Account/s Banned for Exploitative Activity: Unauthorized Cheat Programs (Hacks)

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Hello,

I play on a shared family account under the same battle.net account. We all pay individually for our own subscriptions/expansions etc, the only part of it that is shared is the battle.net account. Blizzard set this up for us in the past, so this is not something that is against their ToS rules as this is something we have been using since as far back as Mists of Pandaria and we have been using it without any issues since then.

On 25th of Feburary 2025, 5/8 of these accounts were banned for “Exploitive Activity: Unauthorized Cheat Programs (Hacks).”

I know the basic responses that “we’re likely guilty even if we don’t think we are, because chances are we’ve done something”. I wouldn’t be here if I haven’t already gone over every possible option and scenario that might’ve happened that could be “hacks”.

Just a bit of background with what activity goes on with these accounts:

  • 5/8 accounts actively played Hardcore WoW together. Questing, doing dungeons. No weird activity involved, no weird programs downloaded on any of the computers. I have personally checked through them.
  • 1/8 is basically unused, logging in maybe weekly for a level here or there on Hardcore WoW.
  • Remaining 2/8 have been playing retail PvP WoW together and farming Transmog in their spare time.

The weirdest part, is that none of the banned accounts have anything in common with what activity they are participating in. Which is why every possible answer I’ve come up with has been outlined as “can’t be true.”

Using my descriptions above, the banned accounts are as follows:

  • 5/8 accounts actively played Hardcore WoW together. 2/8 BANNED

  • 1/8 is basically unused. BANNED

  • Remaining 2/8 have been playing retail. BOTH BANNED

Obviously I understand that suspicious activity on these accounts may date back months before a ban is rolled out, but majority of these accounts have only just returned to the game after 12months to play Hardcore WoW.

There is no suspicious software even installed on these computers, I have checked through them myself. There is nothing that would flag as out of the ordinary. No one has participated in suspicious or exploitive gameplay.

I understand there is obviously SOMETHING if it’s been flagged, unless there’s a chance we have been hit with a false accusation, in which that is the only answer I can accurately provide.

I understand action here is not going to happen, I already have an appeal ticket open and am (hopefully) working with Blizzard to have this resolved, even though most of the feedback I’ve read from other forums like this + reddit is that the chance is very slim. I just find it absurd that we can play this game the correct way for YEARS and be punished for doing nothing wrong.

The reason for my post here is just to ask if there is any other possible cause that I may have missed whilst going through an evaluation of all activity on these accounts and something that might flag it, either by accident or otherwise.

TLDR: 5/8 shared family account banned for “hacks” even though the activity between said banned accounts doesn’t align, nor does any hack explanation as no hack programs are installed on any device, nor been used ever in the past.

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As long as it’s ONE adult and ONE minor child.

Yes false positives happen but are a lot rarer than people realise. You can certainly appeal your own wow licence ban until you are told no more appeals will be looked at.

Good luck!

All you can do is appeal. Blizzard will not tell you what was detected.

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How many people are using this shared account, and their ages? Its one child and one minor under 18 so anything else is against the rules.

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Blizzard’s stance on account sharing is for one adult and a minor child in which they are the legal guardian. If a child is going to play on their own license, Blizzard recommends creating a separate Battle net account for that child in the parent’s name so when that child becomes legal adult (age 18) the Battle Net account can easily be transferred into said child’s name without losing any mounts, pets, achievements, or anything else they’ve earned that are bound to a BNet account.

Battle Net is the “account”, each iteration of WoW on that Bnet is the “license”. It doesn’t matter who pays for them. If multiple family members are playing on one Bnet account, no matter how many licenses are tied to that account, and any of them are over the age of 18, it’s considered account sharing and against the rules.

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Thank you for your comment.

When these accounts were created, it was created under one parent (whom had a second spare licensed account), including 6 accounts for children (who were all under 18). I haven’t been able to find a mention of a limit of one child and one parent within the End User License Agreement. I’ve only been able to find that under a parents consent, a child may share an account with the parent. If you’re able to link which section that’s under I’ll be sure to give that a thorough read.

Along with this, we explained the situation we had at the time to Blizzard, who had helped us set it up, which they did not ask for proof of age, nor tell us we would need to shift the accounts off to seperate accounts upon turning 18.

I understand what you are saying, my main point is that no proof of age was required nor requested, neither was a warning for us to shift those accounts off to seperate accounts after turning 18. Also, the main accounts that were banned are the accounts that still belong to minors so there is no real communication or logic behind the perma bans.

Not to mention I doubt that would be flagged as Exploitative Activity: Unauthorized Cheat Programs (Hacks) as the reason, unless Blizzard is classifying this as “hacking”.

All being said, I appreciate your comment allowing me to look at it with a different perspective. I’ll be sure to clarify this with Blizzard with the appeal.

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Yeah, that’s definitely not allowed.

In fact, it’s no longer recommended at all to have a single dependent child under the same battle.net as an adult as the accounts can no longer be separated once the child hits adulthood.

By doing this, any one of those 6 kids could have used inappropriate software leading to an account or even the battle.net account being actioned.

Since the accounts can not be separated, I’d highly recommend that each child have an individual account created under their name if they’re 13+ or in the name of the parent/guardian if they’re under 13.

Nobody here will be able to tell you specifically ‘why’ the account was actioned beyond the category it was actioned under. You’re welcome to appeal, but you definitely need to fix the issue with everyone sharing accounts (especially as adults now). Otherwise, even if the account action is removed, the account can still face permanent closure.

