EVE Online player steals $45,000 worth of ISK in massive investment scam
117 replies, posted
[QUOTE]It seems like every few months we hear about another major theft or scam in EVE Online. In most MMOs, acts of theft could earn the perpetrator a permanent game ban. In EVE Online, however, it's an accepted part of the game that people are strongly encouraged to protect themselves from. Even the game's developers have acknowledged that corporate infiltration, scamming and theft are just another part of the harsh criminal underworld of New Eden. With its latest official game trailer, CCP Games told an impressive tale of corporate theft and revenge, showcasing some of the emergent gameplay that typifies EVE.
Last week, the latest big scam to come out of the criminal underworld of New Eden came to completion. The popular investment scheme Titans4U turned bad, with the creator "Bad Bobby" stealing all of the company's assets. The theft was the ultimate conclusion of a plan that was set in motion years ago. Bobby began his investment career by running several smaller schemes to build up a positive public image. Over the years, he ran increasingly larger and more popular schemes and always returned on investments. Just over a year ago, his reputation-building efforts paid off as his good name secured the successful launch of the massive Titans4U investment fund.
Skip past the cut for the full story of how this apparently secure investment scheme turned into one of EVE's biggest scams to date.
The original business plan for Titans4U involved the purchase of several original titan blueprints worth over 60 billion ISK each. The blueprints were then locked down in a corporate hanger in a secret alt corporation. A starbase in the same system was used to make limited-run blueprint copies for sale and a cut of the proceeds was distributed to investors as a regular dividend. From an investor's point of view, the whole thing appeared to be secured by the presence of five trustees. These were active members of EVE's investment market who volunteered to help secure the fund against theft or the owner going missing.
As a vote would be required to unlock the blueprints before they could be taken, shares in the secret alt corporation were split among five trustees. If Bobby were to ever attempt to unlock and steal the blueprints, those trustees could have simply declined the vote, keeping the corporation secure. In the event of his disappearance, directors in the corp could also collectively initiate their own votes to recover the assets.
All of this security hinged on the fact that Bobby would not have access to over 50% of the company's shares and so couldn't vote to unlock the blueprints on his own. For over a year, this system worked amicably. In the background, however, Bobby was slowly scheming to get his hands on more shares.
To complete the scam, Bobby initiated a vote to create more shares under the guise of adding more trustees. Despite recommendations by regular market guru Proton Power that trustees decline the move, the vote passed and more shares were created. With access to over 50% of the shares, Bobby was able to kick all other directors from the corp and steal the entire company's assets. Bobby claims the total value he has "cashed in" his reputation for is in excess of 850 billion ISK. [B]To put that into perspective, 850 billion is enough ISK to buy about 2575 PLEX. That would keep an account active for over 214 years, and could be worth around $45,000 US dollars[/B].[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.massively.com/2010/09/11/eve-online-player-steals-45-000-worth-of-isk-in-massive-investm/[/url]
Play EVE. Commit in game investment fraud :buddy:
[quote]To put that into perspective, 850 billion is enough ISK to buy about 2575 PLEX. That would keep an account active for over 214 years, and could be worth around $45,000 US dollars.[/quote]I almost choked on a chip I was eating when I read that.
I fucking love EVE!
Awesome, I wish I'd understand the game but I don't :(
Well, I only enjoy reading about EVE. I'm too scared to actually play it.
This is why EVE is amazing.
Because EVE has a real economy, you can't do shit like this in ANY other game.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;24803757]Because EVE has a real economy, you can't do shit like this in ANY other game.[/QUOTE]
Yes but it's just fucking boring to play.
Reminds me of when there was a big betrayal years ago where some guy gained a shitload of territory
I'm forever impressed by EVE but I never got into it. I appreciate it but I don't enjoy playing it that much.
This is why I love and hate EVE. Too bad I can't devote enough time to it. The three months I played it I made complex spreadsheets and big plans with industry, and I think I was doing really good for being so new. The problem was that it took too much of my time, leaving no time for anything else on my free time.
[QUOTE=MachiniOs;24803813]Yes but it's just fucking boring to play.[/QUOTE]
What an understatement.
Sounds cool, but not something I'd love to devote so much time to.
There's really not many games that have a radians per second stat on their weapons and a massive fraud every few months or so.
I tried eve once, learning curve is like smacking your head against a wall, I didn't have the time so I left.
That's even worse than when the Kestrel got blown up with 734 PLEX. God damn, this game is mighty crazy, but I still love it.
Also the learning curve is a good barrier against your generic MMO idiot, but there are still plenty of those in this game.
Spread Sheets [b][i]IN SPACE!!![/b][/i]
This is, uh, oh wait, [b]not[/b] old, the one I was thinking of was about about the same amount of PLEX being destroyed.
Well, how much money does a average player make in a week? How much effort is behind, lets say, 1 million ISK?
[QUOTE=LordApocca;24804123]Well, how much money does a average player make in a week? How much effort is behind, lets say, 1 million ISK?[/QUOTE]
1 ISK = 0.06 hours then 13456 ISK = 93 hours then 1 million ISK = 9300 hours.
[QUOTE=Mabus;24804013]I tried eve once, learning curve is like smacking your head against a wall, I didn't have the time so I left.[/QUOTE]
Learning the basics wasn't very hard, only took me a couple of days before I knew it all. However, how to earn money, ship fitting, running a corporation etc. etc. is something it takes a life time to learn all about. It's what makes the game fun though.
[editline]07:33PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Sickle;24804147]1 ISK = 0.06 hours then 13456 ISK = 93 hours then 1 million ISK = 9300 hours.[/QUOTE]
When I mined I made 1 million in about 30 minutes, if I remember correctly.
[QUOTE=LordApocca;24804123]Well, how much money does a average player make in a week? How much effort is behind, lets say, 1 million ISK?[/QUOTE]
More like around 5 million ISK a hour. It can vary massively however.
Also, remember people, there is no legal way to get your ISK turned into real money. Even if you do it illegally, it's pretty much impossible selling off 850 billion ISK without getting caught.
Holy shit that's impressive.
[editline]06:37PM[/editline]
brb buying eve and a copy of "investment scamming for dummies"
[QUOTE=kirderf;24804223]Also, remember people, there is no legal way to get your ISK turned into real money. Even if you do it illegally, it's pretty much impossible selling off 850 billion ISK without getting caught.[/QUOTE]
I thought you could buy PLEXs with ISK and then sell PLEXs for real cash?
Like, wasnt there that one guy who made real money in EVE that had like 12 different accounts running doing mining and shit, and at the end of the month he would have enough ISK to buy PLEXs for all of his accounts and a bunch left over as profit?
I want to buy EVE online now.
[QUOTE=Timebomb757;24804296]I thought you could buy PLEXs with ISK and then sell PLEXs for real cash?
Like, wasnt there that one guy who made real money in EVE that had like 12 different accounts running doing mining and shit, and at the end of the month he would have enough ISK to buy PLEXs for all of his accounts and a bunch left over as profit?[/QUOTE]
You can buy PLEX for real money, but you can't sell PLEX and get real money back. PLEX can only be redeemed as game time.
This kind of stuff is so fun, I've even taken part in something along these lines.
I destroyed a corporation because I got one of the loyal members to switch to my corp and he felt okay with destroying the corp. I took all of their items, all of their money, watched the slow demise. While the guy that was helping me just played none the wiser. Too fun, never experienced anything like in it another game
I love hearing about stuff like this. :v:
I can make 25 mill in about 45 minutes.
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