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FBI raids wrong home, searching for WoW gold
The FBI may have had the wrong address when they recently raided an apartment in Michigan, investigating a World of Warcraft gold-selling claim. No arrests have been made following the March 30 raid.
The Bureau visited the Ann Arbor apartment in University Towers trying to find any information about "fraudulent sales or puchases of virtual currency" in the popular online game. An FBI spokesperson has explained to local media that she could not comment on the real-life raid, as many documents remain sealed.
Piles of gold in World of Warcraft
Records that have been made public at this stage show that the agents executed a search warrant at 8:45am March 30th, seizing laptops, hard drives, gaming consoles, credit cards, a mobile phone, paperwork and other computer equipment. For a student, we imagine this is quite a frustrating experience.
According to the FBI, "at least one person" at the address is believed to be engaged in a scheme using fraudulent bank accounts to buy and sell in-game gold. The investigators were looking for any records of online transactions relating to World of Warcraft, Blizzard, a Chinese-based gold-farming website, and a number of online banking websites and auction houses.
The apartment, home to two male students at the University of Michigan, believe the FBI have the wrong people as neither of them play WoW.
"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."
Both men - who cannot be named as they have not actually been charged with a crime - are exploring their legal options with student services.
Source: Ann Arbor.com
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7 Responses to “FBI raids wrong home, searching for WoW gold”
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Article Details
- published: April 7th, 2011
- by: Jessica Citizen
- in: Company: Blizzard, FBI, Game: World of Warcraft, gold sellers, Michigan
- comments: 7
Author Bio:
I like video games, fishing, Depeche Mode, long walks on the beach, writing discussion papers and cups of tea. Not necessarily in that order.
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[...] that the FBI is taking an interest in the practice as well. Just last month, the FBI apparently raided a Michigan home in search of virtual World of Warcraft gold. The university students who lived in the raided [...]
[...] that the FBI is taking an interest in the practice as well. Just last month, the FBI apparently raided a Michigan home in search of virtual World of Warcraft gold. The university students who lived in the raided [...]
Don’t see why you can’t name them just because they haven’t been charged with a crime. Or is it just that you don’t know?
The men involved are being investigated for a crime – if they are named, people will judge them despite the whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing.
It’s easier just to not say who they are, that way when they are found to have nothing to do with gold farming, their reputation is not tarnished :)
[...] that the FBI is taking an interest in the practice as well. Just last month, the FBI apparently raided a Michigan home in search of virtual World of Warcraft gold. The university students who lived in the raided [...]
Don’t name these guys if they aren’t charged. They will be judged and convicted by others. A few years back I was raided by the feds based on an informant lying. I was never arrested, had nothing illegal then or at any time and never committed ANY crimes. But neighbors, co-workers, etc did judge and some still think I did something wrong. It is amazing how many people think the feds can do no wrong and assume innocent people are guilty.
Im so glad to see the feds chasing after “Virtual Gold” that is worth less then the piss i flush down the toilet everyday atleast. Blizzard must really need help becouse making over 75 million per SLOW month isnt good enough. They need those players to grind longer to get more Virtual Items.. Maybe tomarrow they can go after santa becouse that bastard didnt leave me any christmas presents this year. Plus i was told hes got bags and bags of that “Virtual Gold” along with his buddy the leprecon at the end of the rainbow.. Yep thats why i pay high taxes bring those to to justice.