The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged a 25-year-old man. He is accused of stealing the currency FIFA Coins and FIFA 18 directly from the EA servers and selling it on the black market. The man allegedly hacked the EA servers to steal $324,000.
Arrested at the airport: On the night of Wednesday to Thursday US time, a man was arrested at the airport. He is Martin Marsich, a man with Serbian and Italian citizenship. He was presented to a US court in San Francisco on Thursday.
What is the charge? He is accused of intentionally gaining access to a secured system to gather information that would confer a business advantage or personal financial gain.
Additionally, there is a charge for “gaining access to a secured computer for the purpose of fraud or to obtain anything of value.”
This is reported by the US site Kotaku citing the US Department of Justice.
NBA Live 15 as a backdoor to access through EA’s servers
This is what he allegedly did: It is said that Marsich exploited a vulnerability to gain access to the backend of NBA Live 15. He then used the outdated game to gain access to the FIFA servers.
Since NBA Live 15 was a “trusted server” for FIFA 18, the man could exploit this trust to manipulate FIFA 18.
Marsich allegedly:
- Sent 17,000 copies of the game to EA accounts
- And he is alleged to have transferred FIFA Coin packs to 8,000 accounts – With FIFA Coins, players can buy packs with players in FUT mode in FIFA 18.
- He then sold these accounts and packs on black market sites
According to the publisher EA, these items were worth $324,000 (€283,000).
Air travel becomes the hacker’s downfall: EA noticed the intrusion into their system as early as March 25. They then checked logs and records to identify the hacker.
Marsich actually lives in Udine, Italy. He was arrested while he was on a sightseeing trip in the USA. Authorities apprehended him at the airport. He was actually planning to travel to Serbia.
What awaits the man? The man faces five years in prison or a fine of $250,000. The trial will take place over the next weeks and months. Currently, the suspect is free. He is said to have posted bail in the form of cryptocurrency worth $750,000.
EA makes a fortune from FIFA Coins. This makes the company a recurring target for hacks:
