Former Old School RuneScape developer sentenced for stealing $400,000 in virtual gold

Former Jagex developer Andrew Lakeman sentenced for stealing and selling more than $400k in Old School RuneScape gold

Former Old School RuneScape developer Andrew Lakeman has been sentenced after using his position at Jagex to access players’ accounts and steal virtual gold and valuable in-game items worth more than $400,000.

Lakeman, 32, who was previously known as Jed Sanderson and became known to players as “Mod Jed”, joined Jagex as a content developer in 2015.

He came under suspicion three years later after the company noticed valuable items and gold disappearing from accounts following suspicious account recoveries.

Jagex initially believed the activity could have resulted from a technical issue. The company later suspected an internal breach and launched an investigation.

It restricted account recoveries and modified its firewall without informing employees, allowing its IT team to trace the activity to Lakeman’s devices and home address.

Lakeman denied responsibility when questioned and claimed his own account had been compromised. He was subsequently dismissed and reported to police.

Investigators found that he had sold virtual gold and in-game items taken from other players’ accounts on the black market for more than $400,000.

Searches also showed that Lakeman had deposited more than $493,000 in cash from cryptocurrency dealers, although police did not establish whether all of that money came from the stolen RuneScape assets.

Lakeman was arrested in July 2019 and later pleaded guilty to offences including theft by employee and unauthorised computer access with intent to commit other offences.

On September 3, Cambridge Crown Court sentenced him to three years in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

The Court of Appeal ruled during the case that Old School RuneScape gold could constitute “property” under the Theft Act.

“Just because it’s virtual, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t face the full force of the law,” Detective Constable Andrew McKeane said.

“Given the rapid growth of online and virtual worlds, the justice system is going to have to keep pace and adapt to these new and emerging crimes.”