How can one sell massive amounts of ISK for real-money [RMT], while staying off the radar of the CCP security sleuths?
The question wasn't asked because any of us want to sell ISK (hell, I only make enough ISK to keep me in ships and PLEX), but because Pinky already had an answer.
Somer Blink.
The idea is that Somer could sell their Blink profits for real money, if they wanted. And it would be easy enough to get the purchasers the ISK they buy without anyone raising an eyebrow. Buy some ISK, tell the seller the character name you want it transferred too. You are then directed to sign up for Blink with that character. That character then receives some large amount of Blink credits into their account. Start playing Blinks. Whenever that character plays a Blink, the system sets that character as the winner. (Not every Blink, but at an interval that won't raise suspicions.) Winnings are subtracted from what is owed to that character. When the balance owing reaches zero, the available blink credits are also removed.
Voila! An RMT transfer that goes unnoticed. By CCP. By the players.
Of course, there are a few holes in this bit of tinfoil-hatting. This would not remain a secret for long. Word would eventually spread that if you wanted to buy ISK for real-money, you're paid out via Somer Blink. The secrecy of this operation also assumes that CCP doesn't actually buy RMT themselves from sellers, that they don't investigate the different ways that sellers try to mask their operations. That's a ludicrous assumption, of course. CCP would eventually come across Somer as a laundering front in their ongoing RMT investigations.
There are ways around having Somer Blink as a focal point of the ISK transfers. The use of mule characters to do the winning, and then having those mules transfer directly to the purchasers. Though this keeps Somer Blink a secret from the purchasers, the ISK trail does lead directly back to Somer. CCP investigations would eventually notice Somer Blink as a common source for ISK among the mules.
A intriguing idea, certainly. And one that would work well, in theory. Unfortunately, in such a small and closed community, it would be hard to keep word from spreading, and even harder to keep the paper trail from leading back to the source.
If Somer were doing this, his site would have been shuttered, and the owning characters banned, a long time ago.
Neat idea, indeed. Actually, pretty much any system that involves transfer of ISK based on the decision of one off-world service or another could be used for a scheme like this, not just Somer Blink, and as far as I remember, Blink isn't the only Eve gambling venture out there... Who's to say nothing of the sort is going on with one of the others? :)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of clever ways of RMT laundering, I had another thought a few weeks ago that is kind of close.
1. Purchase a large amount of light expensive items with a high cross-Eve average price for the ISK to be transferred. Load them into a hauler.
2. Wait for a faction in FW to get high tier.
3. Put an alt into the opposing faction.
4. Get the ISK purchaser to join an alt into the said faction that is about to get high tier.
5. Meet up somewhere in a quiet corner and get the purchaser to gank the hauler.
6. Purchaser obtains LP at a rate of 1 LP per 10k of the killmail value of the cargo, which can then be cashed out normally. Loss rates can actually be very low at T4.
Bit more of a hassle, but similarly effective and rather unsuspicious. :)
Of course. EOH. Big Lottery. Many others.
DeleteBut since Blink has been the subject of much tinfoil-hatting lately, it was more fun to just focus on them, specifically. :)
Actually, those other services couldn't be gamed this way. They don't take their transactions "off site." Anything they've done/do will be clearly displayed in the wallet transactions, so this type of laundering isn't possible with them.
DeleteYou missed an easy, obvious workaround: The person playing somer isn't the person buying the ISK, he is the middle man. After the ISK has been laundered and payouts/goodies received, he then reenters the game and trades, sells, or otherwise passes on the items. Simple. Somer gets its cut by default and no one can ever, ever, ever prove that the somer player is in anyway connected to Somer itself, since everything is hidden away on their website, not listed clearly in their wallet transactions. The RMT buyer never knows how the ISK was laundered and the most anyone can do is ban the one known somer player revealed in the trade.
Multi-billion ISK 'corp thefts' seen to be the rage lately. Why not have a corp setup to funnel isk into. ISK buyer is allowed in and quickly gets roles to be able to *gasp* steal high-ISK value assets that just happen to be left unguarded.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the problem with any criminal activity that makes money. Success tends to lead to more problems than solutions.
ReplyDeleteHaving both played and worked for Blink, it seems like your tinfoil-hatting is a bit overcomplicated.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, ISK sellers already try to use Blink to launder funds. Mega Blinks can have up to a 90% rate of return, and achievements further close the gap. 10% is a bargain as far as laundering goes.
(Spoilers for would-be ISK sellers: Somer and CCP actively work together to prevent these attempts and identify RMTs)
However, let's play the Devil's Advocate and assume that Blink wanted to cash out big time and was complicit in the activity. All they would have to do is keep creditting an account until they won and cashed out (within a reasonable margin) their purchased ISK. No "auto win" code required.
Gus Fring made a show of working with the authorities too!
DeleteJust saying. :)
oh look, i submit a comment and there is already a comment trying to distance itself from exactly what i'm suggesting. tinfoil hattery indeed.
DeletePeople always pick weird, complex, tinfoil-y ways to "launder ISK"
ReplyDeleteYour friend's method would involve Blink getting busted eventually, and a lot of people being "in on it" that didn't need to be. The simple answer is the answer that actually gets used - ISK seller deposits to EOH, plays against buyer. They share hand information with each other, wait for the buyer to have a better hand and go "all in"
No complicated tinfoil, no gigantic shadowy league. I'm sure even EOH hates that people do that.
i have played eve for like 2 months...i never heard of eve until i stumbled upon it looking for an online mmo to be a part of since WOW comitted suicide via pandas.i can tell you also that i read ALOT about how players in EVE could/would rip you off,destroy your ships and rape your sheep.I can also tell you that I was kinda worried when I first saw the banner for Somerblink in the officers quarters in-game.But I thought that CCP wouldnt have anything to do with them like that,i.e. putting thier name on the board,if they were crooked.Having said that,I took 20million isk and signed up for Somer.Inside 4 weeks i have made deposited over 12 billion isk,most of which i made on Somer,and have won a total value of over 60 billion isk worth of goods.I do not know Somer or any of the people that work at Blink nor anyone that makes deliveries for them.I can also tell you that I have not once had any problems either getting site credit for items or getting ships/items delivered to me,most with-in 30 mins.I can also say with a small amount of certainty,most of the people claming Somer Blink is dirty have probly lost an amazing amount of isk to the gambling that is Somerblink.I have won over 60+ ships including a caldari dreadnaught,a carrier and a multitude of others.....13 proteus in about 20 mins the other day...:) .People are going to dislike anything that makes them look like a fool.I have been down isk and gotten mad at myself for the loss of alot of isk,but5 it was my fault,not Somers or anyone elses.I put the isk in,I pressed the button and made the ticket choice,therefor I had no-one to blame but me.
ReplyDelete