Curse

gone · Sep 13, 2009, 04:20 AM // 04:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shayne Hawke

I got the e-mail. I applied for the Test Krewe, but that seems to vary between people who also got the e-mail.

Has everyone who got the e-mail also signed up for GW2 newsletters?

never applied for the test garbage, but yea, I did sign up for GW2 newsletters (NA).

nvmu · Sep 13, 2009, 04:23 AM // 04:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Percipience

It's legit. They don't even ask for personal info and they already have your email so what exactly are you all afraid of? No fraudster would bother creating an elaborate 30 min survey about the intricacies of Guild Wars. And btw how do you figure they coincidentally happened to target the email addresses of Guild Wars players or that they even know you play Guild Wars to begin with? And why exactly target Guild Wars players anyway instead of say bank accounts, credit cards, some type of money transfer/retail service? Must be the world's most inefficient scammer or the paranoia level is a little too high.

All it would take for instance is for this site to get hacked to get a large amount of emails for people that play gw, and it could very well be a front for a gold sellers website...

Percipience · Sep 13, 2009, 04:23 AM // 04:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shayne Hawke

I got the e-mail. I applied for the Test Krewe, but that seems to vary between people who also got the e-mail.

Has everyone who got the e-mail also signed up for GW2 newsletters?

My guess is they emailed those registered on PlayNC. I have a number of accounts but only 1 is registered and that happens to be the only one that received an email.

HawkofStorms · Sep 13, 2009, 04:25 AM // 04:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shayne Hawke

Has everyone who got the e-mail also signed up for GW2 newsletters?

Nope I didn't sign up for it. That's the only thing that's gotten me confused is where this e-mail list came from.
It's not tied to the test krewe (people who are and are not on it have gotten it).
It's not tied to the forum e-mail account.
It's not tied to the game account (some people got them on a separate address).

Has everybody who gotten the e-mail linked their GW account to an NCSoft account maybe?

Hell Raiser · Sep 13, 2009, 04:28 AM // 04:28

I got it (and I did not apply for the Test Krewe either) and took the survey, like others have said there's no personal questions, and no a keylogger can't just install and run itself in the background (unless you're using windows 95, IE 6, Adobe Flash 7 and/or absolutely no security software, in which case you deserve it.). Even if it could, someone's anti-virus would have picked it up. Oh and how the hell did they get all of our email addresses?

The email was actually sent from, and links to, surveymonkey.com, a trusted survey site. And the return address is from artefactgroup.com, a Seattle, WA based company (sound like any other company we know?).

So as far as safety goes, I would say everyone's fine. Whether or not it's an official ArenaNet survey could still be in doubt, however.

Ariena Najea · Sep 13, 2009, 04:31 AM // 04:31

I have not gotten this email, and I have a linked NCSoft account, and I additionally applied to the Test Krewe. I am also signed up for the newsletter.

I do not recall filling out any survey in 2008.

nvmu · Sep 13, 2009, 04:37 AM // 04:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hell Raiser

Oh and how the hell did they get all of our email addresses?

The email was actually sent from, and links to, surveymonkey.com, a trusted survey site. And the return address is from artefactgroup.com, a Seattle, WA based company (sound like any other company we know?).

So as far as safety goes, I would say everyone's fine. Whether or not it's an official ArenaNet survey could still be in doubt, however.

As already mentioned, all they would have to do is for instance hack this site for the emails. I have never heard of surveymonkey before. Where the company is located is really not the issue, for all we know gold sellers websites are bassed out of Seattle, WA.

The gw, gw2 and ncsoft websites do not mention this survey, and no dev has commented on this yet, which makes this seem even more fishy. Additionally searching for artefactgroup on the ncsoft website comes up null.

KiyaKoreena · Sep 13, 2009, 04:38 AM // 04:38

I received it, two guildies so far say they got it. My husband didn't. Only thing I could remotely think of like a survey was the 3rd year Anniversary Sweepstakes, I think it had some generic questions about how much you played on it, playing styles, and if you would answer more.

