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- Two men were arrested on suspicion of offences including money laundering
- Read more: Could YOUR neighbour report your illegal Amazon fire stick?
Two people have been arrested in a major operation to crack down on illegal streaming using Amazon fire sticks where customers are sold illicit subscription packages.
Officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) executed warrants in Harlow and Chigwell in Essex, Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, and Lanarkshire in Scotland on Tuesday.
Two men, aged 33 and 35, were arrested as part of the probe, which relates to relates to a Telegram channel selling unauthorised access to Sky TV packages, which are thought to have been re-sold to thousands of end users, earning those involved more than £800,000.
Specialist financial investigators also seized £17,000 in cash, fire sticks, phones and laptops, as well as two shotguns.
Both men were arrested on suspicion of fraud, money laundering and intellectual property offences.
![Two people have been arrested in a major operation as police crack down on illegal streaming using Amazon fire sticks](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/13/17/78922453-12860057-image-m-58_1702487069185.jpg)
Two people have been arrested in a major operation as police crack down on illegal streaming using Amazon fire sticks
The men were taken into police custody for further questioning, and subsequently bailed.
It comes after MailOnline revealed the risks of using customised fire sticks to stream content without paying for individual subscription services such as Sky Sports or Netflix.
Experts say paying for dodgy fire sticks to stream content could mean users are funding organised crime, and also open them up to a host of security and financial risks.
The illicit streams work by users downloading an app to their fire stick, or paying someone to do it for them, which provides access, then paying a fixed subscription fee to the developers for the pay-for services – without paying the copyright owner.
Modifying an Amazon fire stick or downloading an app in itself is not a criminal offence, but using it to stream content illegally is, as is providing the service to others.
Cybercrime expert Dr John Dempsey from the University of Central Lancashire told MailOnline users cannot control their security and criminals could be selling on their personal data and financial information.
He continued: ‘A firestick contains an ‘operating system’ which can be infected by malicious software, which could then infect any device it is connected to – this may give a criminal access to other devices that are connected to your home network.
![Officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) executed warrants in Harlow and Chigwell in Essex, Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, and Lanarkshire in Scotland on Tuesday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/13/17/78922447-12860057-image-a-59_1702487098627.jpg)
Officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) executed warrants in Harlow and Chigwell in Essex, Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire, and Lanarkshire in Scotland on Tuesday
![Police seized £17,000 worth of cash during their raids across the UK](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/13/17/78922445-12860057-image-a-60_1702487140185.jpg)
Police seized £17,000 worth of cash during their raids across the UK
‘The person selling the firestick may even have included vulnerabilities or backdoors that allow them to access your network and collect network data.’
As pay-for TV services such as Sky and Amazon try and prevent illicit streaming, retired Detective Sergeant John Tuer, formerly of Greater Manchester Police, explained how forces investigate the gangs behind these services.
‘Intelligence sources might come from individual people, seized devices which contain IP addresses of the illegal streaming services or internet service providers themselves,’ he said.
Mr Tuer added people who watch the content may face prosecution under the Intellectual Property Act 2014.
Copyright laws mean those found to be fraudulently receiving transmissions can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and face a hefty fine.
Security expert James Bore has also told MailOnline that the problem is not going away as the cost of living crisis means more and more Brits are struggling to pay for subscription services.
The 40-year-old, of Bores security and technology consultancy, told MailOnline that plugging the stick in by itself does not usually represent a risk, but using pirated content via services that have been loaded on to it could potentially result in users’ data being collected.
‘Certainly some of the [sites] are using the free content they provide almost as bait to get people to sign up to their own services, which gets them usernames, passwords it may even get card details,’ he said.
‘In theory, if someone did decide to break into them – because they often don’t have security updates and the software is not written well – and it’s one with voice activation, they could turn it into a listening bug or pull data off it.’
![Specialist financial investigators also seized £17,000 in cash, fire sticks, phones and laptops, as well as two shotguns](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/13/17/78922479-12860057-image-m-62_1702487275621.jpg)
Specialist financial investigators also seized £17,000 in cash, fire sticks, phones and laptops, as well as two shotguns
![Video shared by the ERSOU showed officers holding up large bags of evidence](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/13/17/78923341-12860057-image-m-64_1702487318655.jpg)
Video shared by the ERSOU showed officers holding up large bags of evidence
Detective Inspector Steve Payne, from ERSOU’s Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: ‘Yesterday’s arrests form part of an investigation into a sophisticated large-scale criminal operation which has generated significant sums of money through the illicit sale of TV subscription packages.
‘We know from experience that the money generated through illegal means such as this often goes on to fund wider organised criminality, which is why it’s key to apprehend those involved.
‘We have also gained access to the details of those purchasing the streams, and I would remind anyone doing so that they will be breaking the law and could ultimately be subject to criminal proceedings.’
Matt Hibbert, Director of Anti-Piracy, UK and ROI, at Sky said: ‘We’re grateful to ERSOU and to the forces involved for taking this action, which will have a significant impact on the illicit sale of Sky TV.
‘We’ll continue to support efforts to shut down the organised networks involved in the large-scale theft of our content, and to protect consumers from the risks involved in accessing content in this way.
‘Anyone concerned about those risks can visit BeStreamWise.com for more information.’