Biggest EVE Online scam ever recorded nets over a trillion ISK

Of all the stories that come out of EVE Online's colossal sandbox, it's the tales of criminality and dirty dealings that grab our attention the most. Thefts and scams would be cause for account closure in most MMOs, but they form a legitimate and dark part of the EVE universe. The famous Guiding Hand Social Club heist of 2005, Ricdic's EBank scandal and last year's massive 800 billion ISK Titans4U scam are just a few of the most high-profile thefts and scams to hit the EVE community over the years.

Today the biggest scam ever recorded hit thousands of EVE Online players like a brick in the face, netting a record one trillion ISK in final takings. Proving that old ideas still work, Eddie Lampert and Mordor Exuel pulled off a simple Ponzi scheme on a massive scale. Promising unprecedented returns of 5% per week on invested ISK, the duo convinced over 4,000 players to open accounts in their Phaser Inc. investment scheme. Many initially dubious players were eventually convinced to invest by real testimonials from their friends and corpmates.

Over 1,831.67 billion ISK was invested, 345.18 billion of which was paid out as interest and 452.72 billion of which was withdrawn by wary investors. When the business closed up earlier today its owners collected the remaining 1,034 billion ISK. To put that massive number in perspective, it's enough to buy 2,953 30-day time codes worth a total of $51,677.50.

Reader Comments (127)

Its a pretty shallow argument to say its "locked in game" though when you can as I understand trade plex, cashing out ingame currency to RMT is not exactly difficult in Eve.

Kudos or not the fact is they used dishonest measures which in ANY other environment where money changes hands would be considered fraudulent and criminal. That this is a social norm in Eve is one thing, for it to be reported as a social Norm in general is still not a good thing and I have not seen any point that alters the fact that what massively are doing is glorifying this activity. Reporting the facts is good, reporting it as though these two are regular Robin Hoods is just debasing.

@Quinnthalas

I'm not saying they can't cash out. I'm saying that whether or not they do cash out thru means that are not sanctioned by CCP is a separate issue from what they did which is sanctioned by CCP's loose rules. (i.e. CCP officially forbids griefing but its not considered griefing if something is gained, in this case wealth, tears might be a side effect but irrelevant because other more compelling motives are present).

If you forbid scamming as a legitimate way to gain wealth in the game just because a few scammers happen to RMT their gains than you spoil it for those who are just looking to gain isk any way they can as sanctioned by CCP. I myself have never tried scamming for isk (because of the time and effort involved to make it work, Pulsar ran as a real functioning corporation for 8 months with thousands of investors) but I would like to think like many other things in EVE that it is an option open to me should I choose.

I don't feel that the author reported it as a social norm in general, I think he was trying to write to an EVE playerbase since the article is tagged for EVE. And people who play other MMOs happen upon it and simply don't realize the positive spin is based on EVE norms and not general norms.

Most of these comments appear to be made by people who know very little about Eve. Whatever you want to say about Eve, it is radically different than other MMOs. Eve has just as many pros and cons as the next game, but it has a different set of pros and cons than most.

Eve sports a broad spectrum of ways to play and enjoy the game; far more than in any other MMO that I’ve ever played (and I no longer play any BTW). Anyone who disagrees most likely knows nothing about Eve. Of course, not everyone is going to find each and every style of gameplay in Eve fun, and if you don’t, you will eventually burn out on the parts that you do find fun, just like in any other MMO.

Eve’s ‘meta game,’ things like long term, deep cover espionage, economic scamming, legitimate economic empires, managing huge alliances and corporations, wars that last for months and even years, etc. are the kind of things you don’t find in abundance in other games. These kinds of things differentiate Eve from other MMOs. Whether you find that kind of difference enjoyable or not is a subjective judgment. In any case, you could play the game for years, and never really run up again any of it.

Seems like a bunch of people that fell for these scams. People say there is no recourse for the guys who pulled this off. Well there is if they rip off the wrong person they could go to war. If you jump someone they could hunt you down and blow you up. Yes a new person can get scammed and they do but most people join a corporation and ask questions. I don't fall for scams I get IRL so I think the same way in game. They stole virtual bucks its not real money anyone can pay for the game in ISK so you can get to the point to where you don't have to spend real money. I lost a ship in PVE a few months back when I started. When I was chatting in Local Chat someone felt bad and gave me a ship one that I had actually been saving up for, and then someone else just gave me about 50 million ISK to fit it. Not everyone is bad and I am sure that someone will put those guys out of business.

I'm actually surprised people still play this game with all the snakes and thieves running around. It's a cold hard world. It sounds neat until your friends stab you in the back. Ah well, to each their own.

@Palebane

Depends on the people you associate with really, I've seen many people I know in-game stabbed in the back but have yet to experience myself. I've also had a few opportunities to stab people I know in the back but I didn't because its nice to leave (corps) on good terms for networking purposes. The more people you are "chill" with the better, they might be able to help you out one day or vice versa.

Say one day your group gets into a fight, you need help and there are peeps you know nearby. Since you are chill with them its more than likely that you can "batphone" them for help. Then watch as your enemies shit their pants when a bunch of random people come in and start macking on them with ya.

@Calfis

That's cool. I guess it's not much different than any other online game, really. I'm not sure I could enjoy a game where the motto is "trust no one." I play these games to associate and have fun with other people. If I couldn't trust anyone, I'd probably be playing by myself, which defeats the purpose. I like the added risk of having to be careful and watch my back, its the treachery and betrayal I have a problem with. I know not everyone is like that, but those two qualities seem to be not only condoned, but celebrated.

Biggest EVE Online scam ever recorded nets over a trillion ISK

Reader Comments (127)

Posted: Aug 15th 2011 2:02PM Quinnthalas said

Posted: Aug 15th 2011 2:32PM Calfis said

Posted: Aug 15th 2011 4:02PM Baron von Daren said

Posted: Aug 15th 2011 7:13PM brandonb70 said

Posted: Aug 16th 2011 8:17PM Palebane said

Posted: Aug 16th 2011 10:13PM Calfis said

Posted: Aug 17th 2011 11:20AM Palebane said

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