An analysis of online gaming crime characteristics

Abstract

Purpose-To arouse the public awareness of online gaming-related crimes and other societal influences so that these problems can be solved through education, laws and appropriate technologies. Design/methodology/approach-A total of 613 criminal cases of online gaming crimes that happened in Taiwan during 2002 were gathered and analyzed. They were analyzed for special features then focusing on the tendency for online gaming crime. Related prosecutions, offenders, victims, criminal methods, and so on, were analyzed. Findings-According to our analysis of online gaming characteristics in Taiwan, the majority of online gaming crime is theft (73.7 percent) and fraud (20.2 percent). The crime scene is mainly in internet cafés (54.8 percent). Most crimes are committed within the 12:00 to 14:00 time period (11.9 percent). Identity theft (43.4 percent) and social engineering (43.9 percent) are the major criminal means. The offenders (95.8 percent) and victims (87.8 percent) are mainly male and offenders always proceed alone (88.3 percent). The age of offenders is quite low (63.3 percent in the age range of 15-20), and 8.3 percent of offenders are under 15 years old. The offenders are mostly students (46.7 percent) and the unemployed (24 percent), most of them (81.9 percent) not having criminal records. The type of game giving rise to most of the criminal cases is Lineage Online (93.3 percent). The average value of the online gaming loss is about US$459 and 34.3 percent of criminal loss is between $100 and $300. Research limitations/implications-These criminal cases were retrieved from Taiwan in 2002. Some criminal behavior may have been limited to a certain area or a certain period. Practical implications-Provides a useful source of information and constructive advice for the public who will sense the seriousness and influence of online gaming crimes. Further, this topic may have implications on e-commence, e-services, or web-based activities beyond gaming. Originality/value-Since there is little published research in this area, this paper provides the public with a good and original introduction to a topic of growing importance.

Induced Attitude Change on Online Gaming among Adolescents: An Application of the Less-Leads-to-More Effect

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Personal Denial of Service (PDOS) Attacks: A Discussion and Exploration of a New Category of Cyber Crime

“…Chen, et al (2005) found in their analysis of online gaming crime that 46.7% of the offenders were students and that most of these crimes were committed from public computer use areas such as Internet cafes. In fact, they stipulated in their work, which is now almost a decade old, that "such cyber-criminal activity within online games is increasing at an alarming rate" (Chen, et al, 2005). They found that the use of another person's online gaming account (and subsequent theft of their property within the game) without their permission was 73.7% of all computer gaming crime reviewed.…”

“…Although the percentage playing online games was smaller (38% of surveyed students), this is still a significant portion of the overall student population who are familiar with the use of the Internet to play a game against a distant opponent. Even several years ago, Chen, et al (2005) noted that with the growth of online gaming, there was a corresponding growth in gaming-related crimes, and particularly in MMOG games.…”

A Multidiscipline Approach to Governing Virtual Property Theft in Virtual Worlds

“…In an examination of 613 online gaming criminal cases, occurring during 2002 in Taiwan it was found that theft and fraud were the major type of online gaming crimes [11]. 73.7% of cases were charged with theft, while 20.2% were charged with fraud [11].…”

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