Cops are searching real homes for clues in the theft of virtual items from Habbo Hotel, the teen-oriented social game that's been on the vanguard of virtual crime before. This time Finnish authorities are tracking some 400 cases of theft.
Individual users are reporting losses up to €1000, making this phishing scam potentially more sizable than the last Habbo holdup getting headlines, when a Dutch teen bagged about €4000 in virtual goods. That raised questions about virtual property, and whether stealing it should be classified as actual theft.
Finnish cops appear to be treating this as cyber-crime; but searching five homes in five separate cities in Finland show they're not treating it trivially.
Habbo Hotel claims some 100 million users.
Police Investigate Habbo Hotel Virtual Furniture Theft [BBC, thanks Clint S.]