EVE is ridiculous - I remember reading about a guy who spent months setting up an in game bank, and then stole all the funds and made about $100,000 of real money.
This makes me feel so sorry for HardHat and the others, I don't think I could ever pull something like this off. One good reason to stay away from EVE in my opinion.
http://www.wirm.net/nightfreeze/part1.html