Virtual World Spam A Reality

Today marks a first for me. I’ve been spammed in game, actually in the game. Specifically, in my World of Warcraft account.

How pleased I was to see the little mail icon on my interface, thinking, maybe I got an in game message from a friend… Only to travel to town, stop at the nearest inn and check my mail at the mailbox out front, to see this…

Now, I am not surpised at all in the selling of virtual goods. As I have mentioned in the past, I have even bought characters online, and gold, and other stuff that enhanced my game play, which makes it more enjoyable for someone like me who can maybe play for a half hour each day only sometimes. I don’t have the time to play for days on end to acquire such items.

What did surprise me was that they found a way to use an in game “mail” system to send a spam. Now, I did check the website in the spam above and it wouldn’t pull up, so perhaps the Blizzard team got to them already, who knows.

A new horizon perhaps? Will anything be spam free? Are my children doomed to live with spam as “a part of life”? Probably, heh?

If you want to read more about virtual economies, and heck, even virtual millionaires, check out Wayne’s Second Life blog.