"Gamer Steals Virtual Money To Pay For Real Life Debts."

TORONTO, July 2 (Reuters) - Facing real world debts, a trusted figure in a popular online game stole money from the virtual bank he ran and exchanged it for cash through the black market.

It happened in EVE Online, where more than 300,000 subscribers pay $15 a month to play. They gain wealth through hard work, manipulating the market, or killing rivals in a distant future where humans have colonized the stars in an online game similar to World of Warcraft and Second Life.

EBank, EVE's largest player-run financial institution which has thousands of depositors, is at the center of the scandal.

"Basically this character was one of the people that had been running EBank for a while. He took a bunch of (virtual) money out of the bank, and traded it away for real money," said Ned Coker, of the Icelandic company CCP, which developed the game.

The CEO of EBank, a 27-year-old Australian tech worker who identified himself only as Richard and used the online name Ricdic, embezzled about 200 billion interstellar kredits, the game's virtual currency.

He broke the rules of the game by exchanging the stolen virtual funds for $6,300 Australian ($5,100) with players who preferred to buy virtual money rather than earn it playing the game.

"It was a very on the spot decision," the married father of two explained in an interview.

He said a spam email for a black market website that traded online money for real cash popped up on his screen, prompting him to exchange the virtual cash for real money to cover a deposit on his house and expenses related to his son's medical problems.

"I saw that as an avenue that could be taken, and I decided to skim off the top, you could say, to overcome real life (difficulties)."

Word of the theft spread quickly within EVE. Panicked customers started a run on the bank, worried that they would lose the money they had amassed by hunting space pirates or mining asteroids.

Ironically, if Ricdic had merely stolen the online money he could have stayed in the game. But exchanging the virtual cash for real dollars broke the rules and CCP banned Richard's EBank accounts.

"It unbalances the game," Coker said.

Players can only buy virtual money with real money, or use virtual cash to pay for playing time, but they cannot exchange game money for the real thing.

"We have never seen ourselves as gods who make the rules of social interaction," said Eyjolfur Gudmundsson, an economics adviser to CCP. "You are able to lose the things you have created. That's what makes the world interesting."

Ironically, Richard had built a reputation as one of EVE's few trusted players -- a rare commodity in a game where repeatedly blowing up a violator's spaceship was the only way to enforce some contracts.

Asked if he had any regrets about the scam, Richard said he felt he let down his fellow EBank staffers, many of whom he considered friends.

"I'm not proud of it at all, that's why I didn't brag about it. But you know, if I had to do it again, I probably would've chosen the same path based on the same situation," he said.

EBank survived the crisis. But Richard will not be returning to EVE anytime soon.

"At the moment, we've got our hands full," Richard said about his family responsibilities in the real world.

/Sarcasm -.- Glad to know he would repeat his behavior all over again if given the chance.

he had good reason to do what he did. Having no money with unpaid bills piling up will make anyone go crazy.

I've got to go out on a limb here and say.. That is absolutely amazing.

I mean.. 'the black market'.. 'panicked customers started a run on the bank'.. Holy sensationalism, Batman!

Acting like this was a real-world scandal...

I love it.

Wow geeze what a ***, sorry for the language >.>. Be almost like SE making a Gilseller site and claiming they are trying to stop Gilbuyers.

I have friends that play Eve, and from what they describe, it's *** SRS BSNS. Douchebaggery is almost encouraged in that game...

Hmmmm yet this guy "Richard/Riddic" still had money to pay for the online gaming, plus the cost of internet, meaning he had either cable or phone... which are bills he could of done without.

As far as being in debt, I can personally relate to this. My husband's ex-wife ran up over 60 grand while he was stationed in Korea. 10 Credit Cards which she opened in both of their names, when he returned 18 months later, the cars, house and basically everything they owned was repo'ed. Needless to say divorce was the result. When I married him, 3 years later, he was still paying off the debt. It took three years for us to get the debt down to 10k. Meaning no cable, no phone, 10yr old car, grocery bill every two weeks $125, no going out, no credit cards (like companies were ever going to issue us any) no presents for any birthdays, christmas.... point is, there are always ways to handle your finances if your in a hole, and besides I doubt his financial situation took a down hill slide over night.

thats why I won't marry someone with debt, I don't need the extra ***.

Meh, maybe he just wanted extra money to help pay his "debt"

Uh... no.....maybe he wanted his son to have his last name >.>

I don't think Kungfu was referring to your marriage with his second sentence..

