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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 is traditionally used to protect consumers from unauthorized debt transactions, to include some virtual currencies provided by gaming and cryptocurrency companies.
“Players – or in some cases their parents and guardians – have reported issues such as problems when converting dollars to in-game currencies, unauthorized transactions, hacking and account takeovers, theft, scams, and loss of assets “, reads the CFPB’s post announcing. the proposal. “They also described receiving limited or no help from the game companies and the banks or digital wallets involved. Refunds are often denied, people find their game accounts suspended by the video game company after a player tries to get a refund from their financial institution, or people are left in fatal loops with AI-powered customer service representatives while they are alone trying to get direct 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 the consumer, covered financial institutions are required to conduct investigations on unauthorized transactions and immediately resolve errors. In its proposed interpretation, the CFPB says that consumers have these same rights when using some virtual currencies.
However, EFTA will likely only apply to games that allow players to exchange currencies between themselves using accounts that look like “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 money 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, 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 crypto platforms increasingly resemble traditional banking infrastructure, with little protection for users if funds are lost or stolen.
“Americans of all ages are converting billions of dollars into coins used on virtual reality and gaming platforms,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement about these transactions last year. “As more banking and payment activity takes place in video games and the virtual world, the CFPB is looking for ways to protect consumers from fraud and scams.”
The video game industry has remained largely unregulated, despite facing several lawsuits and government investigations in recent years. Just last month, the Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement with Epic Gamesthe developer of Fortnite, demanding that 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 likely won’t go into effect anytime soon. In a press release published on Friday, the agency said it would ask for feedback, especially from gamers, about the protections they need. The deadline for feedback is March 31, 2025.
