In November 2021, we had reported that Twitch was investigating a massive money laundering scandal on the platform. Hackers have been using the streaming platform to launder almost $10 million in Bits.
Some alleged small streamers, who had about 50 viewers, received unusually high sums of money in donations. The streamers would then refund 70-80% of the donated Bits back to the ‘viewers’, who were reportedly using stolen credit cards for the donations.
Scammers are also hacking Twitch accounts to donate bits to streamers
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) October 30, 2021
And supposedly some are using bots to watch ads to earn bits and then mass donating those as well pic.twitter.com/WOfO7D2iS7
On January 4th, the Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported that 40 people have been arrested in connection with the scandal, while four other suspects remain at large after operations in 11 provinces.
According to the report, the involved people were working alongside the streamers, who had prior knowledge that the Bits were being donated using stolen credit cards.
The report further states that some of the involved suspects were minors. Since there were about 150 users taking part in the scandal, it may still be a while before all of them are detained by the police.
