Here’s what you do if you were banned for phishing in Clash of Clans:
You really only have three options when you get banned for phishing in Clash of Clans.
You can appeal the ban to support or wait it out, but either way, you need to be able to prove that you own the account.
The third option is to create a new account which will forfeit everything you have invested into the game.
So if you want to learn all about dealing with being banned for Clash of Clans phishing, then this article is for you.
Let’s jump right into it!
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What Is Phishing?
This is an interesting problem, and in order to truly explore the nature of the issue and viable solutions, we’re going to have to peel back a few layers and look at some of the underlying concepts with a little depth.
To begin that process, we can talk about phishing.
If you think you have a solid grasp on phishing, feel free to skip ahead, but if you’re not so inundated with tech terms, then this is a good place to start.
Phishing (pronounced “fishing”) is a term to describe the process of trying to trick people or companies into giving up secure information.
You can think of the idea as a metaphor.
You throw out some type of bait into a virtual environment, and you hope that someone bites.
To be a bit more specific, phishing usually involves sending emails or other requests to either users or companies.
Let’s look at the user version first, as it’s a little easier to follow.
Let’s say that you’re going to take up phishing (I don’t recommend this because it is unethical at best and illegal at worst).
To do this, you decide you’re going to craft a tricky email.
In the email, you claim to be with the IRS.
The email says that whoever reading it is in tax violation, and they need to go to a website that you link into the email in order to avoid prosecution.
Naturally, you’re not actually with the IRS.
This is a scam email, and you set it up so that whenever someone clicks on the link, it downloads a keylogger program that steals passwords to their accounts.
This is an example of phishing.
In a less illegal version, you might claim to be a support representative from Clash of Clans.
You say that something is wrong with the user’s account, and they need to confirm their username and password so that you can fix it.
The gullible recipients then send you their usernames and passwords, and you can steal their accounts.
But if you recall, you can also try to phish a company.
An example of that would be telling them that you forgot your password and providing them with a username that isn’t actually yours.
You say that you changed your email address and can no longer access the old email.
They walk you through the steps to reset the password and change the email, and now you have stolen an account from someone with the help of official tech support.
In any of these cases, you’re tricking someone, and that’s the essence of phishing.
What Is Clash of Clans?
In case you stumbled into this conversation and aren’t here to resolve a specific problem, I should spend a minute talking about Clash of Clans.
If you already play the game, there’s nothing new for you here.
I’m just being thorough for everyone else.
Clash of Clans is a free mobile game.
It fits into the strategy genre and involves controlling a village.
You try to build up your village and eventually conquer other villages.
There are a lot of intricacies involved, but the gist is that you’re trying to take over nearby territories, and if you’re good enough, maybe even the whole world—of Clash of Clans.
Even though the game is free, you can spend money on it, and some people spend quite a lot.
Because of that, Clash of Clans accounts do hold monetary value to anyone who has invested heavily in the game.
How Do Bans in Clash of Clans Work?
The last bit of background information that we need is the ban system in Clash of Clans.
The game was designed by Supercell, and that company still maintains the game.
If you get banned, it’s someone at Supercell calling the shots.
Clash of Clans is ultimately like most online games when it comes to bans.
The game has set terms and conditions along with a user agreement.
If you violate any of that, the company has the right to ban your account.
Despite the certainty of the rules, bans are not necessarily automatic.
The game doesn’t have some supercomputer-controlled AI system that can always detect every case where someone misbehaves.
Instead, bans usually come from a handful of places.
People can report you for misconduct (if you’re really mean to other players, this can happen), the system can detect signs of cheating, or you can be caught overtly breaking the rules and banned by someone on the development team.
Bans also come in different severities.
You might be banned for any amount of time ranging from minutes to eternity.
Short bans are usually called time-outs.
If you try to log in a few times with the wrong credentials, the game might time you out for a few minutes.
This is to prevent computer programs from repeatedly guessing passwords in order to hack accounts.
If you break the rules, you might be banned for a few days or even a few weeks.
In the most severe cases, Supercell will permanently ban an account. In that case, there is no recourse.
The account is closed forever.
How Do You Deal With Being Banned for Phishing in Clash of Clans? (4 Ways)
If you get banned for phishing, you’re dealing with a specific case.
While you technically could be banned for trying to run phishing scams against players in the game, that’s not what is normally going on in this instance.
Instead, this is an automatic ban that happens if the system thinks you’re trying to phish Supercell.
More specifically, this tends to involve password resets and/or email changes.
Remember the scenario I gave you earlier when phishing is done to a company?
That’s exactly what Supercell is trying to prevent with these bans.
If you go through a password or email reset process and get things wrong, the automated software is going to get suspicious.
If you get things wrong multiple times, then you get an automatic short-term ban (usually a few days).
The system works this way so that anyone who actually is phishing doesn’t get very many tries before they are locked out of the system.
It’s an automated security protocol.
However, it sometimes means that people who just mistyped their email a few times get banned too.
How many times do you have to be wrong to get banned?
Supercell doesn’t provide this information in their literature, so I can’t tell you exactly.
Based on user discussions, it’s less than five, and possibly even one, depending on the circumstances.
Considering all of that, what can you do if you are banned for phishing?
Well, that depends on a few things, so I’ll walk you through the best options below.
#1 Take a Hard Look at the Truth
This is a big question.
Were you actually phishing?
If you were, then shame on you, and also there’s not a lot you can do.
The system worked, and it stopped you.
If you continue trying to phish after your ban timer expires, the next one will be longer.
And longer.
And, eventually, you won’t be able to continue your phishing attempts.
If you weren’t phishing, then there are a couple of options.
But for any of them to succeed, you’re ultimately going to need to make sure you really do have the right information for your account.
If Supercell can never verify that you own the account you’re trying to change, you’re just going to get banned again, and you’ll never succeed.
Knowing the account information is the key.
What information do you need?
The right username and password are a good start.
The email on file and any credit card information that you’ve used with the game can also help.
If there’s any other objective, verifiable information tied to your account, that can help too, but username, password, email, and credit cards are the keys.
#2 Try to Appeal
Once you have your information in hand, you can try to appeal the ban.
You can reach out to Supercell support and explain the situation.
The thing about appeals is that they are mostly out of your hands.
If support finds your case compelling, they might give you another chance.
When you get that chance, you had better be able to confirm your account information.
Otherwise, you’re not going to get an additional appeal.
#3 Wait Out the Ban
Outside of appealing to Supercell, you can wait out your ban.
If it’s just a few days, you can wait until the timer is done.
Then, you can continue trying to fix the account the same as before.
As long as you get the information correct this time, everything will be fine.
If you don’t have the information, then when your ban is done, you should contact customer support and explain the situation.
They’ll discuss your options with you.
What you don’t want to do is continue to get yourself banned over and over again.
At some point (and Supercell doesn’t put a hard number on it), you’re going to get permanently banned.
#4 Create a New Account
Here’s the unfortunate part of this story.
If you can’t ever confirm your ownership of the account, Supercell is never going to help you.
You might get permanently banned, but even if you don’t, you’ll never be able to reset the account information so that you can play the game again.
It’s not fun, but the only real option here is to scrap the old account and move on.
If you enjoy the game, you can start again with a new account.
You’ll lose everything saved to the old account, but you can still play.
If you go this route, I highly recommend that you save your account information somewhere where you can find it as needed.
Also, use multi-factor authentication.
It will help you keep track of your account(s), and it better protects your account from being hacked or stolen.