Illicit Riches Scanner Explained

The Illicit Riches Scanner, nicknamed IRS, appeared during the World of Warcraft: Forever beta, Blizzard's permanent level-capped version of the game. It arrived the day after Blizzard stripped a well-known streamer of his gold during a crackdown on gold buying, when a viewer told him they had built an addon to audit whether other players' gold was farmed or bought. The addon has not been publicly released, and the viewer sent the streamer a beta file directly.

The addon weighs the most gold a character has ever held against the income its statistics recorded, from looted coins and quest rewards to vendor and auction house sales. It also tallies quests, kills and profession levels as proof of real gameplay. Whenever someone opens a trade, it pops up a check comparing the trade offer with the trader's recorded income, and flags whatever it cannot account for.

The tool is far from reliable, and the streamer who tested it live called it buggy after it flagged most of his own gold as unexplained. Players who looked closer noted that it pulls from the achievements tab, which seemed to miss plenty of quest gold and auction house sales. A red flag from this addon is not proof that anyone bought gold, and a clean result is not proof that they did not.

Blizzard has said buyers, not just sellers, risk gold removal, suspension or permanent closure in WoW Forever, and enforcement continues after launch. The only safe route is earning gold through real gameplay and avoiding trades with strangers that look suspicious. If you trade game accounts anywhere, use escrow and read the five steps to avoid gaming scams and the best escrow services guide first.