With all the hammering of "don't use your GW log in email for other things" and "don't go to anything not sent from Anet/NCSoft offering GW related stuff", it seems decidedly silly to contract out a company to do this and not notify the community in some way. But the Live Team is all out with the flu, arent they? Maybe it was on the to-do list.

refer · Sep 13, 2009, 04:42 AM // 04:42

this thread reminds me- I totally forgot to sign up for test krewe! ouch!

Black Metal · Sep 13, 2009, 04:50 AM // 04:50

so this is a big mystery, how this unsolicited outfit got so many players' emails. Would like to get a word in from Regina if Anet had anything to do with it.

Clone · Sep 13, 2009, 04:55 AM // 04:55

I got one of these emails. I didn't sign up for test krewe. It does seem a bit unusual...

Aba · Sep 13, 2009, 04:57 AM // 04:57

Is guru letting its e-mail info out to Anet???

nvmu · Sep 13, 2009, 05:05 AM // 05:05

NCsoft privacy policy

-----We use your Personal Information to provide you with NCsoft content and services that are tailored specifically to the profile you provide. In connection with the delivery of our services, we may share the Personal Information with third-party partners or vendors who help deliver or administer the services, but they are only permitted to use the information in connection with the delivery or administration of our services. For example, we share your credit card information with a third-party credit card processing company, but that company is not permitted to use the credit card or Personal Information for any purpose other than to fulfil the specific purchase transaction.

-----You may have the opportunity to 'opt-in' to having your information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for the information. For example, our registration form may include an 'opt-in' mechanism so only those users who wish to share Personal Information with companies other than NCsoft can authorize distribution of that information to third parties.

I do not recall "opt-in" ing to anything, only reason I have a ncsoft account is for the anniversary storage tab, perhaps there was something we had to accept to get the storage tab that resulted in this.

Saph · Sep 13, 2009, 05:07 AM // 05:07

I havent gotten it, but wow. Still no yay or nay from an Anet employee? Its been a few hours, I'd have thought one would pop in and say something about whether this email is to be trusted or not.

Malla13 · Sep 13, 2009, 05:13 AM // 05:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvmu

NCsoft privacy policy
I do not recall "opt-in" ing to anything, only reason I have a ncsoft account is for the anniversary storage tab, perhaps there was something we had to accept to get the storage tab that resulted in this.

That's probably it. I haven't signed up for the test krewe and I've never filled out any kind of survey and I still got an email. So far the NCsoft account is the only thing I can think of that would link to me. I'm still deleting the thing whether it turns out to be legit or not. I don't need an art book all that badly.

Neo Nugget · Sep 13, 2009, 05:13 AM // 05:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saph

I havent gotten it, but wow. Still no yay or nay from an Anet employee? Its been a few hours, I'd have thought one would pop in and say something about whether this email is to be trusted or not.

Well it is a Saturday.

Anyway, I haven't gotten it yet either. I sometimes get random email from NCsoft about Guild Wars. Don't recall answering a survey last year either.

Bargamer · Sep 13, 2009, 05:21 AM // 05:21

Got this today, am not touching until we get Anet confirmation.

Narcissia · Sep 13, 2009, 05:28 AM // 05:28

i agree with many people, no touchy until someone from anet says they sent it

mrmango · Sep 13, 2009, 06:09 AM // 06:09

Same. Got it, did Test Krewe, and will wait for Anet before doing it.

Devastating Flames · Sep 13, 2009, 06:33 AM // 06:33

i got it as well, seems to be ligit because the company in Seattle, and only certain ppl have gotten and it seems to be the ones who did a survey for a net a while back. and they used a first name as hello witch u gave to a net when u created account so a net would of had to of given out our e mails and first names. i have sent a e mail to a net to get someone to confirm it i will post when i get a response

i'd also like to know how this outside company got my name and email? if so y is anet releasing my info didn't we agree to a privacy agreement?