In the brutally tough SF MMORPG EVE Online, pilots fly valuable ships and trust no one. But a video from August 2022 now tells the story of a legendary pilot who entrusted a fraudster with his most valuable ship. The surprising thing: this one story in the otherwise heartless MMORPG EVE Online actually has a happy ending.
What kind of video is this?
- The site PCGamer has created a 16-minute video in which those involved look back at a legendary heist in 2017. They describe in detail how the fraud occurred, why they acted as they did at the time, and how they view it today (via PCGamer).
- Fraud is part of EVE: The space simulation does nothing to protect players from fraudsters. On the contrary: a clever scam is something that is respected and cherished in EVE. Many stories revolve around legendary incidents of fraud and betrayal. But the large scam of 2017 was different in many respects. The fraud extended over 16 months and, in the end, even made the fraudster feel remorse.
- The fraudster himself wrote a post about the incident on reddit: “The 300 billion ISK heist, of which I almost wish I had never committed.”
Pilot and his unique spaceship become legends in EVE Online
What was the scam about? In EVE Online, the famous pilot TikkTokk Tokkzikk flies: After years of playing, he fulfilled his dream and bought an extremely rare ship, a “Chremoas Frigate”: a special reward for the “Alliance Tournament XI” event from 2013, which is therefore only available in limited numbers in EVE Online.
The ship is designed with a cloaking device for “small group PvP” and is actually totally overpowered, as even the EVE developers admit.
Normally, such a ship is so valuable that it is hardly used: For every battle, there is a risk that the ship will be destroyed forever.
But TikkTokk was such a good player and could assess the risks so well before each battle that he collected 400 kills, which were reflected as markings on his ship. He gathered these kills without losing the ship. His Chremoas became legendary.
What was the scam? A player infiltrated the group of pilots called the Amamake Police with the character “Samantha Myth” and became part of the elite PvP unit. This is unusual because the elite PvP unit does not let anyone in easily and every elite player in EVE is notoriously paranoid.
In the video, Samantha Myth mentions that the difficult part was getting into the group at all. It would have caused too much distrust if he had actively sought out the close-knit group of pilots to which TikkTokk belongs. So, he just hung around passively for a long time, hoping to be approached by a member of the Amamake Police. Eventually, that happened.
A friend of TikkTokk, Casper24, invited him:
I met Samantha Myth in an in-game channel where he linked a few pretty cool kills that you can click on to see what ship he used and what he killed. And I thought: Okay, he looks like a really nice guy and so we invited him to fly with us. We decide who flies with us this way, as we don’t want to be scammed.
Casper24
TikkTokk says: Because Casper was flying with the “new guy”, he assumed that Samantha Myth was fine – after all, he was now a friend of his friend.
Fraudster becomes the best friend of the later victim over 18 months
Over 18 months, Samantha Myth gained TikkTokk’s trust, becoming his companion in the game and his friend. His tactic was to be a “solid, reliable player” who was always approachable and available for any task.
To prepare for the scam, Samantha Myth bought himself an expensive ship for a lot of ISK, the in-game currency, a “Whiplash”, and then started lending this ship to crew members for free.
By bringing in this “why don’t you try flying my ship this week” thing to the group, he established a new practice, as he says.
After 18 months, it was time for TikkTokk to trust him with his own ship. By that time, it had become normal to fly each other’s valuable possessions and lend their own.
There are also legendary stories in other MMORPGs like WoW:
Pilot learns from the forum that he has been scammed for months, is bitterly disappointed
This is how TikkTokk learned about the scam: The pilot woke up one morning thinking everything was fine: In a few days, his friend would return the ship to him, but friends alerted him that he should definitely check reddit.
Thus, TikkTokk read on reddit about the scam he had fallen for. He knew immediately: This is real, I was betrayed by a friend. Even by his “best friend in the game”, as he says in the video.
TikkTokk wrote on reddit: Worse than the loss of the ship is the loss of friendship. Because the fraudster had become his best friend in the game over the last year and a half. Yes, even more than that – playing with Samantha Myth at his side had become part of his EVE Online experience.
Today, TikkTokk explains in the video: After the scam, he seriously considered quitting and leaving the MMORPG. He doubted everything in 2017:
- Had the friend lied to him for 18 months?
- Was nothing real, was everything just played?
He even feared that this betrayal could change who he is. Because up until then, he had been a trusting person. The betrayal made him doubt his own beliefs.
Here you can see the complete video from PC Gamer about the scam in EVE Online:
Fraudster returns the money to the victim to get his ship back
This is how the story ended: The special thing about the story is that Tikktokk’s disappointment at having lost a friend was so sincere and authentic that the otherwise merciless community of the MMORPG took his side.
Normally, in EVE it is said, “The honest person is the fool – and the fraudster is the hero”, but now TikkTokk was seen as the real heart winner.
The fraudster was also moved by the words of the victim. Ultimately, the fraudster approached TikkTokk and returned the money he had received from the sale of the ship, allowing TikkTokk to buy back his beloved ship.
After I talked to Samantha Myth on Skype for 2 weeks, he asked me if he could do anything to repair our friendship. I told him that I just wanted my Chremoas back and if he could help with that, I wouldn’t hold any bad feelings toward him. Then he sent me 120 billion ISK, the sum he received for the sale of the ship.
TikkTokk
This is how victims and perpetrators view it today: The fraudster said that ultimately, he just wanted to show that he could pull off the scam; it wasn’t even about the money:
When it was all over, I said: Hey, let’s handle this cool. You have to understand that I didn’t do it for the money or to be a jerk. I just did it to prove I could.
Samantha Myth
TikkTokk says today: He always knew that the day would come when he would lose the ship.
What he didn’t expect, however, was the immense support from people who empathized with him. Ultimately, one can never say how people would behave. Today he is almost grateful that he was scammed back then, because it made him realize how many people in the game cared about his well-being.
To the fraudster, he says: “If we ever meet in real life, you owe me a beer.”
More stories from the world of EVE Online can be found here from MeinMMO:
