This reads like a cheap sci-fi novel which crosses over to reality. Eve Online is a massively multiplayer game in a persistant world. It’s set in future space and exploration, mining and commerce is the key of the game. Instead of guilds you have corporations and with that you get capitalism, and everyone knows how that works. (This is the only MMOG I’ve ever payed to play and it was worth it)

The story was slashdotted back in August 2004 but I only picked up on it recently. The story is about a guy who risks everything to scam millions of isk (roughly around $1000 in converted money) from CEOs of large corporations, rich miners, uber nerds who seldom see sunlight with a promise of exclusive ownership of a set of rare and very expensive blueprints. The methods which he uses to gain trust and money from potential investors are not common in normal games. Usually a person would leave his online character in the world from which he logs off - in Eve, it’s constantly around.

[Read the Story] The Great Scam
[In Depth Review] Reactions of the Scam