Stocks Today & Finance: World of Warcraft Chinese Hackers Sent to Prison

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x Prime Newsfeed Latest View My Newsfeed » Game of the Year Watch 2013 Xbox 360 Xbox One PS3 PS4 Wii U PC Vita 3DS iPhone Tech Movies TV Comics Reviews Wikis & Cheats Upcoming News Videos Boards Blogs Podcasts Blu-ray Stars World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria | PC Mac | Release Date: September 25, 2012 Game Highlights Wiki Guide Review Videos Images Walkthroughs Cheats All Articles Message Boards World of Warcraft Account Hackers In China Sentenced To Two Years In Prison Over $10,800 in gold, gear, and accounts was stolen. by Leah B. Jackson December 24, 2013 Submit Tweet Share +1 Share

A group of ten men in China have been given prison terms of up to two years for hacking and defrauding over 11,000 World of Warcraft accounts.

According to Kotaku, the cyber culprits lead by a man named Chen and later Zhu were essentially charged for flipping stolen WoW accounts that they purchased for around $1. After they'd acquired ownership, they emptied the accounts of all their gold and items, before reselling everything for around $3 at online auction, netting a tasty profit. By the time Chinese officials caught them, it's thought they'd earned $10,800.

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Nine of Chen's accomplices, including Zhu, were convicted, receiving sentences of two years in prison and fines of $1,000, while the mastermind got two years in prison and a fine of $8,000.

The Chinese authorities also confiscated the illegally obtained goods and computers used by the perpetrators.

Have you ever been the victim of a WoW account hacking? It sucks. Let us know about it in the comments.

Leah B. Jackson is both an Associate Editor at IGN and Corgi megafan, and not necessarily in that order. Follow her on Twitter and MyIGN!

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