The US government wants to protect gamers from virtual currency scams.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the US government agency responsible for protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive practices by banks and financial institutions, on Friday proposed a new measure that would protect Roblox users from scams and hacks. The agency is also asking players who spend virtual currency to provide feedback to better understand any problems they encountered, including how the company responded when they reported fraud.
The proposed measure is not a new law; it would rethink a previously existing regulation called the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. Originally enacted in 1978 by the late President Jimmy Carter, EFTA was created to protect consumers from unwanted debit transactions when people began using ATMs. The CFPB would like to expand the EFTA rules to apply to certain gaming platforms such as Roblox.
“The way these in-game currencies and accounts operate is rapidly evolving, including functioning more and more like banking and payment systems,” the agency said in a blog post.
“As this evolution has occurred, gamers—or, in some cases, their parents and guardians—have reported issues such as trouble converting dollars into in-game currency, unauthorized transactions, account hacks and takeovers, theft, fraud and loss of assets. They also said that they did not receive any help from gaming companies, banks or digital wallets. Refunds are often denied, people find their gaming accounts blocked by a video game company after a player tries to get a refund from their financial institution, or people are left stranded with AI customer service representatives while like they’re just trying to get straight answers.”
The law would not apply to all games with in-game currency and transactions, but would target games with a monetized virtual market shared among users, such as Roblox. The language of the proposed law lists three characteristics as criteria: “payment for goods or services from multiple merchants, the ability to withdraw funds or receive cash, or make person-to-person transfers.”
On Roblox, users can purchase a currency called Robux. Individual users often use this money to purchase in-game perks and cosmetics from other users. In turn, Roblox developers earn a portion of the Robux spent on items and games they create, and can exchange Robux for USD through the developer exchange program. A rule may not affect a game like Fortnitewhere users cannot resell cosmetic items or transfer V-Bucks between themselves and exchange services.