Alleged FIFA Ultimate Team coin hacker Anthony J. Clark and his associates go on jury trial today for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Clark and others are charged with hacking EA's servers in order to steal FUT coins and sell them to third-party coin marketplaces.
The indictment (an excerpt of which you can read below) charges that Clark and others created an app that sent electronic messages representing thousands of matches to EA's servers, which then credited multiple accounts with FUT coins. These coins were then sold on unauthorized coin re-selling sites in places like the U.K. and China.
The government seeks the forfeiture of millions garnered in the illegal activity, including vehicles and property.
[Source: Kotaku, U.S. District Court of Northern Texas, PACER Court documents]
Our Take
The overarching problem with illegal third-party coin selling is that has the sum effect of skewing the pre-meditated balance of the game, distorting the in-game transfer market, and therefore affecting the competition in the mode. For more on the subject, including a look from various vantage points, I suggest you read some articles at FUThead.