Around a month ago, Xbox Live users were alerted to a phishing scam on popular online title Modern Warfare 2. You'd think this was the work of nefarious group, but no, it was a single perpetrator. Who Microsoft is now working with?
According to Microsoft's Paul Rellis, the culprit responsible has been caught, and discovered to be a...14 year-old Irish kid. What's more, instead of punishing the boy or turning him over to the law, Rellis says that Microsoft is "working with the teenager to develop his talent" in an attempt to "help him use his skills for legitimate purposes".
If the Jason Bourne of the future has an Irish accent, at least we'll know where he got his start.
UPDATE - Microsoft has since contacted Kotaku to inform us that the original report is inaccurate.
The comments attributed to Microsoft Ireland's Managing Director Mr. Paul Rellis, when speaking at a business event last week, are inaccurate. He never said anything close to what is being reported in some Irish media. Mr. Rellis was commenting on various developers and hobbyists using drivers that allow other devices to display the raw data output from Kinect for Xbox 360 sensors. Microsoft can also confirm that the company has not offered to mentor a 14-year-old from Tallaght who purportedly was related to a phishing scheme.
Dublin teen (14) in new Xbox hack alert [Herald, via VG247]