I am very sorry for what happened to you, Brainstormin, truly. We take these things very seriously and when reported we work to verify if a scam has taken place and if so, we take what actions we feel are appropriate in accordance to our policies.
It is important to understand though, for unsupported transactions (i.e. those that do not have a mechanic in-game to facilitate such as the trade window, Auction House, etc, we will do what we can to punish those who violate our scam policies, but we do not tend to reimburse the funds or materials that are lost through those unsupported transactions.
I also want to clear up some false information.
You seem to be basing your opinion on some notion that we would have acted differently around Burning Crusade/Wrath of the Lich King. We would not. Those policies have been in place for as long as I have been here, which pre-dates Burning Crusade. Stating that we do not have the same standards is a false narrative.
The fact of the matter is, we actually are far more involved in player behavior than we have ever been and we are working on ways to reduce the level of toxic behaviors in our games.
This isn’t a means to provide feedback, Brainstormin. If you wish to do so you’ll want to submit feedback in-game or through by posting in the General Discussion forum.
Absolutely. Ignorance of the law does not negate the law. Yes, there are situations in which one may receive a warning, but that is an exception, not a rule.
Regardless, this is not the same situation and is not treated as such.
No, the WoW Token was introduced to provide a more secure means of acquiring gold that doesn’t involve use of illicit services that often put the security of an account in danger. It allows for those with more money than time to exchange with those who have more time than money.
However, it feels like you have your own narrative here, so I’ll leave it with my previous advice and encourage that you provide constructive feedback in the appropriate location.