Police have dismantled one of the UK's largest illegal TV streaming operations, arresting four suspects and seizing ten servers worth £750,000. The City of London Police acted on a tip-off from Sky, targeting a network that supplied millions of viewers with illicit access to premium content including Sky Sports, Netflix, Amazon Prime, BT and Disney+.
A 49-year-old man from Bolton is alleged to have generated more than £3 million from the operation. A 40-year-old man from Blackpool was also detained on suspicion of conspiracy to distribute articles infringing copyright and money laundering. Two women, aged 21 and 40, were among those arrested. The raids took place in Manchester last week, where officers shut down the servers on site.
Detective Constable Jordan Day, of the force's intellectual property crime unit, said: "Criminals continue to provide illegal IPTV streaming services to consumers. These services are not harmless alternatives; they are examples of organised criminal operations generating millions in illegal profits." He added that the operation demonstrated the impact of working with partners like Sky to dismantle such networks.
Consumers using dodgy set-top boxes pay on average £13.53 a month, but experts warn this is a "false economy" that could cost 15 times more. According to BeStreamWise, four in ten Londoners using illegal IPTV devices suffered average financial losses of £1,418 after their personal and bank details were stolen, with one in ten losing over £2,500.
Matt Hibbert, Sky's group director of anti-piracy, said: "We thank the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit for taking decisive action against a major pirate operation." He warned that illegal streaming is not a victimless crime, noting that nearly 65 per cent of illegal streamers have faced security scares such as malware. "This action will help keep consumers, their devices and their personal data safe," he added.
