A British man has been arrested and cautioned for stealing accounts for online game Runescape. Jagex, creator of Runescape, said it was likely to be the first of several arrests as it tackled in-game fraud.

Online game Runescape has more than 100 million active players and play revolves around collecting and spending virtual cash and loot. The company said it was working with U.K. police and the FBI to track down and catch those targeting Runescape.

A statement from the Police National e-crime unit said: “A 23-year-old man was arrested in Avon and Somerset on the morning of Tuesday 24 November by officers from the Police Central e-crime Unit, on suspicion of a number of computer misuse offences.” The offenses are believed to be for using phishing e-mails to trick people into handing over login details for Runescape accounts.

Once hi-tech thieves have these credentials, they plunder the accounts, strip characters of their items and sell off the rare virtual goods for Runescape gold. This virtual money can be traded to others in-game or sold for real world cash.

Current underground exchange rates suggest that 2m Runescape gold costs about £6 ($10). “Any online games company will tell you that as soon as the game has value, there’s a very small foreign element that tries to exploit that value,” the chief executive of Jagex told BBC News.

“Players invest years of time and effort into developing their Runescape character so the theft of a Runescape account shouldn’t be treated differently to the theft of any other valuable possessions such as a games console, television or car,” the chief executive said.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8386003.stm