Streaming online – know the risks 

• Did you know that last year almost 3.6 million illegal streamers* experienced a virus, fraud or personal data theft.

• Did you know that since last year, the number of illegal streamers* that were hacked increased by a third to reach 2.8 million.

• Did you know that last year almost 1 million illegal streamers* had their money stolen as a result of watching illegal streams. 

• Did you know that last year almost 2.9 million illegal streamers* had problems with their devices.

• Did you know that last year almost 2.3 million illegal streamers* had their devices infected with viruses. 

*Illegal streamers are those who stream through a modified box, stick, add-on or via an unauthorised website. 

All data from: Walnut Unlimited / Industry Trust 2023/24, Great Britain

For further information regarding these statistics, please contact the Industry Trust for IP Awareness via email.

Whenever you access illegal content, whether it’s to watch your favourite films, sports or TV shows using a modified box or stick or via an unauthorised website, app, add-on or another illegal source, you are committing a crime.

What is illegal streaming? 

Illegal streaming is streaming illicit copies of any content, including films, TV shows, or sports content, without the copyright owner’s permission. This can include watching illegal content using an add-on accessed from a device like a set-top box or a stick, streaming from an unauthorised website, or streaming via an app (on a smart TV, mobile phone, tablet, laptop or games console).

Streaming hardware devices like set-top-boxes or Amazon Firesticks / Google Chromecasts in their unaltered form are legal - but many are being modified and then sold, with unauthorised add-ons pre-installed that allow people to access, stream and watch copyrighted content illegally. Elsewhere, through the use of social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, X and TikTok illicit links and streams to pirated film/TV & sports content are posted without the copyright holder's permission. 

Finally, whilst using a Virtual Private Network (or VPN) to add extra security to your online data is perfectly legal, it is against the vast majority of streaming platforms' terms of service to use a VPN to unlock content specifically unavailable within your own country. Some examples of pirated content are films that are not yet released in the UK, TV programmes that haven’t aired yet or that are only being shown in the UK on streaming services for which you don’t have an account, pay-per-view offerings for which you have not paid and sports events that are aired legally only on sports channels for which you do not have a subscription.

In short, if you are streaming and watching films, TV or sports content through an unauthorised source - for free or paid-for - then you are streaming illegally.

What are the risks?

You also risk being exposed to dangerous malware and/or the risk of fraud and data theft. This risk increases significantly when you exchange credit or debit card information to view content on unregulated and pirate-run websites.

Additionally, watching content via an unauthorised source can expose younger viewers to explicit advertisements and age-inappropriate content. Unlike most legal sources, these unauthorised websites, devices, apps, add-ons, and the content they can access have no effective parental controls.

How to stay safe online

• Get It Right can help you identify how to access legal content and give you more support to keep you safe. Get It Right helps you get the music, TV, films, games, books, newspapers, magazines and sport that you love from genuine and safe services.
• Or via BeStreamWise, you can find where you can safely stream the films and TV shows you love while protecting yourself and your household from cyber-criminals.
• To access legitimate sports content and live streaming from a variety of Premier League matches in the UK, please visit: www.premierleague.com/broadcast-schedules.

What to do if you suspect someone is selling illegal streaming devices

Those who load up, advertise, sell or distribute dodgy streaming devices are committing a crime.

We at Crimestoppers are working with industry partners to raise awareness of the risks and help protect you from the impacts of illegal streaming.

If you have information on who is selling, distributing or promoting these fully-loaded devices - or offering them with instructions for modifying them to access illegal content - it’s easy and safe to contact us by phone on 0800 555 111 or online anonymously.

There may be times when information received by Crimestoppers is passed on to our trusted partner organisations. Crimestoppers will only share this information to help keep communities and workplaces safe.

3 December 2024