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Important: Your ESOTU Account Needs Action
o-breed
Member CommonPosts: 51
Yesterday i got this e-mail:
Greetings,
We are contacting you to advise you that the game key associated with your The Elder Scrolls® Online: Tamriel Unlimited™ account has been identified as a compromised key that was originally obtained fraudulently and then re-sold to you. Because of this, your account will be deactivated on Tuesday, May 26th. We encourage you to contact the retailer who sold it to you as well as your credit card company for a refund.
To continue playing The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited after May 26, you must either apply a valid game key or purchase the game directly from The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited PC/Mac Store to regain access to your account. All your characters, progress, and other game information will be retained, so after you reactivate your account with a valid key, you can continue your adventures.
We’ve recently seen an increase in the sale of fraudulently obtained digital game keys for The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. Unscrupulous people engaging in this black market activity purchase Steam keys in bulk using stolen credit cards, and then resell them to unsuspecting consumers.
Fraudulently obtained keys obtained via Steam and then re-sold via third-party websites is a violation of both our and Steam’s Terms of Service.
We understand that your characters and progress are important to you, and your account will remain available for use once a new legitimate key is applied. To avoid unknowingly purchasing a stolen digital Steam game key for ESOTU, we urge you to please only purchase digital game keys for ESOTU from official retailers. Please click here to see our list of authorized retailers or visit our online store here.
I will contact Zenimax once my account is frozen and want my money back from Zenmiax!!! (Not from G2A)
The reason why is: I already upgraded to "Imperial Edition" via ingame shop and bought 3 months of subcription time!
But even this didn't help. They gonna kick me out of game May 25th.
Obviously it's Zenmiax's fault to spread their keys into the net and I'm not willing to support this kind of money milking!
Zenimax is also the first company which won't let you change your account e-mail and bans you for a cheap key.
Comments
Sucks to be you but it isn't just you:
Posted by Zenimax on Reddit yesterday:
We’ve recently seen an increase in the sale of fraudulently obtained digital game keys for The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited.
We want to remind gamers to shop wisely and only purchase online keys from a reputable source. Fraudulently obtained keys obtained via Steam and then re-sold via third-party websites is a violation of both our and Steam’s Terms of Service. We will be deactivating all game accounts created with such stolen keys starting on Tuesday, May 26th. Affected users will receive an email with instructions on how to regain access to their game account via a valid game purchase
The companies selling stolen keys make a practice of using stolen credit cards, or misappropriating credit card information from their own customers to buy codes from legitimate retailers. Often these companies have the lowest price available anywhere for the digital item they are selling. Customers who purchase from these vendors are at increased risk for identity theft.
Extreme discounting below the published prices on our website may be a clue that the digital key purchased for the game may have been fraudulently obtained.
We want to ensure that you have the best game experience possible. To avoid unknowingly purchasing a stolen game key we suggest that you purchase from our site or one of the official retailers listed below.
(list of retailers ... see link)
Same thing happened with several Ubisoft games in January:
Ubisoft Banning Game Codes Sold By Third-Party Sellers Such As G2A
And this was the official G2A response to that:
OFFICIAL STATEMENT ABOUT THE UBISOFT SITUATION
As some of you may already know, steps have been taken
to remove games purchased indirectly from a publisher,
via main marketplaces in the web.
G2A is not in any case responsible
for any of these procedures.
However, we are well aware of this process
and will do everything possible to compensate for that.
For users who have made transactions without G2A Shield,
we will check if the corresponding merchant
was responsible for the withdrawal of the code.
If so, these users will get a compensation.
Any user who used G2A Shield affected by the current process
will get either a new code for the game or the money back.
G2A will make every possible exertion
to prevent this kind of procedures in the future
and exclude merchants responsible
for such incidents from the marketplace.
After you get over your outrage, you might just want to contact G2A after all. They did give new Ubisoft codes to many and wil probably do so again this time.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
You wanted a cheap key, you took a risk (a very real one), I bought two myself from G2A for my wife and I (so far no such emails)... Even so, if I do receive one that's on me for being cheap and not buying full retail. Zenimax didn't put these keys out willy nilly, they come from Steam or other legit sources, people use stolen credit cards to buy them (those would be the fraudulent ones) It's not on Zenimax that we have chosen to take the risk of obtaining one of them.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
If someone purchased stolen keys that is not zenimax's fault. The person who owes you money is whomever you paid.
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So you bought a stolen key from a shady website and its Zenimax fault for banning that account?
Hope the $20 you saved was worth it......
Lesson learned. Buy legit game keys and you wont have to worry about this.
