A study shows that illegitimate IPTV services steal money from their subscribers who have entered their credit card number. Payments are issued from China, Singapore, Hong Kong or Lithuania. In a few weeks, hackers steal several hundred euros from users. A study that shows that you have to be careful with your personal data on the Internet.
The market for SVOD has changed considerably over the past two years. First, the number of actors is increasing. Then, the price of subscriptions is increasing, whether at Disney+ or Amazon Prime for example. Finally, SVOD services chase subscribers who share their subscription. This is particularly the case with Netflix. As a result, the household SVOD budget is increasing, while we live in an inflationary economic period.
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Under these conditions, customers unsubscribe from “legitimate” services and sometimes turn to less legal alternatives. Download sites. Torrent directories. And of course the services IPTV which allow access to a lot of content at an extremely low price. In Europe alone, these generate an annual turnover of 1 billion euros. Closing its bouquets has therefore become a priority, for an obvious financial question.
Beware of pirate SVOD services stealing money from subscribers
But not only. It is also a matter of personal data security. In fact, the American association DCA (Digital Citizens Alliance) published a study on the dangers of pirate IPTV services. They denounce massive credit card fraud. The association has subscribed to around twenty illegal IPTV services where it is necessary to enter a credit card to pay for a subscription. A few weeks after registration, the association’s credit card was the subject of numerous fraudulent payments.
Next to $1500 have been debited from the credit card without the agreement of the owner thereof. Not all IPTV services are culpable, but it is impossible to confirm which ones are dishonest. The amount of these payments ranges from a few dollars to several hundred dollars. The purchases were made in several countries: Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Lithuania. And they concern various fields: food delivery service, make-up, software, or even consumer credit. With this study, the association wishes to draw more attention from consumers who could be seduced by these solutions: some abuse the trust of users.
According to the DCA, 33% of Americans admit to consuming content through piracy sites, download or stream. And 3% have subscribed to a paid offer to do so. In parallel, 72% of subscribers to a pirate IPTV service per subscription have been the subject of bank card fraud. Potentially, therefore, this represents 2% of Americans…
Source : Digital Citizens Alliance
