A 16-year-old male gamer infatuated with the gothic dress worn by the fictional princess in an online role-playing game has been arrested for hacking into the game company's servers and scamming a boatload of virtual money.
On January 24, Tokyo Metropolitan Police officers from the "Hi-Tech Crimes Control Center" arrested the high school student from Fukui, Japan and charged him with illegally accessing the website of Tokyo-based game company NEXON and stealing over 36 million yen ($325,000) worth of virtual currency used in the Mabinogi online role-playing game. The money can be used to purchase virtual items in the game, and it can be converted into real-world cash.
According to investigators, the suspect used software from an illegal website to obtain the ID and password of a former NEXON employee, which he used to access the company's servers from his home computer last October. Once inside NEXON's system, he registered a new ID and password and began filling his coffers with the in-game money.
While most of the loot went unused, the suspect allegedly converted 7 million points into about 600,000 yen ($5,500) worth of web money, which he used to purchase books and software.
The suspect has reportedly fessed up to the crime. "I originally wanted the dress worn by the princess," he admitted, "but I just ended up racking up a bunch of game points."
[Source: Nikkan Sports]
Apple Otaku
I'm curious...what's the most popular MMORPG in Japan? I've only heard scattered reports of gaijin and a small number of Japanese playing Warcraft.
[]bob
did he make the program? or just found it on an illegal website...because if he was smart and whenever you do somthing illegal...you should always block you ip by using software that blocks it or use proxy servers...but im guessing he didnt really know wtf he was doing and got caught...
[]Greg
So wait... the kid hacks into a game server and steals money to BUY SOFTWARE?
Was he in an ironic mood or something?
[]ripper
remember he's only a 16 yr old kid. when he had 5 grand in his pockets he prollie had no use for it and probably couldn't buy anything materialistic cuz his parents would notice something fishys going on (like if he purchased a PS3 or Wii for example) so thats why he probably ended up buying a software. well we know he ain't that smart since he failed to realize that by accessing it at home, they could detect his IP address and locate where he is. so by that we can tell he has minimal computer IQ. he probably just found a site that allows such things and figured "why not give it a shot" and when it worked he was overwhelmed and let his greed take over his 16 yr old mind.
[]benny chan
i wonder what's so special about the dress in the first place. Is it that hard to obtain whereas someone has to hack into the game's system just to obtain it? Also, the dress isnt all that good looking if you ask me. Heck, also, why is this guy playing as a girl? Is that some kind of new fetish for teenage boys? Lord, what has the human society gone to. Maybe he's... gay? lol, still, i feel bad for him. He went THAT FAR just to get a virtual dress for his character.
[]Ryuujin
would you stare at a boys ass or a girls? (if you are/were a boy)
[]korvis
obviously girls are more fun to play as. male clothes all look the same. secondly, sex starved nerds tend to go great lengths to help and impress a female character. thats just how it is. and maybe he IS gay :| whats it to you? not that it matters, cause nobody cares what you think.
[]Soja Kai
There are stores in Japan that sell cloths worn by girls and ladies. Each piece comes with a picture showing the person wearing the cloths, and each has a one of a kind tag on it, shown in the picture to prove that its the same one.
And everyone at some point or another wants something cute. Most people go for pets in most parts of the world, but in japan, its typically figurs or cloths worn by cute ladies.
[]egokick
“I originally wanted the dress worn by the princess,” he admitted, “but I just ended up racking up a bunch of game points.” rofl, that is just too funny... poor kid, hope they didn't throw him in jail or slap a big fine on his parents.
[]A Kid
he wanted a.............dress????
[]A Kid
seriously a dress????? ^
[]I
I
in my opinion though I agree with ripper above I
I
Zaros
Wow, i was going to start playing thid game.....
All i did was go to wikipedia.coma nd i find out that some kid hacked a HUGE COMPANY....
Im really not that interested any more...
[]Zaros is Retarded
You're stupid, get a life.
[]anna
that dress is fugly....
[]Some guy
Wow, he hacked a company and got arrested, all so he could get a dress which, in my opinion, isn't all that nice...and why is he playing as a girl character?
[]guy with an honost life
WHOA talk about messed up...thats just desperate though to get a VIRTUAL DRESS THAT ISNT EVEN REAL, i tell ya no life. Sometimes i wonder how japan has such extreame things going on for simple virtual stuff (im not saying japan is bad, just how does the government put up with that?)
[]Sheds Light on Topic
I think this kid has a higher IQ then you guys think. He most likely did a majority of this hacking using a compilation of programs that he exploited to hack Nexon, possibly a codebreaker virus, and then used the dress excuse to play the "innocent kid" card. It is the work of a true mastermind, if you ask me. I mean, what one website can hack Nexon? He would have had to know alot about hacking. And at 16, to be arrested by the Hi-Tech Crimes Control Center, wow; he must have been using pretty strong programs...just a guess, though.
