Officer! That Guy Stole My Virtual Battle Axe.
Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006Hackers could use malicious programs to steal players account information and then sell virtual items, such as gold or weapons, for real world cash.
Some players accounts can be worth up to $10,000 (£5,300).
“The police are really good at understanding someone stole my credit card and ran up a lot of money. It’s a lot harder to get them to buy into ’someone stole my magic sword,’” he told the Reuters news agency.
Mikko Hypponen a security specialist at security firm F-secure said that they have already dealt with hundreds of malicious programs that seek to steal players account details.
“It might sound far-fetched but this is a real problem,” he told the BBC News website.