"Caution When Receiving Gift Certificate Codes!"

[AluraMist]

This Announcement was just posted by @Sparck on the Wizard101 website: https://www.wizard101.com/forum/head...1cf17fb?page=1

Part of the Announcement includes this:
"Meanwhile, please review the Announcements section of these forums for additional account security information and links to KingsIsle policies.

[Pegasus Unbound]

It's sad when we have to go through yet another "scam" alert. The different ones rotate and now it's the certificates again.

Folks, if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true. Buyer/"gift receiver" beware!

Cautious Hugs,

V

[BaronvonWolf]

can't they just remove the items or other things from the gift and not just ban there customers?

[SeptenaryRavens]

I've seen the reactions to a lot of prominent players on social media calling out KI for "putting 100% of the blame on the victims." I do agree that it's wrong for a company to equate an unknowing victim as the villain, but I am also torn a little. I'm an advocate for saving money where you can (heck I live in Canada, so I end up paying 25-30% more for memberships or crowns), and gift certificates are inherently cheaper (~$10) than gifting an 8000 crown (~$16) membership from the crown shop. But knowing that the official wiz site is a haven for scammers makes me uncomfortable touting such a fact. This warning from KI isn't just to "protect" players, it's to protect their wallets so that we will all be forced to pay 60% more to gift a membership from the crown shop than if we were to buy it as a gift certificate.

[bluedreamer]

I was just about to post about this. I just watched a couple of videos from YouTube creators and I think it's terrible that is forcing victims to have to pay to get their accounts back. KI should be ashamed holding their players responsible for someone else's actions.
@Sparck

Just remove items from VICTIMS accounts and be done with it. Remember KI us players spend actual money playing Wiz101. The items that can be bought in game are digital thus infinite to KI. KI have not lost a single cent.

[Sparck]

can't they just remove the items or other things from the gift and not just ban there customers?

Thank you all for the concern and feedback. Yes, when we can, absolutely. If that's not possible, we are offering other alternatives. We temporarily suspend the accounts to ensure we can investigate them and they are not directly compromised.

We do hear you and I'm communicating all the concerns directly to our team. We are working on many different avenues to ensure we're not only taking care of the fraudsters, but warning players that these folks are out there that will take advantage of players.

It's not a perfect solution, but for now, it's important that we get the community's help to warn players that receiving gift certificate codes from suspect sites, third party platforms, at a deep discount, is suspicious and not advisable. Please just purchase/receive them from official sources.

This may not cover every single scenario, but it's a start to helping resolve a big part of the issue. For the rest, if anyone ever has concerns about their account in this way, please contact support and they will look into it.

[bluedreamer]

Thank you all for the concern and feedback. Yes, when we can, absolutely. If that's not possible, we are offering other alternatives. We temporarily suspend the accounts to ensure we can investigate them and they are not directly compromised.

We do hear you and I'm communicating all the concerns directly to our team. We are working on many different avenues to ensure we're not only taking care of the fraudsters, but warning players that these folks are out there that will take advantage of players.

It's not a perfect solution, but for now, it's important that we get the community's help to warn players that receiving gift certificate codes from suspect sites, third party platforms, at a deep discount, is suspicious and not advisable. Please just purchase/receive them from official sources.

This may not cover every single scenario, but it's a start to helping resolve a big part of the issue. For the rest, if anyone ever has concerns about their account in this way, please contact support and they will look into it.

Serious question, how can you tell they were purchased from official sources? When someone buys you a gift it doesn't say this item was stolen or purchased from an illegal source. So how does the player know?

[BaronvonWolf]

Thank you all for the concern and feedback. Yes, when we can, absolutely. If that's not possible, we are offering other alternatives. We temporarily suspend the accounts to ensure we can investigate them and they are not directly compromised.

We do hear you and I'm communicating all the concerns directly to our team. We are working on many different avenues to ensure we're not only taking care of the fraudsters, but warning players that these folks are out there that will take advantage of players.

It's not a perfect solution, but for now, it's important that we get the community's help to warn players that receiving gift certificate codes from suspect sites, third party platforms, at a deep discount, is suspicious and not advisable. Please just purchase/receive them from official sources.

This may not cover every single scenario, but it's a start to helping resolve a big part of the issue. For the rest, if anyone ever has concerns about their account in this way, please contact support and they will look into it.

that's good to hear but what most people are talking about getting gifted items from the crown shop and then getting banned. that's why so many are upset it and why nobody wishlist is public anymore from fear of a ban. i'm sure there is more to this than what can be seen but it did rub some people the wrong way

[Sparck]

that's good to hear but what most people are talking about getting gifted items from the crown shop and then getting banned. that's why so many are upset it and why nobody wishlist is public anymore from fear of a ban. i'm sure there is more to this than what can be seen but it did rub some people the wrong way

We are working on several things to give you more power on accepting or rejecting gifts, who they are coming from, etc. We'll do as much as we can here to build up tools for not just our own moderation needs, but for you to take better control and be aware of any concerns that may come up.

That all sounds rather vague I know, but we're working on it! When we have updates goes live (or on Test Realm) that start including more of this visibility, we'll be sure to let you know so you can check them out.

[bluedreamer]

We are working on several things to give you more power on accepting or rejecting gifts, who they are coming from, etc. We'll do as much as we can here to build up tools for not just our own moderation needs, but for you to take better control and be aware of any concerns that may come up.

That all sounds rather vague I know, but we're working on it! When we have updates goes live (or on Test Realm) that start including more of this visibility, we'll be sure to let you know so you can check them out.

So player X buys some gauntlets, joins a guild, donates them to the guild. They charge back the credit card. Does KI ban the entire guild?