Star Citizen had a major problem with scammers exploiting the system to get in-game currency, but developer Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) eventually addressed the problem, with more than 600 accounts

Previously, players were able to get more Alpha United Earth Credits (aUEC) through some exploits. But the most common is aUEC, which simply replicates the ship to collect more items and can be sold for real money on eBay or elsewhere on the Internet. To make matters worse, some scammers actually put a lot at their end

thanks to a bug that basically allows players to sell cargo more than once, "one player said in a Reddit thread, "which is especially troubling is that it takes almost a lot of work to not use dupe." "Keeping the C2 in one place and having to claim it from another is very frustrating, just trying to clear the tricked stock of the "phantom" so that you can pick up the cargo for the next leg of your trip."

This issue is not just frustrating for players who have devoted their time to getting aUEC the right way: the inflow of dangerous money was starting to break the in-game economy. In addition, all the ships that were duplicated were starting to mess up the server, which could weigh on the performance of other players. 

After weeks and numerous complaints, players finally got an update about the above exploits and account suspensions posted on the star Citizen chat forum: "We have completed an investigation into multiple exploits within Star Citizen that have compromised stability and adversely affected the in-game economy," said Senior Director of player relations. "We have a lot of people who have a lot of experience in it," said Will Leverett, a consultant at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Cheating and abuse undermines the integrity of our game and the efforts of our dedicated supporters who help us build Star Citizen. We take these actions seriously and ensure that we are continuously developing additional measures against misconduct and exploitation."

Most players are happy to see CIG do something to solve a wide range of problems, but some have a funny punishment with their own twist: "They're allowed to keep playing, but they're stuck in a special instantiated prison that you can't break." "They are being forced to continue playing prison gameplay until they pay back every cent they've cheated on merit," one player says on Reddit. 

Whether an account suspension is a sufficient punishment is debatable, but it is good for CIG to do something to prevent players from further using exploits, and we hope that in the future it will act faster on such issues. "It is acceptable and encouraged to identify, test and report abuse," Leverett continues. "We have gained valuable insights through your Issues Council report. However, once abuse is identified and confirmed, ongoing abuse for personal gain will not be tolerated and will act on our side."