To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if cheating in the game is really really easy to do.
It didn't take long at all for it to happen on the console versions either, and it should surely be even quicker in PC when everyone has direct access to their files and such.
If it is true, and it gets abused, look forward to seeing 1-2 months of extreme cheating, and then finally it getting fixed, and everyone who didn't cheat recieving $500,000. Because that's what happened last time.