A trial started on Monday in Texas in which four men stand accused of hacking the servers of game maker EA Sports and stealing in-game currency used in the FIFA game series. The FBI says the hackers stole in-game currency worth over $15 million.

The four defendants are Ricky Miller, Nicholas Castellucci, Eaton Zveare, and the group's leader, Anthony Clark. The four were the members of the RANE Developments hacking group.

Group used scripts to play fake matches and gather FIFA coins

US authorities say that the defendants had been secretly stealing FIFA coins from EA servers using automated scripts that played fictitious matches, for which the FIFA game awarded in-game currency.

FIFA gamers can also buy FIFA coins with real money via the game's interface. Players can use these coins to buy player packs to boost their team.

Clark and crew advertised and sold their ill-gotten funds online through so-called "coin dealers" located in China and the UK. Gamers bought these stolen FIFA coins at prices smaller than the ones practiced by EA Sports. The practice of stealing and selling in-game currencies is very popular among cyber-criminals according to a Trend Micro report released last month that documents this phenomenon.

FBI arrested group in September 2015

According to the indictment below, the FBI arrested Clark and his co-conspirators in September 2015.

Authorities seized several computers and a few millions in cash from the suspects' home. They also seized a Lamborghini that Miller purchased in 2014 with stolen funds.

FBI officials also seized money found in banks accounts in the suspects' names. Clark had over $2.8 million in his bank account alone.

Group connected to Xbox Underground hackers

The FBI was tipped off on the group's activities after they arrested the Xbox Underground hacking crew in late 2014. The Xbox Underground is a five-man hacking crew that broke in and stole software from Microsoft, Valve, Activision, and Epic Games servers.

One of the Xbox Underground members, named Justin Alcala, worked with Clark to create the FIFA coins server mining scripts.

Alcala had reverse-engineered a version of FIFA 2014 in order to understand how the game works and how to create the automatic game-playing system. Alcala worked with the FBI and provided details on the RANE group.

If found guilty, the four RANE Developments hackers face up to 20 years in prison for their crimes. Below is the official indictment, courtesy of Arrest Tracker.