Twitch Takes Action on $10m Money-Laundering Scandal

A total of $9.8 million is said to have been laundered through fraudulent credit card transactions on Twitch, mostly in Turkey. Twitch has taken action against a number of Turkish streamers for abusing the platform’s monetization systems, according to the company.

The issue got traction after the infamous Twitch hacks, which exposed the earnings of the site’s best earners. Users discovered that streamers with a modest following were making a lot of money every day as a result of this.

According to Middle East Eye, these streamers only had about 50 viewers, but they received thousands of dollars in Bits. Hackers allegedly stole credit cards and then worked out a deal with the streamers to donate money to them via Bits. The streamers would then return 70-80% of the money to the hackers’ bank accounts while retaining the rest.

Twitch responded in a statement that they took action against 150 streamers for abusing its monetization tools. Twitch spokesperson said; “Recently, members of the Twitch community have expressed concerns toward the legitimacy of some creators’ revenues in Turkey. We want to assure our community that we do not hesitate to take decisive action against accounts engaged in prohibited conduct. We take efforts to combat and prevent financial fraud on Twitch on a regular basis, and, in September alone, we took action against over 150 partners in Turkey for abuse of our monetization tools.”

Twitch also says it is working with anyone who has been victimized by the fraud and will “continue to identify and remove any broadcasters found to have engaged in financial practices that are in violation of local laws or Twitch policies.”

While individuals implicated are expected to be banned by Riot Games, cNed maintains he was not directly involved and that the “bit-dude” communicated with his brother.