British Hacker Steals 400BN Play Chips from Zynga

A British hacker going by the name Ashley Mitchell confessed in court that he had stolen 400 billion in Zynga chips, worth $12 million. Judge Philip Wassall told Herald Express Mitchell could face jail time for his offense.

Ashley Mitchell

The man from Paignton, England transferred 400 billion virtual play chips to his account and decided to sell them on the black market at a rate of £430 per billion. Selling all the play money would earn him £184,000 profit at a rate like that. He even managed to make £53,000 until he was arrested. However, it would worth $12 million if Zynga sold it through Facebook. 

Judge Philip Wassall said Mitchell is most likely to get jail sentence for his 'sophisticated' offenses. It also surfaced during the trials that he breached his suspended sentence: he hacked into the Torbay Council website in 2008 and changed his personal details, which benefited him £3,498. He was given a 40-week suspended sentence because of that.

Zynga has not been deprived of goods like it would if it was real chips or money stolen in case of a normal fraud, since everything was virtual, Zynga can always issue more - commented prosecutor Gareth Evans. However, this case might have a negative impact on the reputation of Zynga, leading to users' reluctance to buy play chips (which is impossible for me to understand why would people pay for play money, if you ask me).

Mitchell faced 5 charges, which are contrary to the Computer Misuse Act. He pleaded guilty to four counts of converting criminal property. Mitchell stays in custody until a date for the verdict is announced.