14 DAY TRIAL // Several hackers are facing charges of wire fraud, after the FBI discovered that they mined FIFA currency from EA’s servers and then sold the coins online to eventually earn between $15 million and $18 million.
Anthony Clark and three others, namely Ricky Miller, Nicholas Castellucci and Eaton Zveare, are believed to be part of a hacking group called RANE Developments, who developed software that tricked EA’s servers into rewarding them with in-game currency that you can only earn by playing matches or paying for it with real money.
FIFA coins are being used to unlock packs, such as players and balls, and given the popularity of the game, they have grown a lot lately and can be purchased from several sources, including more or less shady websites that you can find with a simple search on Google.
Clark’s FIFA coin mining system used the game’s source code and developer kit to trick EA servers into believing that they were playing thousands of matches, being rewarded as a result with virtual currency which was then sold online on the black market. According to the FBI indictment, the group made between $15 million and $18 million only using this wire fraud scheme.
Connected to Xbox Underground hackers
As part of the investigation, the FBI managed to seize several millions of dollars in cash and property from the involved hackers in September 2015, including super expensive goods such as a house in California and a Lamborghini. Several other luxury cars were also seized, the documents show.
Ricky Miller already pled guilty in October this year, and now the FBI is going after Anthony Clark, as there is evidence that he was one of the leaders of the hacking group.
RANE Developments is believed to have worked as part of Xbox Underground, a larger group of hackers that targeted Valve and Microsoft gaming platforms with similar attempts. One of the hackers, Austin Alcala, was arrested by the FBI and collaborated with agents as part of the investigation, pointing out that Clark was the one making all the decisions, while also providing the bureau with access to his online accounts and messages, Kotaku reports.
The trial against Anthony Clark starts today in Texas, and given all the evidence that the FBI has managed to collect as part of the investigation, the agency is very confident there can be only one way to go in this case.