Guilty plea in RuneScape hack and virtual items sale

A 21-year-old UK man was charged with two counts of unauthorised computer access after pleading guilty to hacking RuneScape accounts, stealing virtual items from players of the popular role-playing game, and then selling the video game goods to other players for real money.

Steven Burrell, of Northampton, said he was seeking to pay off gambling debts, according to a report, but instead he earned himself 12 months of community service, 150 hours of unpaid work and a roughly £150 fine. He was also forced to turn over two computers, on which databases and password-cracking software were discovered.

Burrell accessed and modified 105 player accounts on 3,872 occasions during the course of a 16-month span, according to the report. He said he earned more than £2,500.

This article was originally published on SCMagazine.com.

This article originally appeared at scmagazineuk.com