Virtual world, Habbo Hotel, sees real life arrest

Virtual world, Habbo Hotel has seen the not so virtual arrest of a 17 year-old boy for stealing virtual furniture.

Although the furniture is virtual it doesn’t come cheap. To buy furniture users must first purchase credits with their own, very real, cash. The Dutch boy, along with five other teenagers being questioned, has been accused of stealing €4,000 worth of furniture from other Habbo users and moving it into his own room.

The young entrepreneur tricked users into handing over their account details by setting up fake Habbo sites. He then logged into the real Habbo website as them and simply moved the furniture from their rooms to his own.

Virtual theft is a growing concern in the Habbo world, as it is in all virtual worlds. A spokesperson for Habbo said that while the site had seen many a thief in other countries, however, the Dutch case was the first where the police took any action.