Gold farmers and spammers are already trying their luck at accessing Guild Wars 2 accounts. Having stolen e-mail addresses and passwords from various other websites, these hackers are probing accounts to see if they can access them and use them for no-doubt nefarious purposes, such as gold-selling. ArenaNet confirmed this after a large number of accounts had failed login attempts originating from China.

“Hackers have lists of email addresses and passwords stolen from other games and web sites, and collected through spyware, and are systematically testing Guild Wars 2 looking for matching accounts,” ArenaNet advised through the Guild Wars official wiki. ” To protect yourself, use a strong, unique password for Guild Wars 2 that you’ve never used anywhere else!”

When these hacked accounts are used for gold selling or spamming, they are instantly banned until they can be returned to the owner. If you receive a message saying you have been permanently banned for violations of the user agreement, you are advised to contact customer support.

If you receive an e-mail authentication message asking you to approve a login from an unknown source, then the hackers have your password but the automated authentication system is keeping them out. If this happens the best course of action is to quickly change your password to something you have never used before.

For more information or updates on the situation, please see the official Wiki page here.