Cybercrime: Will WoW Become A New Stage For Money Laundering?
By William on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 7:47 AM PST In Gamer Life, World of Warcraft
According to the well-known security firm Symantec, the threat for games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life becoming stages for organized crime is extremely high. Activities such as money laundering would be surprisingly easy to pull off in the MMORPG world.
Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report predicts that we could see a massive surge in criminal activity in the online gaming world in the next 24 months. Part of the report says, “… a criminal enterprise could open several thousand MMOG accounts. Each could be used to trade with other players in the purchase or sale of in-game assets, the funds from which would ultimately be withdrawn from the accounts. Since thousands of accounts may engage in millions of transactions, each with small profits or losses, it would be difficult to trace the true source of the funds when they are withdrawn. These transactions can be conducted worldwide without the oversight that typically accompanies international bank remittances. In fact, in February 2007, China’s central bank and finance ministries called upon companies to stop trading QQ coins and virtual currencies, presumably to curb the unregulated exchange of currency.”
This could be a very likely scenario for the future of online gaming as virtual worlds and real worlds combine. We’re very curious as to whether or not a true surge in cybercrime will actually take place in the next couple of years. It’s widely known that criminal organizations and even terrorist groups have infiltrated some games, so it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a big issue. I don’t think any of the above information is all that new, but it will be interesting to see what actually happens. A surge in virtual crime could very easily harm the video game industry as a whole.
Via gmbar
I can see how such activities could take place in Second Life, where money can actually be withdrawn, but considering that all the money in WoW is virtual, I doubt this type of thing could ever catch on in that game.
Of course, they could try the ’selling gold for real money’ trick, but that’s a good way to get your account banned.
Hey thanks for giving us such great ideas!
“considering that all the money in WoW is virtual”
I think you misread this.
Woah, someone missed the EVE Intergalactic Bank ENTIRELY XD
What are you talking about? I’m already laundering my money with WoW brand detergent…
@max: No misread. I’m simply saying that unlike SL, WoW provides no ready means for the user to withdraw from their in-game accounts. SL users can actually request their Linden Dollars be transferred to US dollars and sent to their bank.
To pull money from WoW in the same way requires selling virtual items outside the game, which will get you a visit from the banhammer. It wouldn’t be a very efficient or foolproof way to launder money.
In my early days at EA/Origin I had discussions with some very dubious folks at the nations top security groups(think 3 letter acronyms) around the potential for terrorists to actually use MMOs as a means of communications. At the time the CIA had a program called Eschelon which basically monitors every digital and analog communication channel world wide. The program basically was an uber filter that looked for key phrases, etc. there was lots of speculation around the program at the time but its pretty common knowledge now. Of course these guys could not confirm or deny anything including the existence of cheese but anyway its pretty clear that the scope of large scale MMO and the anonomity they provide would indeed be a perfect haven for this type of criminal activity. Its really easy to conver gold and items into cash. I have banned thousands of folks for it over my years in this space.