A teenager has become the first person in The Netherlands to be arrested for
virtual theft following a spate of burglaries in the
Habbo
Hotel virtual world.
The unnamed 17 year-old suspect was arrested, and four other 15 year-olds
have been questioned, over the theft of more than €4,000 worth of virtual
furniture.
Dutch police said that the crimes were committed by hacking into users'
accounts.
Investigators believe that the teens then moved furniture, which costs
credits bought for real money, from the users' rooms and placed them in their
own.
"Habbo Hotel's business model operates on selling virtual wares to people
looking to customise their characters or furnish their rooms. Think digital
Ikea," said Computing magazine.
The social networking website is owned by Finnish firm
Sulake and
claims to have 80 million registered users in 31 countries.
UK children's charity
NSPCC set
up shop in Habbo Hotel for
three months in
March this year to help in its fight against bullying.
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