UK's Halifax bank denies WoW charges
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Feb 18th 2008 at 2:45PM }
Sister-site WoW Insider has chronicled many fraud issues on the insanely popular MMO. Between the keyloggers and phishers, Azeroth can be a dangerous place. In all fairness, the Halifax issue could have happened with any MMO as they all have similar scams. Although what Halifax is doing is inconvenient, it's still better than customers checking their monthly statements and discovering fraudulent charges.
[Via WoW Insider]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BJ Moneyheffer @ Feb 18th 2008 2:50PM
Inb4Ludwigs
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 18th 2008 3:06PM
You're bill gates avatar is full of nerd and richguy.
BJ Moneyheffer @ Feb 18th 2008 3:19PM
And white sweater.
James @ Feb 18th 2008 4:25PM
"You are Bill Gates avatar"?
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 18th 2008 4:38PM
Yes, he are bill gates avatar.
You read that right
hvnlysoldr @ Feb 18th 2008 6:52PM
It's not a coincidence that this inb4 applies to a certain commenter.
Although I don't play WoW I would see why the bank wouldn't want to lose money from fraud.
mattclarkie @ Feb 18th 2008 2:57PM
Don't trust Halifax. I bought a PS3 on my card and I got an email from the retailer saying my card was declined. I had bought from them dozens of time.
I rang Halifax and they said they thought I was being frauded. I said it was legit, and they said if the transaction was resent they would allow it. I rang the retailer and they sent through the transaction. Then I got an automated message from Halifax asking me to confirm the charge. I went through this, and then it refused to acknowledge my birthday, I know my own birthday, and was told the payment would be blocked.
I rang up Halifax and they said the payment had gone through, a quick call to the retailer confirmed this and the PS3 arrived the next day.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 18th 2008 3:06PM
Everytime I read news about the UK, I'm glad I don't live there.
Poisoned Al @ Feb 18th 2008 9:58PM
Funny, I think the same thing about the states.
bAssackwards @ Feb 18th 2008 3:07PM
All your five-polygon gold mounds are belong to us!
Jevanzz @ Feb 20th 2008 11:38AM
Damn, this actually affects me!
Surely if you were a criminal with some else's credit card, you wouldn't just use it to play WoW, or have crackheads found a new addiction?
Cabcru @ Feb 18th 2008 3:21PM
I remember having a Halifax account as a kid. They shut it down and took my money because they said I didn't have enough money in there. I was a kid! Anyway, 25 years later and guess who has never been back to Halifax...
mikjendk @ Feb 18th 2008 3:52PM
I believe the reason for this is due to credit farmers. A regular approach for the farmers is to 'buy' copies of the game in question and then refute the charge. Since this takes a handful of days to go through they can essentially buy 20-30 copies of a game abuse them for a weeks time and then refute the charges.
John Smedly (CEO of Sony Online Entertainment) recently made some comments about it in an interview, describing it as causing several million dolloars worth of fines and fees for both the mmo company and the banks.
James @ Feb 18th 2008 4:26PM
Smart move Halifax. I was thinking about starting up a WoW account but nevermind. Guess this is karmas way of telling me to buy proper games instead of pay a fee to play just one.
I do
James @ Feb 18th 2008 4:28PM
WTH. Seems like you can't make heart shapes in text here. But yea I do like Halifax. Best bank I've been with. Never a problem! Unlike HSBC, Natwest and friends.
Poisoned Al @ Feb 18th 2008 10:02PM
It's the crude HTML/Javascript prevention this blog has. It's annoying.
Poisoned Al @ Feb 18th 2008 10:03PM
Oh, and I've never had problems with HSBC. I've been with them years and I have no complainants.