Regardless, not all debt is manageable, and certain things, especially medical bills, can really begin to happen over night.. My father developed carpal tunnel, radial tunnel, and tendonitis over many years, but it wasn't until 2003 that they came to a head.. And once they did, the medical costs were astronomical. Sudden medical bills, a dramatic loss of pay from going to the hospital, doctor's visits, and similar complications could easily overwhelm. I don't think it's fair to judge that his situation was manageable simply because you got over a situation you dealt with.

Not saying whether or not what he did was right or wrong, just that without knowing the exact circumstances, for all we know, someone was going to break his legs tomorrow if he didn't pay up..

Whatever. It's a game. His house bills, etc, *** him. He bit off more than he could chew. His son's medical bills, as long as it was something internally wrong with heart problems, cancer, etc? I think it's justified.

Now if he needed braces, dermitology for acne, a cavity filled, somebody should go shoot Richard.

The fact that people instantly call him a douchebag piece of ***without knowing exactly what his son needed shows how sad and patheticly addicted people are/can be to an MMO. Your virtual currency is worth more than a life to you. And you can't respect a guy who is willing to sacrifice the same fun you have online, along with other things to take care of his kid. Kinda iffy to me.

my second statement was referring to the guy in the story. He figured out a way to get extra cash to help with his real world debt.

Kinda makes me feel bad that I haven't thought of it lol

Well ***, that's a good amount of money for quitting an MMO. I'm not planning on quitting FFXI any time soon, but if someone offered me 6k I'd have to seriously consider it. Also, if that was in FFXI and he RMT'd it, wouldn't GM's repossess all the gil and give it back?

Glad to see Fenrir and Pandemonium are still as full of *** as ever. :)

/cheer Pandemonium XD

Oh no $15 a day is gonna break the bank... and where the *** do you live and what kind of lame *** job do you have where you can do without a phone? Or reliable internet?

some back-water, cousin *** hick town where everyone has two first names...

Yeah, if someone offered me $4k+ for my account, I'd sell it. Then people say "You're RMT, you're RMT, blah blah blah."

I say this to them... I pay for my account, so I do with it what I want.

damn, i was so sure this was gonna be about Exodus buying NASA

oh well.

To Davas and Kungfu... if you where refering to me....

Hmmmm.... I don't work due to a stroke two years ago. We also live outside of Charleston Air Force Base where my husband is currently serving in the Middle East. As far as phone and internet goes......... We paid off debts two years ago. As far as kissing cousins etc..... I was born in Japan, and my husband is from Michigan. I see no forebearance to insult me or my family as to where we are currently stationed.


Can I ask why the hostilities unless I am not allowed to post my opinions on this site?

Honestly, if I had a son and he needed medical expenses, I would do anything to get my hands on some money just short of selling my soul, I'm sure any parent can relate to the love they have for their child, was what this guy did wrong? Yes, it was very wrong, but I would have done the same thing in the same situation, but then again thank god I don't have any children or debt..no bank stealing for me! derpderpderpharhahrhahr....=)

Um... my posts were NOT referring to you. Some were towards the guy in the story, while one other was to Dasva's question about where would someone live without having reliable internet.

So yeah, post all the opinions you want, but don't assume people are talking bout you, cz we're not.

It's a reference to most the damn working populace NEEDING phone and/or internet while you casually suggested not needing them.

you definitely need a phone, maybe DSL if its optional in the area.

My most utmost apologies to the both of you. I was not trying to causually play off the the dire emergencies of an unfortunate situation.

The one thing that does not settle will with me is the quote in the news clipping..." To cover a deposit on his house....." I can understand as a parent worried about the child that needs medical care but to also steal to put a deposit on a house?

Maybe I am not reading the news thread clearly..... off to the dictionary for definition for word deposit.

I dunno, a deposit on a house is a pretty nice thing to have too. So is a PS3, new plasma TV and surround sound set-up <_<

he wanted to buy a house and pay for his son's medical bills, nothing wrong with that.

Strange thing though, since this happened in Canada, don't people get nearly free health care?

Supposedly free healthcare period. I looked up the Canadian healthcare coverage, here's the link.

http://www.amsa.org/studytours/CHS_FactSheet.pdf

Happened in Aussie. Health care here is kinda random, some ***is completely free, some is full price with nothing really in between.

Yeah place to live kinda not bad thing to have either... it's alot of things adding up together that make financial situations get real hard for people who aren't completely irresponsible. It can happen to anyone.

Errr, actually I'm not sure, it says Toronto but the guy who did it is an Aussie... so who knows.