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In case you didn’t know, World of Warcraft hit the 10 million subscriber mark last month. That’s a lot of monthly income for Blizzard, however, it seems that not everyone is paying from a legit credit card. So many fraudulent payments have gone on that a bank in the UK is cutting players off from their beloved game.
I’m not from the UK, so I can’t really tell you how big Halifax is over there, but you can bet that there are more than a few unhappy people after this announcement was made.
We have seen a significant number of fraudulent transactions through Blizzard’s gaming sites. We have, therefore, blocked the majority of Visa/Mastercard transactions we receive from there in order to combat this.
We do not believe the fraud is anything to do with Blizzard themselves, their sites or the integrity of their billing systems, rather it is site users utilising stolen credit card details to pay for subscriptions.
I know some people that would have an aneurysm if their bank declined their monthly subscription payment, thus cutting them off from the game. Luckily the bank is more than happy to process the payments, you just have to call them up and ask nicely. Wouldn’t it be a little better for the customer if Halifax called them and informed them of a suspicious transaction, rather than just declining it?
[via GamePolitics]
This happens in the US also. I know because my Bank called me, AFTER they had denied charges on a new account I was creating. Once the phone call was over however, the charges were allowed through, and within a couple hours I was in game on that account.
Still a pita though.