Several hackers are facing fraud charges after the FBI discovered they were taking FIFAfrom servers and then selling the coins online to make between $15 million and $18 million.
Anthony Clark and three others, named Ricky Miller, Nicholas Castellucci and Eaton Zveare, are believed to be members of a hacking group called RANE Developments, who developed the software that tricked EA's servers into giving away the coins.
FIFA coins are used to unlock packs, such as players and balls, and given the popularity of the game they have increased a lot in recent years and can be purchased from various sources, including more or less strange websites that you can find with a simple Google search.
The scheme Clark used to steal the coins involved using source code and a developer kit to trick EA servers into believing that thousands of games were being played, which in turn rewarded them with virtual currency that was then sold on the black market. According to the FBI indictment, the group stole between $15 million and $18 million through this scam alone.
As part of the investigation, the FBI was able to seize several million dollars in cash and property from the hackers involved in September 2015, including very expensive homes like one in California and a Lamborghini. Several other luxury cars were seized, the documents show.
Ricky Miler was already found guilty in the FIFA case and now the FBI is targeting Anthony Clark, as there is evidence that he was one of the leaders of the hacking group.
RANE Developments is believed to have worked as part of the Xbox Underground, a larger group of hackers who targeted Valve and Microsoft gaming platforms with similar goals.
The trial against Anthony Clark begins today in Texas and given that all the evidence the FBI has managed to gather as part of the investigation proves his guilt, there will be one outcome to this trial.
