Former Old School Runescape dev sentenced for stealing from players to cash in over $400,000 in "black market" payouts

Andrew Lakeman, a RuneScape developer known as "Mod Jed," has been sentenced following his 2019 arrest on charges of unauthorized computer access intended to facilitate further crimes. Lakeman worked as a content developer at Jagex starting in 2015, but drew scrutiny three years into his tenure when the studio detected questionable account activity. The studio terminated him in 2018 for severely abusing his moderator access, leading to his eventual prosecution. According to reports, Lakeman exploited his position to steal from players and convert those assets into over $400,000 through illicit marketplaces.

The case highlights vulnerabilities in how player-facing employees at major studios can manipulate backend systems. His conviction underscores the ongoing challenge studios face in policing internal bad actors with privileged account access.

• Developer with trusted moderator status weaponized his access to defraud the playerbase for substantial financial gain.
• Jagex's detection of suspicious activity in 2018 led directly to his removal and subsequent legal accountability.
• The incident demonstrates why studios must maintain robust auditing of employee database privileges and transaction anomalies.