Use Protect...I mean, Common Sense

So as I'm sure you're 100% aware of now, the Cataclysm NDA has been lifted and the Beta has officially opened. Hundreds of thousands of people (including yours truly) are anxiously awaiting to see if they've been lucky enough to receive an invite.

This, of course, leaves the door wide, wide open for scammers and other nefarious types to rob you of your precious account info. We're all careful individuals (right?!) but sometimes excitement can lead even the most vigilant person into a swampy mire of bad decisions. So what can you do to protect yourself?

1. Make sure there's an authenticator linked to your account. It's not foolproof, but it makes things so much harder for anyone trying to steal your account.
   
   
2. Do not respond to in-game whispers regarding Beta invites. Blizzard will only send you Beta invite info through your email.
   
   
3. Any Beta invites Blizzard does send you will go to the account linked to your Battle.net account. If you're like me, you have multiple email accounts used for different purposes. Make sure if you do see a Beta invite email, it's in the expected email inbox.
   
   
4. Have an authenticator linked to your account.
   
   
5. If you do receive a Beta invite email, do not click any links in it. Even if you are 100% sure the email is a legit one from Blizzard, do not click links. Scammers are crafty folk. They can produce convincing emails that link to convincing recreations of actual Blizzard sites. Put your account info into one of these fake sites and...yeah. Ugly.
   
   
6. Hopefully you have the WoW homepage or Bettle.net saved to your browser's bookmarks. This is the safest way to get to your account. Even Google can't always be trusted anymore, and if you're typing addresses yourself, there's always a chance at a typo leading you to a bad site. Either way, after seeing a Beta invite in your email, you should immediately go to one of those sites and log in to your Battle.net account from there.
   
   
7. Once you're logged in, your Battle.net account homepage should have a big section right across the middle that shows all the games you have linked to that account. If you've received a legitimate Beta invite from Blizzard, you will have an item in that list for the Beta. It will look like this:
   
   Totally accurate recreation
   
   If you see the Cata image, you can manage that "game" and go from there. If you don't see it, your invite is probably a scam and you should immediately forward it to Blizz for investigation
   
   
8. Use an authenticator. Get a cute core-hound pup for your troubles!

It's a very exciting time for us. There's going to be a huge amount of information coming out and lots of chances for us to get in there and see the game for ourselves. Just remember to slow down and use some caution and common sense before jumping at your chance.