Hackers are stealing nearly £1,700 from people who illegally stream movies or TV shows, researchers have told Metro. One in five (18%) people reported a malware infection 12 months after illegally streaming. With malware installed on victims' devices, attackers accessed bank accounts and stole money. Two in five (41%) of illegal streamers lost, on average, £1,680, a survey of 2,000 people by BeStreamWise found. Seven in 10 (68%) illegal streamers do so on a work phone, while almost six in 10 (58%) have streamed illegally on a work laptop.
David's story: losing nearly £2,000
David*, who lost nearly £2,000 after entering his PayPal details to upgrade an unofficial service offering live sport, shared his experience. 'I used to watch football when in the pub with my dad and uncles when I was younger, a real family thing,' David, in his 30s, says. 'Football isn't always a working-class sport, but it's a thing that connects us. But with the prices we have to pay now, you can't afford to watch the sport you love.'
Faced with £60 a month to watch matches legitimately, paying a one-off £89 fee for an illegal website was a 'no-brainer' for David. 'When you punch your details into any website, and it's only because a couple of mates are recommending it, you hear the alarm bells,' David says. 'I was a little bit wary, and then like this extra pop-up came up asking me to put in my PayPal details. I'd already put some details before that, so I thought it hadn't gone through.'
How hackers exploit illegal streaming
When a streamer exchanges credit or debit card information on pirate-run websites or taps on a pop-up, it opens a window for crooks. David noticed money being taken intermittently: '£100 here, £150 there. But trying to speak with PayPal and my bank while also navigating that I hadn't done anything bad was a headache.' After resolving the issue, David warned his friends. 'I just felt like an idiot, really kind of a twat.'
Illegal streaming sites attracted 247 billion visits worldwide in 2024, up from 216 billion the year before, according to piracy tracker Muso. Pirated video is now a sprawling, international industry, with content nabbed from legitimate sites within seconds. Studio insiders sometimes hand over content to cyber pirates, who upload ripped copies to piracy sites or share them on social media. Hackers have even broken into post-production vaults to steal shows before release, as happened with Orange Is the New Black in 2017. Others tinker with streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV Stick to access shoddy services.
Risks of modded devices and malware
Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, says these unregulated sites are a hacker's dream. 'Cybercriminals know people are willing to click through pop-ups, download unknown apps or enter payment details if they believe they are getting access to sport, films or TV for free. Once malware is on a phone or laptop, it can put everything else on that device at risk.' Modded streaming devices can hoover up viewers' data, redirect them to spam pages, or grab hold of their home network.
'The temptation with illegal streaming is often framed as saving money, but the potential cost can be far higher,' Briedis adds. A BeStreamWise spokesperson said: 'It's clear that watching content through unofficial sources can leave people vulnerable to cyber-attacks. That's why we encourage the use of legitimate services, keeping devices updated, and regularly checking for signs of malicious software, so everyone can enjoy the content they love safely.'
