A financial scam in a virtual world

virtual computing financial scam scam in a world saw

A financial scam in a virtual world

A person embezzled funds from a bank in an online game and exchanged for real money to pay off their debts in real life when you knew the fact drove the player managers

Toronto, (Reuters) .- Faced with debts in the real world, a person participating in a popular Internet game stole money from a virtual bank that managed, and changed it on the black market cash. The incident occurred in EVE Online, where more than 300,000 subscribers pay $ 15 a month to play.

Participants get rich by working hard, manipulating the market or to kill rivals in the distant future where humans have colonized the stars, in an online game like World of Warcraft or Second Life. Within this area eBanka, the largest financial institution in EVE, is located in the center of the scandal.

"Basically, this person is one of the virtual characters eBanka administered for a while. He took a lot of virtual money from the bank, and changed it out for real money," said Ned Coker, of the Icelandic company CCP, which developed the game.

Thus, the CEO of eBanka, a 27 year old Australian who identified himself as Richard and Ricdic used the nickname in the game, embezzled some 200,000 million credits interstellar virtual game currency.

Broke the rules of the game by changing the virtual funds stolen $ 6300 Australian, about $ 5100, with players who preferred to buy virtual money to earn for themselves.



"It was a decision time," said the married father of two children in an interview. He said an email from a web page black market real money changing virtual money had prompted it to pay a deposit of your home and the costs of a sick child.

"I saw it as a path that could take, and decided to risk it can be said to overcome the difficulties of real life," he added.

The theft became known quickly in EVE. The frightened customers began a run on bank funds, worried about losing the money they had saved hunting space pirates and destroying asteroids, although the virtual institution survived.

Richard accounts were canceled eBanka and was banned from the game.

Source: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1146213&pid=6796181&toi=6263