I self identify as a monkey.
In law in most countries it is more complicated; the buyer usually has recourse to both the person the goods were bought from and the manufacturer / provider of said goods. This double protection is there for good reasons.
What G2A do - buying keys and reselling them basically - is "legitimate". People are allowed to sell things e.g. cars that they own to other people. When it comes to games the likes of e.g. Gamestop have been annoying the likes of e.g. Sony for years. A second hand purchase generates no revenue from the developer. This is the reason that EA, for example, have sold a new game and provided "free" day 1 DLC to the registered user.
When you are dealing with the secondhand market however there can be issues. As Meatloaf sing "Life is a lemon and I want my money back". And that is the reason that laws - and they vary by country - usually protect the buyer and give them recourse to both the seller and the manufacturer. With software - arguably still a bit tricky in the US. IN the EU software has been classed as a product afforded all protections of a standard product.
So what about Zenimax.
The keys that G2A sold - assuming they worked when sold. Could they be fake - not likely as they worked. Could they have been stolen? Not directly Zenimax would just have flagged them as stolen and not activate them. Obtained under false pretences ... I suspect this is the most likely.
Last year an indie developer - who found out that some of their keys had been "fraudulently obtained" did some digging. Well reported story but in a nutshell he contacted about 50 companies claiming to have a YouTube channel and got a key from many of them Companies who ran such requests through Marketing / PR either in-house or a hired company kept lists, did checks and so forth. Those that didn't - he got lots of keys.
So - my conjecture is that - "fraudsters" contacted Zenimax requesting keys claiming they had YouTube or Twitch channels etc., Zenimax didn't check and sent out keys. The fraudsters sold the keys to G2A who - in grey market parlance - bought them in good faith and sold them on. Zenimax having now checked have found they have given out keys (probably) without checking and cancelled them.
As the indie dev said there are lots of checks that can be done e.g. using YouTubes built in checks; making a note of the name of the person the promo key is being given to and only allowing that key to be registered with that name and others.
Now I am not suggesting that G2A know that there could be "issues" but, as said above, they worked to resolve the UbiSoft situation. And (I doubt that) they are doing anything illegal.
And however much we might tut we would not be happy with legal restrictions that stop us selling things we have bought to other people whether we use classified ads; car boot sales; auctions, second hand markets; Amazon marketplace etc. etc.
Zenimax, however, will almost certainly not be blameless in this. At the end of the day the keys - almost certainly - will have been issued by them. And the fact that they can identify them now suggests that - if they had been more proactive - they could have identified them earlier / put controls on them etc.
I bought one from G2A and also received the email from Zenimax.
Luckily I paid the extra $1 for G2A Shield. I emailed them about it and they are issuing me a refund. No harm no foul. I got the $80 Imperial Edition for like $27 so it seemed a little fishy anyway, not THAT surprised that it was "illegitimate". Not really sure how that stuff works, either.
how are you real?
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Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
^Pretty much. For the longest time I wondered how those sites got those keys, until I read that Ubisoft article a few months ago. (And I think one that this site or another ran on the "grey market")
Makes me very glad that the only thing I've ever bought on those sites has been gametime cards.
I'm sorry that this happened to you, OP. But your best bet would be to politely ask Zenimax for a chance to buy a legit key from them, and to have them restore your account and its upgrade with the new key. (like they are offering)
Or to accept your loss and move on, there's pretty much no chance they're going to refund you. That's the same as a thief getting caught while exiting the store with stolen goods in his pocket, and then demanding a refund for the legit goods he's carrying in his shopping bag. (To them at least.)
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https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Credit card theft/fraud. They steal some poor sucker's number, buy a ton of game keys and then sell those through the site.
The original credit card owner finds out, goes to his bank and has them undo all those payments, royally pissing off the companies that the scammer bought the keys from, and they in turn track down the keys in question and deactivate them.
Of course by the time all that happens, some poor suckers like the OP have already bought the stolen keys, and the thief has cash in his hands that no one can take from him again. (In theory at least. The G2A Shield insurance can probably take it from them again)
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
As I posted above the keys - assuming they worked etc. - were probably issued by Zenimax to people claiming that they had a YouTube channel or Twitch account etc. And Zenimax just sent them out. Lots of discussion on e.g. Gamasutra about it last year.
Credit card fraud etc, is another option and that is another bag of worms. And one in which Zenimax have recourse to the credit card companies.
