Cybercriminals turn to gaming currencies to launder money — experts

September 9, 2025 | 4:48pm

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MANILA, Philippines — Cybercriminals have been using in-game currencies for money laundering, cybersecurity experts said.

In a forum hosted by cybersecurity firm Trend Micro in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday, September 9, cybersecurity experts said that gaming currencies have been used by “cybercriminal undergrounds” to launder money.

Stephen Hilt, a senior threat researcher at Trend Micro, said that it is one of the common trends across different cybercriminal groups, including those from Russian, Spanish, and English-speaking cybercriminal undergrounds.

In-game currency refers to virtual money used in online games to unlock content and facilitate transactions in a virtual economy.

How does that happen? In a separate interview with Philstar.com, Hilt explained that these groups exchange “dirty money” for in-game currency, which they then sell to other players.

The payments from these players are then converted into “clean money.”

Meanwhile, Morton Swimmer, another researcher from Trend Micro, said that in-game currencies can easily cover the tracks of the crime.

“You pass it through enough pockets so that it cannot be easily traced back to you again… using gaming currencies is one way of doing it,” Swimmer said.

“They’re going to, you know, buy the stuff and then, you know, give it to somebody else to cash out again or so. And that way they launder the money,” he added.

When asked what governments should do to protect the public, both Swimmer and Hilt pointed out awareness and education for the public.

“I think a lot of this stuff unfortunately comes down to educational programs because there’s always a limit to what governments can do. So, you know, they can’t just control everybody,” he said.