British Cops nab Runescape Rogue

December 3, 200916 yr

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/british-cops-nab-runescape-rogue/1378009

If you've ever suffered the pain and inconvenience of having one of your online accounts hacked, get ready for the feelgood story of the day.

Don't expect to steal this without consequences.
A 23-year-old British man was arrested this morning on suspicion of using "phishing" emails to convince players of mega-popular online game Runescape to hand over their account information. The arrest is hoped to be the first of several, Runescape's Mark Gerhard told the BBC, and the game's administrators are working with both the FBI and British e-crime units to track down his accomplices.

Runescape thieves typically strip characters of their rare items, sell them for in-game money, and then use the black market to convert the game's currency into real-life cash. Exchanging Runescape goods or gold for real money contravenes the game's terms of service, as is the case with most online games, but nevertheless buyers aren't in short supply -- especially in Asia, where this type of illicit trade is most common.

Although it looks crude in comparison to big-budget rivals like World of Warcraft and Aion, Runescape remains the most popular free massively-multiplayer game in the world, according to Guinness, boasting somewhere around 100 million active accounts.

"Players invest years of time and effort into developing their Runescape character so the theft of a Runescape account shouldn't be treated differently to the theft of any other valuable possessions such as a games console, television or car," Gerhard told the BBC.

While we're not sure we'd go quite as far as to equate a stolen car to the theft of a pretend +3 Longsword of the Burning Wedgie, doubtless a hundred million Runescape fans will sleep a little easier tonight.

Anyone here gotten any thoughts on this? Gotta laugh though at the author's cluelessness on RS items (+3 Longsword of the Burning Wedgie... roflcopters)