Interesting. Well, that sucks, but honestly to anyone out there buying keys from G2A, I have to say...if you are too broke to pay the extra $1 for the G2A shield, perhaps you should hold off on buying the game altogether. I have purchased PLENTY of games from them and this is actually the very first time this has ever happened, but I have bought the G2A shield on every purchase I have made through them and I do not regret it. Besides, anything I have ever purchased has literally been like 50% + off the retail MSRP so paying the extra $1 is a literal no brainer.
There's no question that they sell many more legit keys than dodgy ones. They couldn't stay in business otherwise lol. I haven't bought keys from them but I have from D2P (Direct to play) which is similar to G2A and I've never had any problem.
Also, whether you paid the $1 for shield or not, G2A will fix you up - they don't need the bad press for what's probably just a blip on the radar.
There are lots of ways to buy keys cheap legitimately and sell for profit. ZOS themselves had a month-long sale around Christmas when they were selling it for $20.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
With the increased use of the internet, and the increased shift from boxed games to digitial downloads, there is a risk, sadly, and criminals obtaining game keys by whatever nefarious means is probably a reality we're just going to have to accept and adjust to, much like the pedestrian looking both ways at a road crossing before using it.
It is for this reason that games companies provide a list of approved retailers, which is basically those retailers who have access to legitimate game keys etc, its also worth bearing in mind, that there is no legal recourse for the buyer of stolen keys, to recoup their losses, its the same as with any purchase of stolen goods, whether knowingly or otherwise, something to bear in mind when buying goods or digital services online.
Well I got my key from Amazon and they axed my account today lol. I mean I found it ok lore wise not so much game wise, but its not worth it to pay for another key. If they are going to go after amazon keys then theres no way I risk that again. I was just playing ESO because it way simply better than the god awful Albion beta I was in, but I wont give it much more credit.
Seems like their trying to bully people into monthly subs, not a good way to go about it.
I wonder how much money they let these so called fraudulent accounts spend on mounts and skins in the crown store before they killed the "fraudulent" account?
If you got your key off amazon then you probably have some recourse against the seller. Would be worth an email or two to amazon for a refund.
Considering that there is almost no way Amazon will sell a fraudulent key, I think my recourse is against Zenimax. I think if they can ban Amazon keys based on they think it therefore its true, then I am frankly terrified to by any of their products. What happens if I buy an actual boxed Cd next time and they tell me thats "fraudulent" to.
You have to pass a security detail just to work at Amazon as slave labor, I am supposed to believe black market vandals broke in, deposited fake game accounts to Amazons highly secured website then fooled their network administration into posting pirated account numbers?
And they want me to buy another account?
There is a two word response to that.
Steam: Neph
From Amazon or from some re-seller through Amazon Marketplace? I'm betting on #2... how much did you pay for it?
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Fifity ish I think. Its been a minute.
But even if that were the case it would go through their Fulfillment policy.
But thats not the bigger picture here, their intent is misdirected and quite honestly a little childish. If they have a problem with resellers then they need to go after them not the end user. God knows how many websites still sell ESO accounts including the ones they have account banned. So apparently they have no problems taking money from people using the Crown store as long as they can make them by some loophole buy another account, Again. If memory serves didnt they screw over players last year with false bans?
Newegg, Ebay all of these sites use certified resellers people have been using them for years how many banned accounts are from those sites. I am sorry but this is bullcrap, its not even close to not being bullcrap.
TESO is now buy2play. Zenimax gain money the more people are playing (they can buy DLCs and crown to buy item from the in game store). If they ban players who bought cheap keys (ok, stolen keys, but who bought them did not know those were stolen keys), those players won't buy again the game. Zenimax will lose a customer and will have less money from them.
I don't think this is a good move, but if they prefer to have less customers and less money, it's their choice...
Zenimax has no control over who sold the key. A reseller on Amazon sold a stolen key to you. Amazon should give you a refund and will probably flag or ban that seller.
I get being upset that the fraudulent key you bought was banned. I was just offering some advice on what you could possibly do to rectify the situation. If you dont want to bother then thats your choice of course.
Zenimax could I guess technically go after the resellers of stolen / fraudulent keys, but they arent going to spend the inordinate amount of time and money + criminal charges it would take.
Just have to face the facts that these cheap keys people buy arent worth the $10-$20 saved. Buy a box from a reputable seller or buy a digital key direct from the publisher. I do and I have never had an account banned yet.
Either way If I were you I would contact Amazon and at least get my money back and notify them of that reseller selling stolen keys. Regardless of if you play ESO going forward or not.
Edit: And setting up an account to sell on Amazon is easy, not like you go through am intense vetting process. If I had 50 stolen ESO keys right now I could be selling them on amazon by noon today.