A trusted EBank CEO at EVE Online steals virtual game cash to get real money

Many internet users especially those literally living in the virtual space are discussing a scandal around the theft occurred in the MMOG game known as EVE Online, where more than 300,000 subscribers pay $15 a month to play. A person who managed EBank, EVE's largest player-run financial institution which has thousands of depositors stole virtual money from the bank to exchange it for real cash.

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

"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 violator explained his actions as a momentary decision that came to him at the time when he had debts with no money to pay for his son’s medical care. 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.

Under the game rules CCP banned Richard's EBank accounts and he will not be returning to EVE anytime soon. Interestingly, Richard had built a reputation as one of EVE's few trusted players. While he is sure that in the same circumstances he would commit the crime again he expressed his regret over the fact that his actions let down his fellow EBank staffers.