it to my account, it didn’t sync properly and left me unable to login until i called tech support (and waited on the line for over an hour). If i had setup the sms thing, i could have done it via phone.
Very true! While I hardly play Diablo 3 any more and never play WoW, I never regretted getting my authenticator. My account was jacked once, but never again after getting my handy dandy little doo-dad.
That’s a bit simplified, since you can still hack a Diablo 2 Battle.net account. I’m still disappointed D3 is online-only, but saying account hacks are only possible because it’s online only is just not true.
Huh, thanks for pointing that out. I’m sure nobody realized it. Would I still be able to play WoW single player? What if I was playing something like Ultima online?
What if i was playing a single player game with optional multiplayer components like starcraft 2 (which this thread is primarily about) or diablo 3 (which was the game that was mentioned as one having always on DRM)?
Surely you must realize how silly you’re being comparing a mmorpg to a single player game that has optional multiplayer? I am pretty sure the common use definition of always on drm among gamers is a game that forces you to be online at all times primarily for DRM purposes and diablo 3 most surely fits the bill. As you noted, WoW and UO do not, but that is not related to anything in the slightest (unless you plan to try the chewbacca defense?).
That is like if i say “one of the advantages to being Amish is i don’t need to worry about electricity since i don’t use electrical appliances” (completely made up example) and you replying “Yeah but what if you wanted to charge your electric car?”
