The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday proposed a new measure that could protect your Robux from scammers and hackers.
The proposed rule would interpret the terms of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, or EFTA, which has traditionally been used to protect consumers from unauthorized debit transactions, to include some virtual currencies supplied by gaming and cryptocurrency companies.
“Players, or in some cases their parents and guardians, have reported issues such as problems converting dollars to in-game currency, unauthorized transactions, account hacking and takeover, theft, scams, and loss of assets,” the post reads. of the CFPB announcing the proposal. “They have also described receiving limited or no help from the gaming companies and banks or digital wallets involved. Refunds are often denied, people’s gaming accounts are suspended by the video game company after a player tries to get a refund from their financial institution, or people get caught in fatal loops with tech-enabled customer service representatives. artificial intelligence while they are simply trying to get direct answers.”
Friday’s proposal aims to solve these problems. The EFTA protects consumers who transfer funds electronically, limits their liability for errors and provides them with ways to correct illicit transactions. Once notified by the consumer, covered financial institutions must conduct investigations into unauthorized transactions and correct errors immediately. In its proposed interpretation, the CFPB says consumers have the same rights when using some virtual currencies.
Still, EFTA is likely to apply only to games that allow players to exchange currencies with each other using accounts that resemble “consumer asset accounts.” For example, the popular children’s gaming platform Roblox allows creators to earn Robux by selling cosmetic items or building their own in-game worlds and experiences. Through Roblox’s DevEx program, Robux can be converted to US dollars.
Not all games that feature in-game currency will necessarily be subject to the rule. Fortnite players, for example, can spend cash on V-Bucks to purchase cosmetic items and “battle passes,” but the currency cannot be exchanged between players and other merchants.
Last year, the CFPB notified gaming companies, issue a report detailing the risks involved with the purchase and transfer of virtual currencies. In it, the agency argued that virtual banks and currencies on gaming and cryptocurrency platforms are increasingly resembling traditional banking infrastructure, with few protections for users in the event of funds being lost or stolen.
“Americans of all ages are converting billions of dollars into currencies used in gaming and virtual reality platforms,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said last year in a statement about these transactions. “As more banking and payment activities take place in video games and virtual worlds, the CFPB is looking for ways to protect consumers from fraud and scams.”
The video game industry has remained largely unregulated, despite facing multiple lawsuits and government investigations in recent years. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement with Epic GamesFortnite developer, demanding the company return more than $245 million in refunds to users who were allegedly tricked into purchasing the game’s virtual currency.
The CFPB proposal likely won’t go into effect anytime soon. In a news release issued Friday, the agency said it would solicit feedback, specifically from players, on what protections they need. The deadline for comments is March 31, 2025.