But Zynga didn't get where it is by being dumb, and they soon figured out something was amiss. He laundered the chips through a series of Facebook accounts trying to play catch me if you can with Zynga, best known for its popular (and addictive) Facebook games Farmville, Mafia Wars and the booming Cityville. No amount of Farmville tasks can get him out of this one.Īshley Mitchell, 29, pleaded guilty to five charges brought under the Computer Misuse Act and the Proceeds from Crime Act and remanded until a date was fixed for sentencing, according to BBC.īBC reported that Mitchell, who has apparently struggled with an online gambling addiction (especially Zynga poker), 'posed as an administrator for the Zynga Poker game on Facebook in order to get at the computer systems for the game and steal the chips' between June and September 2009.

He got caught and now he's facing some very real prison time. UPDATE: Zynga response now included in story.Ī gambling addict hacked into gaming heavyweight Zynga and stole 400 billion virtual poker chips worth $12 million to sell on the black market.