The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a new measure on Friday that could protect your Robux from scammers and hackers.
The proposed rule would interpret terms in the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, or EFTA, which have 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, hacking and account takeovers, theft, fraud, and property loss,” the CFPB said in a statement. proposal. “They also described receiving limited or no assistance from gaming companies and the banks or digital wallets involved. Refunds are often denied, people have their gaming accounts suspended by a video game company after a player tries to get a refund from their financial institution, or people are caught in a loop of doom with AI-powered customer service representatives while just trying to get straight answers .”
Friday’s proposal is intended to address these issues. EFTA protects consumers who transfer funds electronically, limits their liability for errors, and provides them with ways to correct illegal transactions. Once notified by a consumer, Covered Financial Institutions are required to conduct investigations of unauthorized transactions and promptly correct errors. In its proposed interpretation, the CFPB says consumers have those same rights when using some virtual currencies.
However, EFTA is likely to only apply 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 products or building their own game worlds and experiences. Through Roblox’s DevEx program, Robux can be converted to US dollars.
This rule will not necessarily apply to all games that contain in-game currency. Fortnite players, for example, can spend cash for V-Bucks to buy cosmetic items and “battle passes,” but the currency cannot be exchanged between players and other merchants.
Last year, the CFPB warned gaming companies, issuing reports detailing risks involved in the purchase and transfer of virtual currencies. In it, the agency argued that virtual banks and currencies on gaming and crypto platforms are increasingly resembling traditional banking infrastructure, with little protection for users if funds are lost or stolen.
“Americans of all ages are converting billions of dollars into currencies used in virtual reality and gaming platforms,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement last year 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.”
The video game industry has remained largely unregulated, despite facing numerous lawsuits and government investigations in recent years. Just last month, the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with Epic Gamesdeveloper of the Fortnite game, demanding the company return more than $245 million in refunds to users who were allegedly tricked into buying the game’s virtual currency.
The CFPB’s proposal is unlikely to take effect anytime soon. In a press release issued Friday, the agency said it will seek feedback, particularly from players, about the protections they need. The deadline for feedback is March 31, 2025.