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Me note: for clarification purposes when I say license, I’m referring to the individual WoW licenses. Account, the Battle.net account.

Obviously, we can none of us speak to this conversation that had taken place back when it was done in MoP between you and a GM. As far as I can remember, it has always been the policy that it was a single parent/guardian and a single minor child could access the same account and/or license. As to that one parent/one child rule:

The big thing in play here is that it is on us as players to keep up with the policy changes and how we may have to adapt to these changes. Even if the account sharing wasn’t the reason behind the sanctions, you guys have pretty much screwed everyone out of their accounts, save for the primary and “legal” account owner. As of last year, they stopped being able to move game licenses between Battle.net accounts, even in the previously limited capacity of a parent/minor child situation. Individual characters can not be transferred between Battle.net accounts. So even if access was restored to the licenses, if you guys wanted to continue playing the game, you would each need to break off and create brand new Battle.net accounts with new game licenses since licenses cannot be transferred between the Battle.net accounts any longer.

Even if it were “legal” to have all the minor children under one account, as soon as anyone aged up to 18, their licenses should have been moved to their own individual Battle.net account. But now, even if the sanctions are lifted, there is still the issue that the entire Battle.net account could potentially be banned because of this pretty egregious circumstance you guys have wound up in.

Regardless, I will wish you well with your appeals, and I’ll cross my fingers that perhaps there can be some sort of resolution to be found - but you all should go in with some very, very low expectations of a wholly positive outcome.

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The problem with having multiple people on one account is that it is impossible for Blizzard to penalize just one/differentiate between the licenses.

If a program is detected on the computer then all licenses are under suspicion.

All it takes is someone using autohot key for work. Someone using hacking programs for another game. Numerous ways to streamline access between programs.

Or even just playing all licenses at once. still unsure how many people are on your license, but being signed into 3+ licenses at once while engaging in the game can definitely raise red flags in regards to account sharing. Even more so if someone doesn’t live at home but in another area.

Best of luck. If the accounts get unbanned, you definitely need to separate them. Everyone needs their own account and unfortunately everyone but the original account holder is going to lose access to everything. Licenses or characters can no longer be moved off of a Battlenet account.

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Yeah that setup is absolutely not allowed, and has never been allowed. There is no such thing as a “family account”.

In the past if it was you and one minor child it would’ve been allowed, but even that isn’t recommended anymore. Because accounts can’t be moved between bnets anymore. So everyone is going to lose everything when they turn 18.

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Even when you could move accounts or characters to another bnet you would loose all achievements, mounts and pets. So new bnet for each kid is a perfect thing.

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There is a tendency for families to create/allow their children or even share accounts between spouses, instead of creating their own accounts, not just for WOW but other things. I would recommend you start working with your children to setup their own web presence, emails, etc where you can help setup good practices but where you can continue to monitor them if you feel thats necessary. Ultimately while this seems like a bother now, and it might just be easier, eventually they will become teenagers and move out, and sharing your accounts will become more problematic, and much harder to untangle.

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Unfortunately they no longer can transfer licenses to new Battlenet Accounts nor can they move characters anymore. That changed with Warbands. So each of the children/young adults will need their own Battlenet Account in their legal name if they are over 13. A parent can set up the parental controls on it to control usage time, purchases, chat, etc. They are going to have to start over. You might want to try the Refer a friend program for a bit of rewards if you have to do this anyway.

This means the child keeps everything they earn on their own Bnet account. They can also pet battle with each other, play at the same time without worries, send Bnet messages to each other, etc.

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Yep even though it’s technically still allowed for one minor child to play on the parent’s account, it’s not recommended. Because due to warbands, bnet account bound stuff, and the inability to transfer characters or move accounts anymore, anything they do on the parent’s account will be lost when they need their own. I wouldn’t recommend that for anything but letting a child try out the game to see if they want their own account or not.

If the child is under 13, a new bnet account should be created in the parent’s name (that can be transferred to the child when they come of age). And if they’re over 13, it can be in the child’s name.

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The newest EULA does not allow persons under 13 to play at all. See the second clause.

You must be and hereby affirm that you are an adult of the legal age of majority in your country and state of residence. If you are under the legal age of majority, your parent or legal guardian must consent to this Agreement. By installing or using Blizzard’s online gaming platform, you represent that your parent or legal guardian consents to this Agreement.

  1. Children under 13 may not utilize an Account, the Platform, nor enter into this Agreement even with the consent of a parent or legal guardian. Account users 13 or older but under 18 or the age of majority where they live (a “Child”) must review this Agreement and the Privacy Policy together with your parent or guardian. If you are the parent or legal guardian of an Account user who is a Child, you also agree to be bound by this Agreement on the Child’s behalf. In the event that you permit your Child to use an Account or the Platform (including any Game), you hereby agree to this Agreement on behalf of yourself and your Child, and you understand and agree that you will be responsible for all uses of the Account or the Platform by your Child whether or not any particular use was authorized by you. Parents/guardians are jointly and severally liable for all acts and omissions of their Child for all uses of the Account and Platform.

Edit for source https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/legal/fba4d00f-c7e4-4883-b8b9-1b4500a402ea/blizzard-end-user-license-agreement

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When in doubt, do things the long way instead of taking shortcuts. Sometimes the shortcuts end up costing you more than if you’d just done things the long way from the start.

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