Don’t Trust EVE Online Players

That’s not meant as a slight against the game’s playerbase. You shouldn’t trust anyone involved with handling large amounts of cash, whether they play massively-multiplayer online games or not.

A player by the name of “Bad Bobby” has shafted the space combat and trading game out of credits worth around USD$45,000 after pulling off what amounts to a robbery of a massive in-game investment fund.

He pulled it off by getting to the top of the fund legitimately, working for years as a trustworthy investor. Then, when he’d helped set up the massive fund of around 850,000,000,000 of EVE’s in-game currency, he set in motion a plan to steal it all.

The fund was protected by a board of trustees, who controlling 50% of the vote could theoretically block any attempts by Bobby to make a run for the cash. But they hadn’t counted on Bobby working silently in the background adding more dummy trustees, which he was actually controlling, and when he’d created enough so that he controlled over 50% of the board’s vote, he kicked everyone else off, took the money and ran.

Sucks for those who invested in the company, but hey, it’s just a game. And stories like this, which involve the planning and treachery of real crimes only without the real consequences, are what makes EVE such a fascinating community.

EVE Online player steals $US45,000 worth of ISK in massive investment scam [Massively, via Fidgit]