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Fraud or Legitimate

Thalmar
Thalmar
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Hi, I have big concerns about a matter and I do not know where I should turn to. I appologisez if this is not the right place, so please consider to move this to where it belongs to. I have 2 tickets already that I dont believe it was read by ESO agents or customer support.

I bought the game in 2014, I played a little bit and took along break. In the start of 2025 I subbed for 3 months and then one more 3 months. But as everyone knows the subclass, class identity, etc, I canceled my sub. 1-2 weeks ago while checking my account I clicked manage account and the system in some way wrote my account being updated. I did not understand what happened and I logged out. A couple days later I recieved an e-mail with a subject "Elder Scrolls Online - Your Purchase Confirmation" Thank you for your recent purchase.. etc. I freaked out as I did not purchase anything. It seems as I purchased 3 months sub as I used to do...

I checked my bank account there were no transaction made but any how I recieved this e-mail. I contacted ESO support, customer support asked for a proof, and I sent them scrrenshot of e-mail, as I live in Europe(Stockholm) it takes 1 day to recieve answer. But here the things get fishy so please bear with me, the 2nd answer I recieved from support I am gonna exactly link here:

"Thank you for providing this information. We are needing to request the your alternative email addresses you have access to. Please also provide the ESO account User ID you are logged into."

As this really sound like fraud attempt, why an agent needs my other e-mails or my ESO account User ID as they should already access this information, I ended the conversation with the agent. I deleted all my billing accounts and account info like address, phone and etc. I am still shocked how a professonal agent in a company as ZOS ask for such a personal information. I love ESO I am 52 years old and played every single game released by Bethesda starting from Elder scrolls 1 to 5 and ESO, was thinking about to sub again, but...

Now I really have doubts about what is going on, please a litlle higher personal in mangment take my case and investigate as I really lost all my respect and trust on the company, thanks for listening, best regards...
Edited by ZOS_Icy on 16 November 2025 13:23
  • Sarannah
    Sarannah
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    Sounds more like a phishing e-mail to me. As a general rule of thumb: "If you are unsure if it is a phishing e-mail, treat it as if it is!" Meaning do not click on anything in the e-mail.

    If you need to do anything with your account, always go to the main ESO website and go from there. Always check the URL's(website link) for whatever link you are at or are going to follow, to make sure that it is a real link taking you to the real website!

    PS: ZOS should already know all that information which is being requested, so I would assume a phishing e-mail.
  • Danikat
    Danikat
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    Thalmar wrote: »
    But here the things get fishy so please bear with me, the 2nd answer I recieved from support I am gonna exactly link here:

    "Thank you for providing this information. We are needing to request the your alternative email addresses you have access to. Please also provide the ESO account User ID you are logged into."

    If this is genuinely an exact copy and paste of what you recieved (and not translated between languages or anything) then that is almost certainly a fake phishing email, because that is terrible English. It should say "Thank you for providing this information. We will (also) need your alternative email address and the ID of the ESO account you logged into." I'd also expect them to put it in a bullet pointed list or something.

    I know it sounds like a really minor thing but bad grammar and sentence structure is a common problem with scams for two reasons: firstly they're often run by people not using their first language, so they make mistakes, and secondly because it can actually help them filter out people who will spot irregularities so they don't waste their time trying to draw in people who aren't going to fall for it.

    But it also seems very unlikely they'd ask for an alternate email address. I could see them asking you to confirm the account name and the email address for it if it's different from the one you used to contact them, but not asking for an additional, unrelated address.

    Also, you said you started the conversation with Customer Support. How did you contact them? Did they respond the same way? If you used the Support link on the website can you find these messages there under 'My Support'? They should show up even if they were emailed to you. If you emailed them did the reply come from the same address you emailed? Did it go to the same email address you used?

    I think it's very unlikely someone working for ZOS is trying to scam you, because at best they could lose their job and at worst they could end up in prison (I'm not sure if it would be considered an attempt to steal from a customer or from the company but either way it wouldn't go well for them). It's much more likely to be someone unrelated to ZOS trying a standard phishing scam and the fact that it landed at the same time you're having trouble with your account means they got lucky. Like how the people who text me about the car accident I've never been in will occasionally text someone who thinks they've finally got the response they've been waiting for from the insurance company and will promply hand over all their details.
    Edited by Danikat on 16 November 2025 00:43
    PC EU player | She/her/hers | PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - Say No to Crown Crates!

    "Remember in this game we call life that no one said it's fair"
  • JustLovely
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    No idea if what you're seeing is fraud or not. Seems more like an AI generated auto response to me. ZOS has at least three layers of AI customer support to wade through before you get to deal with an actual real live person.

    You should probably reply with your game related information. They only need the email address you used to set up the account with. So only give them that. They don't need any more information than that.