[]Light
Agreed, that kid is not what he seems. His IQ is definitely higher. Hmm SQL injection maybe to get admin login credientials? or rather SQL injection to get into the database where everything is stored and just grab the employee's login. There isn't a single website that can "hack" a website. Who knows maybe the software he bought was to help him hack and the books were on scripting, coding and hacking logic?
[]icie
^
[]I believe that's the definition of a script kiddie.
GM Death
i could hack stuff but not that crazy also whats wrong about a guy having a dress i buy adress from the homepage and sell it
[]Stephanie
Oh wow way to go kid. Actually no it is so wrong to steal programs no matter what way you do it. But still brava on how smart you would have to be in order to pull off such a caper.
[]Stephanie
Also, it really is amazing how far people are going just to get a free program or in this case how far the boy was willing to go in order to dress his virtual girl up in a pretty dress!
[]Stephanie
Oh yes, and not to mention he will most likely be the one wearing a dress when he goes to prison for it. I really hope they pull through on the charges other wise what a wasted effort.
[]Stephanie
I wonder how much time he will get if he actually gets some time in the pen. I hear a japanese prison is pure hell and I for one will never commit a crime overseas simply because of the prison and punishment rumors!
[]Randallrocks
You do know that if you're a US citizen, and you commit a crime that isn't illegal in the US overseas, the law is different?
[]Raymond
No every law is same on hacking in ehe earth ALL.
[]Raymond
HiTech is a site too ive seen it in chinese.
[]Asche
You guys are silly :P
The article doesn't say anything about the boy playing as a girl. He could have simply wanted the dress to make a profit on the game, or to obtain something cute. The game gives you goals that you can aim for. And so, he aimed for the rare dress.
Software is also a big deal in Japan's industry. You have software such as AniAnime (Did I translate that right?) and SAI Painter Pro. There are plenty of expensive software that can be very luxurious to a 16 year old kid. Hell, even to an adult.
It's just the same as there can be expensive Software in america.
Also, The article never stated that they caught him by tracing his IP. If he plays an online game, he will atleast know a thing or two about IP Addresses. Kids aren't dumb, don't assume so.
[]udidlz
Well...um i think he just was a smart guy like Asche Said and its wierd because that dress is fugly...lol. And um anyway i think if that were me i would've hacked it at a place where they couldnt find me, like a library that gives internet or sumthin because then they wont be able to trace the ip address of hwere i am so... and anyway why is he a girl???? is he perverted lol? or just has alot of accounts and its kinda wierd for a boy to say I originally wanted the dress worn by the princess. so yeah....^_^
[]udidlz
btw MABINOGI ROCKS THE HOUSE also AQW does too.
[]razi
i think he just was a smart guy
[]Mabi
Wow! hacking Nexon is ridiculosly. hard, btw* i rly want that dress for my Girl Character.. cough* cough*(sarcasm)
[]You never know~ it might be a boy thats online playing as a girl..., we are all transvestites deep inside :)
MabinogiPlayer
He's trying to make the money it's clear to me it's a 10mil + dress in-game
[]Dane Guarini
Ok, i think i will save this for thenext time I'll have to argue with Frank (friend of mine) about it! I wasn't wrong :D
[]Jac
This kid is hardcore. To hack a huge muti million dollar company like Nexon is crazy. And as someone else stated he probly planned the whole thing out so that people might just think he was doing something harmless except to the in game market(barly any damage at that) and let him off with a don't do it again, format your computer and delete your online acc. But he probly backed up the softwares onto a disc so it wouldn't matter anyways. If I could hack into Nexon up here in Canada the penelties are much different and I could get my hands on some serious stuff :). Well anyways this kid is a genius and could turn out to be a real problem for those vertual crime stoppers over there in Japan. Also Mabi is decent but all there is, is fighting. No real big minigames with nice rewards except one and even then the reward is worth like 200k. No big if you rack some time in a few middle classes dungeons. So ether way the game gets boring and repetative after about a year and really racks the dough out of you but other then that its a good distraction if you only play for like an hour a day. I manly quit because my friends all quit while waiting for Heros. For anyone looking for a good game try it out its pretty good. But I warn you, you may end up like me and spend 50 bucks without relizing it by the time you've played for 2 months. And before you criticize try the game and you'll see why.
[]Jessi Rickey
The site has great dragon games you should check it out.
[]Brian
I don't think there's ANY NPC in Mabinogi who wears an Elegant Gothic Dress...
[]Raw Homemade Porn
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[]The Moral
Don't be a greedy douchebag like this Japanese kid. Or the Fuzz will pound you for it.
[]Tumblredditumblr
CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE, CIS SCUM!
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