My WoW Account is Banned! Help!

No, my WoW account is perfectly fine.  This is part 2 in our account administration series, designed to help you determine what to do in the event your WoW account is banned.

Same scenario as last time:  You fire up the computer and go to login to WoW for some quality raiding time.  You're suddenly hit with the following message:

The first thing you might wonder is, "What have I done?".  While Blizzard will never release detailed information about a suspension, even to the account holder, there are a few things you can check.  Please note, this list is only meant to be a guide, and not specific proof of anything.

1. Ensure your computer and email are secure.  See Account Security for more info.
2. Did you let someone access your account?  If so, you're responsible for anything they did.
3. Did you sell a store mount for in-game gold?  That's considered gold selling, and is a major violation.
4. Do you use automation utilities?  Blizzard has enforced a "one action per one button press" scheme.
5. Did you fall for a Phishing Scam?  You just gave criminals your account information.

If points 2 through 4 sound familiar, you may be out of luck.  Very rarely does Blizzard overturn suspensions or bans for those reasons.  If your answer is 1 or 5, keep reading.  We have some tips to make things as painless as possible.

So, you've determined your account may be compromised.  Of course you'd be wondering what to do next!  The steps are simple yet vital.  If you rush through these steps, you may miss something important.  We're going to give you our own personal opinions, but we'll also link to the official Battle.net Security Site so you can see what Blizzard recommends.

1. Download Malwarebytes, which is a free anti-virus suite.
2. Reboot your computer in Safe Mode.
3. Once your computer reboots, open the Battle.net Desktop App and put random things in the login fields.
4. Start Malwarebytes and perform a FULL scan.  Do not do a quick scan.
5. Completely remove all traces of detected malware and reboot.  Malwarebytes may state it has to reboot to remove something.  DO IT!
6. Once you're back at your normal desktop, immediately change your email password.
7. Create a new email address just for Battle.net.  Do NOT reuse any of your passwords.
8. Next, login to Battle.net Account Management.
9. Change your Battle.net password and email address.
10. Add an authenticator.
11. Add SMS Protect.
12. Oh, did I mention Add an Authenticator!

Seems like a lot, huh?  If you were definitely hacked or compromised, you will definitely want to perform the steps indicated above or in the Security Checklist on Battle.net.  So, how do you get your account back?  Simple!

1. If you haven't already done so, change your password.
2. Fill out the Account Recovery Webform.
3. Be patient.  It will take some time to schedule the recovery and ensure all the proper steps were taken.

This brings us to the end of part 2 of our account security series.  The final part will deal with how to determine if that whisper you just received in-game is really from a Game Master.