Overview
- A BeStreamWise survey citing Dynata reports that about two in five people who use illegal streaming were defrauded, losing roughly £1,700 on average.
- Security experts warn that counterfeit or modified Fire TV Sticks and unofficial apps often carry spyware or keyloggers capable of stealing credentials and granting remote access.
- Research cited by FACT found malicious content on all 50 illegal streaming sites examined by Webroot, indicating pervasive risk across the ecosystem.
- Recent coverage highlights that users’ perceived savings are small compared with potential losses, with illegal streamers estimating about £160 a year saved versus far higher fraud costs.
- Countermeasures include Amazon’s blocking of unauthorized apps and firmware updates, plus UK enforcement actions resulting in jail terms, while users are urged to avoid illegal services and apply basic security steps such as disabling autorun, scanning devices, updating anti-malware, monitoring accounts, changing passwords and enabling multi-factor authentication.