A Virtual Fortune: Consumer Protection for Banking and Consumer Fraud in Virtual Worlds

Author

Janet Lo

Organization

Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC)

Published

2011

Summary

Virtual worlds are sometimes described as “massively multiplayer games” (MMGs) or “massively multiplayer online role-playing games” (MMORPGs). MMGs leverage the scale of the internet to involve thousands of people at once in a shared gaming experience. Many virtual worlds have their own in-world economy that is based on an in-world virtual currency.

As virtual economies grow, some players have seized opportunities to earn money through actions that would be characterized as fraud in the real-world – by stealing, duping other players, and running Ponzi schemes. In virtual environments, users maintain a cloak of anonymity and economic transactions are barely regulated if at all and thus the potential for fraud is high. Virtual world players are soft targets for cybercriminals and a European survey indicated that 30% of users recently lost some form of virtual property through fraud.

This paper discusses examples of economic fraud conducted in virtual worlds that have resulted in a loss to consumers in these virtual worlds. Notably, virtual world operators have in some cases stated that these fraudulent actions are merely “part of the game”, denying all responsibility and liability for these actions and refusing to compensate players who have lost money to these schemes. Virtual world consumers are often unable to seek redress or compensation for their loss.

This document is available in the following language(s):

Third-Party Information Liability Disclaimer

Some of the information on this Web page has been provided by external sources. The Government of Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the information supplied by external sources. Users wishing to rely upon this information should consult directly with the source of the information. Content provided by external sources is not subject to official languages, privacy and accessibility requirements.

English only

• English (PDF document)

OCA Funded Research
This research received funding support through the Office of Consumer Affairs' Contributions Program.

Contact information

Source: Consumer Policy Research Database