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MMOG Gangsters Brought to Justice

Posted by Zonk on from the crime-doesn't-pay-forever dept.

The Inquirer is reporting on the crackdown of a virtual gang by police. The officers caught the thugs who are "charged with stealing virtual wonga [ed. - UK slang for money] and around 50,000 usernames and passwords from multi-playing gamers. The ringleader, a Mr Lee, is reported to have hired a gang of Chinese hackers who sent in the Trojan horses to pinch the online identities."

9 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. "virtual Identity Theft" by Bimo_Dude · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hmmm... It seems that the authorities are taking the theft of virtual identities more seriously than the theft of real identities.

    --
    "Teleporting Rodents with D-Cell Battery Displacement" theory -- IgnoramusMaximus (692000)
    1. Re:"virtual Identity Theft" by endx7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Account information = billing information = possible realy identity theft depending on how much information you can get from the account management screens.

  2. Re:Wonga by slavemowgli · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's listed on londonslang.com, though. H2G2 also mentions it, as does urbandictionary.com. I'm not from London, but it sure seems to be real.

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
  3. Notice the sublte uses by DeanMeister · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Y'know, there is alot of very subtle prejudices in that article. "South Koreans are the most wired-up of all Earthfolk and waste hours of their lives engaging in online gaming and assuming virtual identities in role-playing games." Not only does that assume that every Korean is addicted to MMO's, note also the use of the word "waste" thrown in very casually. Also, "Hackers are actively trying to steal from other players" that makes it sound like the second you get into an MMO your system is subject to the whim of every criminal mastermind on the planet. I dunno, just something I noticed.

    --
    Society never gets more or less violent, the definition of violent just keeps changing.
  4. Re:Wonga by ActionJesus · · Score: 3, Informative

    Im from scotland, and ive never heard of it either. Im pretty sure anyone that said "wonga" would get punched as well.

  5. Re:Wonga by Bimo_Dude · · Score: 3, Informative
    Apparently (at least according to Google), it is modern London slang.

    It is not, however, listed in the OED. The closest word in the OED is wonga-wonga, which is some sort of Australian pigeon.

    --
    "Teleporting Rodents with D-Cell Battery Displacement" theory -- IgnoramusMaximus (692000)
  6. Re:Wonga by Peter+Cooper · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm also from London, am aware of the term and have heard it used, though don't think I've ever used it myself. It's one of those "know what it means but never use it" words like "mullah" or "moolah", which has the same meaning.

    You might not be working class enough to have heard it used a lot. It tends to be used by "duckers and divers" and chancers, market traders, etc. It's the sort of word people like Del Boy use.. I imagine he probably has used it in the show.

    Anyway, It's definitely a real term. While not common by any means, it's a lot more common than the bullshit rhyming slang some people claim is popular like "Claire Rayners" for trainers!!!

  7. Makings of a movie? by pionzypher · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wile Lee Wonga and the MMOGolate factory?

    --
    I'll believe in corporations having personhood when Texas executes one... - advocate_one
  8. nice wording, ass! by ISaidItOmega · · Score: 2, Interesting
    From TFA:

    South Koreans are the most wired-up of all Earthfolk and waste hours of their lives engaging in online gaming and assuming virtual identities in role-playing games.

    Hahahaha, I guess South Koreans "waste" hours of their lives playing MMORPGS. Other people waste hours of their lives spewing poorly-written copy for an internet-only newspaper. I'll take the first, please.