Image pilfered from here.
A Dutch teenager has been arrested for allegedly stealing virtual furniture from “rooms” in Habbo Hotel, a 3D social networking website.
It’s slightly more sinister than you might first think. It’s basically a bunch of kids that have used dodgy Phishing techniques to steal other people’s passwords, login and steal all their furniture (which has been paid for with real money). So it is a real crime and they probably should get into real trouble.
The story kind of reminded me a bit of the whole “will bobba for furni” story that was around a couple of years ago. That was ‘kids’ performing virtual ‘sex-acts’ in exchange for furniture. A kind of low-level virtual prostitution. The reason “bobba for furni” came about as a term is because of the bad-words filter on Habbo Hotel.
Pretty much any place that has any kind of economy ends up with its own version of thieves, rascals and hookers. Sad but true.
What about setting up the Crimternet? A kind of Australia where all the bad Internet people get sent.