Former Old School RuneScape developer Andrew "Mod Jed" Lakeman has been sentenced for stealing gold from player accounts following several years of investigation and litigation.
The Cambridgeshire Constabulary recently published a report covering the sentencing and history of the crime.
With his arrest in July 2019, Lakeman was charged with "unauthorised computer access with intent to commit other offences, theft by employee, conceal / disguise / convert / transfer / remove criminal property and acquire criminal property." It's estimated this scheme netted him over £300,000.
Lakeman eventually pled guilty to the charges and, this week on September 3, "was handed a three-year sentence suspended for two years at Cambridge Crown Court," the Constabulary writes. His sentence also includes 150 hours of "unpaid work" and a 25-day "rehabilitation activity requirement."
To go back a few years, Lakeman, then known as Jed Sanderson, was a developer at Old School RuneScape studio Jagex. In mid-2018, he began using the game's account recovery system to steal gold and high-value items from players, and then sell that in-game wealth for real money or crypto currency through the MMO's gray market.
A search of Lakeman's accounts found that "he had banked more than £364,829 in cash, which came from crypto currency dealers," the investigation found. In private messages to his wife, Lakeman apparently shared plans to "make a lot of money" before leaving Jagex.
But before he could make his grand escape, Jagex clocked the account breaches and "realized the perpetrator was likely to be someone who worked for the company, as accounts were being recovered using information genuine owners would be unlikely to know," the Constabulary notes. It laid a trap in its employee network firewall and Lakeman walked right into it.
هەفتانە هەرسکردنەکان، چیرۆکەکانی ئەو کۆمەڵگایانەی کە خۆشت دەوێن و زۆر شتی تر
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/mmo/court-sentences-disgraced-old-school-runescape-dev-who-stole-players-gold-and-banked-more-than-gbp364-829-in-cash
