World Stock Exchange hit by L$3.2 million theft
By Adam Reuters
SECOND LIFE, July 25 (Reuters) - The World Stock Exchange said on Wednesday a former employee used inside knowledge to steal money from the virtual stock exchange’s ATM network, a sum that totaled more than L$3.2 million (US$12,300) according to one person with knowledge of the matter.
“I noticed a large withdrawal by an avatar with no history. I then closed the WSE immediately and began to investigate,” said LukeConnell Vandeverre, CEO of the WSE and its parent company Hope Capital, in a statement on the exchange’s website.
“It appears that a past employee of Hope Capital, who assisted in fixing previous bugs in our ATM, had decided to try and use their inside knowledge of our ATM communication channel to their advantage,” said Vandeverre (real name: Luke Connell of Melbourne, Australia). “We are hoping that most of the linden dollars will be returned.”
News of the theft first came to light in a blog post by Mystik Boucher (real name: Shania Stewart of Nashville, TN), CEO of the Second Life firm Mystik Designs, whose account was suspended on Saturday.
“A few short days ago, it had come to the attention of LukeConnell that the WSE had been hacked and lost over 3.2mil/L. I come into this story, well, because it was the Chairman of Board @ MDS who has allegedly hacked the WSE,” Boucher said on her blog. “On Saturday I received an e-mail from Patsy Linden stating that my account was placed on Hold due to an Administrative Review. This is likely the cause of the transactions between myself and Thurston (Hallard).”
Hallard, the chairman of Mystik Designs, could not be reached for comment as his account has been deleted or suspended by Linden Lab. Linden Lab declined to comment.
According to a WSE document obtained by Reuters entitled “False Activity Statement,” more than L$3.2 million in fake deposits were made by Thurston Hallard and another avatar, Mindo Pinion, between June 13 and July 21, and the fraudulent funds were then withdrawn. The document said there was “strong evidence of these avatars being the same person.” Pinion’s account has also been suspended or deleted.
The WSE has been closed — “for important updates,” according to its website — since Friday. It was initially set to reopen on Tuesday but the opening time has been extended to 12PM PDT on Wednesday.
In the most recent 24 hours of trading, 444,487 shares worth a total of L$689,298.93 changed hands on the exchange — just over half the value of the alleged theft.
As of Wednesday Boucher’s account had been reactivated.
“I now have more faith in Linden Labs than ever,” she said on her blog. “I was always optimistic about the outcome of this situation, and my account has now been taken off Hold and I’m back in business.”
