Cyber P.I. Tracks Down Pirates Selling Modern Warfare 2

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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Cyber P.I. Tracks Down Pirates Selling Modern Warfare 2



A Craigslist post advertising bundles of Modern Warfare 2 has led private investigators to arrests of thieves and pirates.

On October 29, someone posted an ad selling the Modern Warfare 2 bundle of console and game for $500, over ten days before the game officially comes out. Activision Blizzard spotted the ad on Craigslist and called in IPCybercrime.com, a Dallas P.I. firm, to track down the sellers. Through a series of undercover calls to the number listed, IPCybercrime nabbed the seller, but not before he completed a few transactions. One of the buyers was found to be an Xbox modder, who was later tracked down in Miami, Fl, poised to sell thousands of pirated copies of Modern Warfare 2. The pirate is now in custody.

It was quite a week for Rob Holmes, owner of IPCybercrime, which lives up to its moniker by concentrating in online investigations. "It all happened very fast," he said. "If these guys get their stuff out, then they can do some major damage to sales and spoil it for everybody. We plug leaks every day, but this was one of the biggest ones of the year."

The initial seller was found to be a kid who worked in the warehouse of a major retailer and somehow squirreled away a crate of the MW2 bundles without his supervisor catching wind of the theft. When IPCybercrime called posing as buyers, the perp quickly gave out an address and was seized without incident. I can only assume that he was a minor because his name wasn't leaked and he was transferred to the loss prevention divsion of the retailer instead of being arrested outright.

Reaching the pirate took a little more doing, but honestly these guys are not super hard to find if you are looking in the right place. Interest was piqued first when Activision Blizzard saw a post by "cedelamo" on xbox360iso.com asking for donations so that he could buy the bundle posted above and crack it. IPCybercrime decided to search Facebook for the email address listed and they found a page offering modding services and a phone number. Calling the number, and again posing as a customer, agents were able to get a business address belonging to a computer store owned by Hiram Del Amo. The investigators went to the address and determined that the pirate was 18-year-old Christian Del Amo, who was set to make a killing with pirated MW2 discs printed with the real artwork and a hologram to appear legit. Rob Holmes then called in the Miami-Dade police department, who made the arrest.

The bad news is that even though IPCybercrime worked quickly, pirates can work even quicker. It is assumed that Del Amo, posting as cedelamo, claimed that he cracked the game on Monday. Not so coincidentally, a pirated Modern Warfare 2 saturated torrent sites on the same day, potentially costing Activision Blizzard millions.

The good news is that for once, authorites might have actually caught the guy who did it.

via VentureBeat [http://venturebeat.com/2009/11/06/how-investigators-tracked-down-a-modern-warfare-2-cyber-thief/]

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MrSnugglesworth

Into the Wild Green Snuggle
Jan 15, 2009
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MaxTheReaper said:
Enzeru92 said:
Yay a win for the good guys
Well, a win for the companies, anyway.

You see, there really is no such thing as...[long, long, long post that nobody will ever read, ever.]
Stole the words right out of my mouth.



OT: What morons. "I r post game illegally on MOTHER FUCKING CRAIGSLIST WHICH EVERYONE CAN SEE AND CAN TRACK YOU"
 

Radeonx

New member
Apr 26, 2009
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Yog Sothoth said:
See kids, crime doesn't pay...
Poorly designed crime doesn't pay.

MaxTheReaper said:
Enzeru92 said:
Yay a win for the good guys
Well, a win for the companies, anyway.

You see, there really is no such thing as...[long, long, long post that nobody will ever read, ever.]
This is essentially my thoughts, though. Almost everything is pretty much in a gray area, nowadays.
 

HotFezz8

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Nov 1, 2009
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i'm actually not sure if i think thats a good thing or not...

that said how fucking stupid do you have to be to try to sell a game 10 days before it came out?! why not hang a neon sign off your neck saying "ARREST ME!!!"

... ... ... actually yes i support this. Well done massive corporations! you are fighting a war as unwinnable as the fight against weed, but well done for clipping out the total pants on head retards.

(lol its a great image though "doyh i got me some of those new elec-trickery boxes paw!" head butt wall)
 

CloggedDonkey

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Nov 4, 2009
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Since this ended up in Miami I'll say this now: "Don't you know? video games," *puts on shades* "are dangerous." YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
 

fix-the-spade

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Feb 25, 2008
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Not so coincidentally, a pirated Modern Warfare 2 saturated torrent sites on the same day, potentially costing Activision Blizzard millions.

Oh dear, what a shame...

Actually, it is a shame, it's only going to add further ire to their justifications of the multiplayer. Not to mention all the people at IW (as much as I like calling them lazy) who've worked hard to make the game are getting their effort pissed on.

On the other hand, if the torrent works the pirate ded server version will probably beat MW2 out onto the market. Which would be a hilarious if pyrrhic victory for the pirates.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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CloggedDonkey said:
Since this ended up in Miami I'll say this now: "Don't you know? video games," *puts on shades* "are dangerous." YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!


Quick and dirty. Not the best one I ever did, but it's all I can come up with at half past midnight :p
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Amnestic said:
CloggedDonkey said:
Since this ended up in Miami I'll say this now: "Don't you know? video games," *puts on shades* "are dangerous." YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!


Quick and dirty. Not the best one I ever did, but it's all I can come up with at half past midnight :p
Superior [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.108604#1840445], if I do say so myself.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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CantFaketheFunk said:
Amnestic said:
CloggedDonkey said:
Since this ended up in Miami I'll say this now: "Don't you know? video games," *puts on shades* "are dangerous." YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!


Quick and dirty. Not the best one I ever did, but it's all I can come up with at half past midnight :p
Superior [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.108604#1840445], if I do say so myself.
*claps* Very well done. Definitely blows mine away, though mine does have the advantage of having Horatio donning two pairs of sunglasses (third panel). Kudos to you.
 

Filtertip

New member
Jan 30, 2009
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i find it almost impossable to feel any sorro for activision and IW right now with ALL the crap that has ceom around MW2 but hay score 1 to the law.

If it had been a nice dev id be jumping around but MW2 could'nt give a dam if they make sweet FA.

Notice they say "bundles" you don't get bundles on pc, biggest bust on pirates and it's console puts there IWnet is to stop pirates down a tuch.
 

Treblaine

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Jul 25, 2008
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And to think IW is screwing over it's loyal PC fans for consolization because they THOUGHT it was less vulnerable to Piracy than PC:



edited for changed pic