Sony sends in SPAM detectives

Those who participate in online multiplayer games globally now have a new ally in their game play, a group of virtual detectives who aim to protect their interests while gaming.

Although some individuals have initiated spam and viruses on PC users, a new spam attack in particular is targeting those who play the largest MMO videogames such as “World of Warcraft.”

The way they work the system is by playing characters in the game who bombard other players with ads that advertise items for sale in the game, which is not only bothersome, but illegal by the terms of the game publishers.

Sony Online Entertainment is now taking the rules a little more seriously by sending out its own investigation team called the Norathian Underground Gnome Investigation Team (honest) to keep an eye on what is happening during game play in the EverQuest game.

There are nine members on the team whose responsibility it is to play the game worlds and keep an eye on spammers that may be up to no good, while also attempting to get to the bottom of such operations.

President of Sony Online Entertainment, John Smedley, said that spam during the games is very frustrating for users since it is like getting spam emails while playing.

As of now, so far NUGIT patrols have been able to shut down 295,000 accounts that are used to distribute spam across the game.

Director of customer support and manager of NUGIT, Brad Wilcox, stated that most of the organisations they have found throughout the game are well structured.

The detective agency waits for reports of spammers and then the team gets to work watching how they work and tracking mule and runner accounts linked to the accounts.

In August the most popular malware found was Trojans that can steal passwords to the game.