    ESO+ does auto renew if you don't cancel the subscription by going into your ESO account and cancelling the sub. Their billing system may have messed up and sent you the renewal confirmation even though you had cancelled.

    So anyway, it's probably fine. Just don't give them any more information than what you provided when you established the account.
    Edited by JustLovely on 16 November 2025 00:50
  • SilverBride
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    Can you log in to your account on the Elder Scrolls Online and check your billing history? If there is nothing there then the email isn't legitimate.

    Any time I've made a purchase I get an email immediately, not days later.

    I would not give them any information.
    PCNA
  • Thalmar
    Thalmar
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    Thanks all for your replies, I am not so sure I clicked the link on the e-mail or just went to my account from another browser and checked my account. I worked on internet security back then so I am mostly very conscious and paranoid about clicking links so probably it is the latter one I did.

    As Silverbride suggested I checked my billing history and there is no purchase the date I recieved e-mail, but the order number in the e-mail is the same as my previous purchase, like either the system resend my purchase or it send monhs later or someone who tried to get my account details who had access to my e-mail try to lure me.

    Also as Denikat said the Englisy they used in the e-mail didnt read gramatically or logically right thats why in the first place I referenced it here.

    Thank you JustLovely as you said the only information they should know is my e-mail address and my ingame ESO account User ID which they should already knew that. My other e-mails? Here things began not to sound right to me.

    One time one of the mmos charged money even I canceled my sub so thats why when I canceled my sub with ESO I deleted my visa card information also obviously I should delete my address also...

    I wished someone from ZOS answered me and cleared the air for me, if it is a fraud they can take the precautions so it will not happen again to anyone else.

    I changed all passwords on all my e-mails and will change here also, thanks again for all your replies, I really hope it is just a coincidence occured and something in the system went wrong.
  • freespirit
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    I am really surprised not even a Forum mod has jumped in to offer help, let's tag a couple for you, security of your data should be top priority!!

    @ZOS_Icy , @ZOS_CouchTato , @ZOS_Kevin , can anyone help out with this please?
    When people say to me........
    "You're going to regret that in the morning"
    I sleep until midday cos I'm a problem solver!
  • ZOS_Icy
    ZOS_Icy
    mod
    Greetings,

    This thread has been moved to the General Help section, as it is better suited there.

    The Elder Scrolls Online Team
    Staff Post
  • LootAllTheStuff
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    Thalmar wrote: »
    Thanks all for your replies, I am not so sure I clicked the link on the e-mail or just went to my account from another browser and checked my account. I worked on internet security back then so I am mostly very conscious and paranoid about clicking links so probably it is the latter one I did.

    As Silverbride suggested I checked my billing history and there is no purchase the date I recieved e-mail, but the order number in the e-mail is the same as my previous purchase, like either the system resend my purchase or it send monhs later or someone who tried to get my account details who had access to my e-mail try to lure me.

    There *was* an instance where ZOS' system resent old emails, but that was a while ago so I don't think this is the same thing. If you've worked in security you know that lists of email addresses + other identifying information are all over the dark web and routinely bought and sold (along with passwords). It wouldn't hurt to go through your email accounts and change passwords as a precaution.
    Also as Denikat said the Englisy they used in the e-mail didnt read gramatically or logically right thats why in the first place I referenced it here.

    Thank you JustLovely as you said the only information they should know is my e-mail address and my ingame ESO account User ID which they should already knew that. My other e-mails? Here things began not to sound right to me.

    One time one of the mmos charged money even I canceled my sub so thats why when I canceled my sub with ESO I deleted my visa card information also obviously I should delete my address also...

    I wished someone from ZOS answered me and cleared the air for me, if it is a fraud they can take the precautions so it will not happen again to anyone else.

    I changed all passwords on all my e-mails and will change here also, thanks again for all your replies, I really hope it is just a coincidence occured and something in the system went wrong.

    OK good.

    If you have submitted a ticket, you should have got an auto-response with a ticket number. If you can post one of those, one of the mods could look into it for you. Make sure responses aren't going to junk/spam!

    Edited by LootAllTheStuff on 16 November 2025 13:55
  • Thalmar
    Thalmar
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    Thank you for moving the thread to proper place there maybe I can recieve a little faster help, as it really takes 24h when we live in Europe to get a single answer from customer support.

    For the update on my case, I have no doubt the first 2 tickets with same ID responded by "Customer support" from ZOS as I from web site click -> Support ->MY Support I can see previous conversations. It is just unbeliavable how an agent can answer me and ask my personal data which are irrelevant and unnecessary.

    The last response I recieve I will link now

    "I am escalating your ticket to a specialized team to ensure you receive the best possible resolution of your issue. Thank you for your patience while they review your request, they should be reaching out to you shortly."

    As I said it takes 24h to get an answer but as soon as it happens I will update here. Thanks everyone who give insight and tried to help in this thread, best regards.
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