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FBI raids University of Michigan apartment over possible WoW fraud

by Justin Olivetti on Apr 14th 2011 10:30AM

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Economy, Legal, Miscellaneous

A University of Michigan student apartment became the focus of a recent investigation by the FBI, which conducted a raid on March 30th over "potentially fraudulent sales or purchases of virtual currency that people use to advance in the popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft."

While the FBI did not make any arrests, it did confiscate several items, including computers, video game equipment, and credit cards. The Bureau is checking out whether one or both of the students were involved in a fraudulent scheme to buy or sell virtual gold, and the agency is looking for online transaction records with various online banks and websites.

The two students who share the apartment claim that they do not play WoW and are confident that they are innocent. One of the unnamed students commented: "They thought we were involved in some kind of fraud. I'm pretty sure they have the wrong people, but they took all my stuff."

Source: Game Politics, AnnArbor.com

Tags: ann-arbor, fbi, federal-bureau-of-investigations, fraud, gold-buying, gold-farming, gold-selling, illegal, michigan, raid, rmt, university-of-michigan, university-towers, virtual-currency, virtual-gold, world-of-warcraft, wow

Reader Comments (40)

First I was like, is this a joke, I was like Oh my god it's real, now I can't decide whether to be mad or laugh!

Did the students raided drop epics?

@Sephirah
Unlikely, students come on... Vendor trash only.

Glad to see the FBI is using their budget to pursue dangerous virtual gold transactions.

@tk421242

I'm not sure what the supposed link between gold farming and terrorism is, but I'm pretty sure fraudulent bank accounts are within the FBI's purview.

@Stuxatte

I am sure it does. Probably a mix of interstate stuff and such. I have seen more articles recently about the russian mobs involvement in virtual currency sales so who knows, perhaps terror organizations are getting involved too. I am just by nature suspicious when an agency claims 'terrorist links'. It is like when someone claims they are doing something 'for the children', always makes me more suspicious of what they are doing and what the real reason is :)

"The FBI thinks the two students are terrorists who are doing "something" in world of Warcraft to further some sort of terrorist plot."
--Quote from gamepolitics

not sure if serious...

@kgptzac That is just poor reporting by gamepolitics.com, they pulled their information from ComputerWorld and in that article they cover some of the history regarding gold farming and research showing that terrorist could use games like WOW and Secondlife (the Reynard Project), and that the government had been looking into the links.

So basically gameplotics.com saw the word "terrorist" and slapped in on these two kids when nothing of the sort has been stated by the FBI or any US government source.

They live in Michigan, that is their punishment, leave them be.

@Triskelion
Where's Michigan again? I thought we abandoned that state years ago for simply being to dull to remember its existance.

@Triskelion We have Magic: The Gathering here, too. I'm sure your delightful existence would be just fine.

@Triskelion Yes, Michigan! Home of college WoW fraud and ICP. Though that's also where Robocop comes from...

Maybe it's not all bad.

@Skyydragonn

could have been worse.. they could have been forced to endure the soul sucking essence that is the state of Ohio.

So was this just like buying gold, or were they scamming people pretending to sell gold, but not delivering? I can't really tell

It's amazing how far we'll go to protect corporate profits. Call the FBI on the WoW fraud, while passing by the illicit drugs no doubt being used all up and down that campus.

Give me a break.

@cowboyhugbees

Excessive legal response is excessive.

Obviously a high ranking member of the FBI plays WoW and got his account hacked by one of these students, and this is his revenge.

Or something.

@jealouspirate Or a high ranking FBI agent's kid got scammed, probably

"...but they took all my stuff."

A timely remake of a classic line.

'Phew' said Osama Bin Laden in the next room. 'They must have forgotten all about me and went for those students down the hall who are obviously evil terrorists intent on destroying the country. Or something. I am glad the FBI still possess their classic sense of proportion and destroyed those students future and not mine.'

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FBI raids University of Michigan apartment over possible WoW fraud

Reader Comments (40)

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 10:41AM MrsAngelD said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 10:51AM Sephirah said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 3:11PM Saker said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:03AM tk421242 said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:15AM Stuxatte said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:46AM tk421242 said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:08AM kgptzac said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:44AM Unshra said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:10AM Triskelion said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:36AM Skyydragonn said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 12:17PM Gene Quagmire said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 1:28PM Tinkus said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 4:15PM jslim419 said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:14AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:22AM cowboyhugbees said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 3:19PM Utakata said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:24AM jealouspirate said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 2:27PM TheAngryIntern said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:29AM Nepentheia said

Posted: Apr 14th 2011 11:33AM dudes said

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