Police in Vietnam have arrested a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering and robbing an 81-year-old woman for money to play online games, a police official said Tuesday. Dinh The Dan was arrested on Sunday at his home in Nam Dinh province, 80 kilometers south of Hanoi, according to local policeman Nguyen Duy Duong.
Police say Dan strangled Mai Thi Mau, 81, with a piece of rope and took 100,000 dong (6.2 dollars) from her before burying her in a pile of sand in front of his house on November 10.
"Dan confessed that he needed money to play online games and decided to kill and rob the woman," Duong said.
"He is too young to be put in prison for the crime he committed, but we will send him to a reeducation camp, which may release him after he shows enough good behavior," Duong said.
In November last year, Vietnamese police arrested a 15-year-old boy accused of extorting money to play online games.
Trinh Dinh Thanh, of northern Vinh Phuc province,was arrested after he allegedly demanded some 300 dollars from a local businessman, threatening to splash sulfuric acid on the face of the man's 12-year-old daughter if he refused to pay.
Online gaming is wildly popular in Vietnam, with internet cafes typically packed with teenagers after school and late into the night.
The craze has prompted concern among parents and authorities - Vietnamese media even reported that one young boy died after sitting at a computer for three days straight, though any such death could not be confirmed by police.
Internet cafes have been instructed to limit the time that young people spend on computer games, but the rules have proved difficult to enforce.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
13 y.o. Vietnamese Boy Kills Woman for Money to Play Video Games
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Teenager Has Been Arrested for Stealing Virtual Property
A Dutch teenager has been arrested for allegedly stealing virtual furniture from "rooms" in Habbo Hotel, a 3D social networking website.
The 17-year-old is accused of stealing 4,000 euros (£2,840) worth of virtual furniture, bought with real money.
Five 15-year-olds have also been questioned by police, who were contacted by the website's owners.
The six teenagers are suspected of moving the stolen furniture into their own Habbo rooms.
A spokesman for Sulake, the company that operates Habbo Hotel, said: "The accused lured victims into handing over their Habbo passwords by creating fake Habbo websites.
"In Habbo, as in many other virtual worlds, scamming for other people's personal information such as user names has been problematic for quite a while.
"We have had much of this scamming going on in many countries but this is the first case where the police have taken legal action."
Habbo users can create their own characters, decorate their own rooms and play a number of games, paying with Habbo Credits, which they have to buy with real cash.
"It is a theft because the furniture is paid for with real money. But the only way to be a thief in Habbo is to get people's usernames and passwords and then log in and take the furniture.
"We got involved because of an increasing number of sites which are pretending to be Habbo. People might then try and log in and get their details stolen."
Six million people in more than 30 countries play Habbo Hotel each month.
Virtual theft is a growing issue in virtual worlds; in 2005 a Chinese gamer was stabbed to death in a row over a sword in a game.
Shanghai gamer Qiu Chengwei killed player Zhu Caoyuan when he discovered he had sold a "dragon sabre" he had been loaned.
