In 2019, Andrew Lakeman was arrested by Cambridgeshire police over suspicions of robbing nearly half a million from his employer. Sort of. Known as “Mod Jed” by the RuneScape community, Lakeman used his access as a developer to steal and resell in-game items and gold. After a lengthy investigation, the developer has been sentenced, facing upwards of three years in real life prison.
“Lakeman was well aware what he was doing was wrong,” says Detective Constable Andrew McKeane, “the hundreds of thousands of pounds he gained from selling the in-game items is no different to any other theft. Just because it’s virtual, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t face the full force of the law.”
Hired by RuneScape makers Jagex in 2015, Lakeman was secretly sapping items from the player base and then laundering them through secondary markets and cryptocurrencies. When the missing items began getting flagged in 2018, Jagex’s support team initially thought it was some kind of temporary glitch. When the robberies picked back up, an internal investigation was launched, leading to a sting operation which caught one of their own developers red handed.
Lakeman initially denied the thefts, but his devices and receipts revealed he raked in nearly half a million in his dealings. Texts suggested he boasted the scheme to his wife as well, divulging his plans to target high-paying accounts before departing the company. After a seven year investigation of a truly strange crime, Lakeman has been sentenced to 150 hours of volunteer work, 25 days of rehabilitation and a suspended three year prison stay, meaning any continued bad behavior will land him in the slammer.
While Old School RuneScape traditionally struggles with more depressing criminal offenses, Lakeman’s McMillions-style scheme is the latest scrutiny in how game makers wrestle with their secondary markets. The relationship between in-game goods and real world currency has always been contentious, but the popularity of platforms like RuneScape, Roblox and Fortnite amid generally young audiences has begun raising legal alarms around the world. In the near future, Valve will have to defend their in-game markets in front of the New York State Attorney General Letitia James regarding their internal take from loot boxes and resellers.