Virtual thief arrested

Dutch police have arrested a teenager for stealing virtual furniture from Habbo Hotel.

According to a BBC report, the 17 year-old has been accused of stealing 4,000 euro (GBP 2,840) worth of virtual furniture that was purchased with real money.

Five other juveniles have been questioned by police, who were alerted by the Sulake Corporation, owners and operators of the Habbo Hotel virtual world.

"The accused lured victims into handing over their Habbo passwords by creating fake Habbo websites," said a Sulake spokesperson.

"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."

Although the spokesperson acknowledged that scamming has occurred in many countries, he noted that this is the first time police have taken action.

"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," the spokesperson said.

Six million people in more than 30 countries play Habbo Hotel each month.