So I bought some Gold...

[Aegeus]

And within 10 minutes I received an OFFICIAL (WoW logo) in-game mail saying I had an important email sent to my account. when I checked it, it had the following inside;

Greetings,

In light of some recent activity on your World of Warcraft account, we’d like make sure you’re aware of the negative impact that buying gold from third-party companies has on the World of Warcraft community -- as well as the potential consequences for players who are found to be using such services.

Every day, we encounter players who have been victims of in-game scams or whose Battle.net accounts have been stolen, and who log in one day to find their characters’ inventories have been stripped of gold and other valuable items. The overwhelming majority of these scams and thefts are conducted by unethical third-party companies that sell stolen gold to other players for real money. Accounts of players who choose to buy gold and support these exploitive companies may be subject to a variety of account penalties, including the removal of purchased gold so it can be returned to the rightful character.

Third-party gold-selling companies frequently prey upon dedicated players -- often including their own customers -- without regard to the disruption their actions cause to the game and other World of Warcraft players. Ultimately, without players’ support, these companies have no way to continue their unethical actions, and that’s why we encourage the community to refrain from using their services.

Additional information on the negative impact of purchasing gold, as well as some important information on how you can protect your account from theft, can be found on our website at: Impact of Buying Gold - Shop - World of Warcraft

Thank you for helping us keep World of Warcraft a fun and safe environment for all of our players.
Regards,

Blizzard Entertainment
http://eu.blizzard.com/support/

Now I still have the Gold on my character and the email does not say my account will reprimanded at the moment, but I'd advise people to be careful.

[Forinris]

I personally dont buy gold, But still, I wonder.. How can they figure it out? The only way i can think of is that someone gave you a big sum of gold and because of that blizzard got suspicious (Considering they didnt ban, Just warn.) - In this case it could still be avoided by receiving small amounts or stuff. Either way, better not buy your gold

[x4kep]

Did you use F2F or Gbank to receive the gold?
I can see you are playing on EU servers, and that's why I am asking... On EU servers there is 10x smaller chance to get banned for buying gold compared to US.

My advice to you is just don't panic, if an actual GM whispers you ingame play it good, make it real, don't do any stupid moves. Also contact your gold seller to see did he have any problems and what did other customers of him do if they actually had similar problems like you.

Wish you the best of luck!

[Aegeus]

It was a face to face trade. I don't think anything will be done, it was more of a warning than anything I think

[TheNationGaming]

did you check if the email was phished? most chinese sellers give out the email attached right away to try and scare you

if its a official email from blizzard you'll likely get a final warning or closure

[Bearkin]

Change your email on your bnet account and see if you still get emails. Most likely you will.

If not, this sounds like a sting operation haha.

[Aegeus]

It was definitely legitimate, as I said in the OP I received an official in-game mail telling me to check my emails. They are marked as official as the sending image is the Blizzard logo.

Also, if it was a sting operation then they're doing it all wrong. You can't stamp out Drugs by busting the addicts.

[x4kep]

Yeah make a fresh email and change attach your Bnet account to it, if you still get emails then you are going to face some consequences

[Stabsincerity]

Happened to myself a while ago, and some guildies more recently, nothing to worry about, just a caution.