Money laundering threatens online communities

Virtual communities on the internet are vulnerable to fraud and money laundering unless government moves to cover transactions online with existing legislation, according to the Fraud Advisory Panel.

Web-based communities are a combination of chat room and computer game where participants can buy and sell real goods using virtual currency. One example often cited is Second Life where players trade using so called 'Linden dollars'.

But Steven Philippsohn, chairman of the Fraud Advisory Panel's cybercrime working group, said: 'Members use these interactive sites to buy and sell tangible goods and services such as land and property, clothing, music and bookmaking, But there's nothing virtual about online crime, it's all too real. It is time government took this seriously.'

The panel believes there are several problem areas with virtual games which illustrate their 'darker side', including the risk of credit card fraud, the hacking of databases and identity theft, new opportunities for money laundering, tax evasion and unregulated cross border money movements.

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