Large-scale operation to combat streaming piracy

The Cybercrime Directorate carried out an operation last Friday in dozens of areas in Crete, Peloponnese, Attica, Thessaloniki, Alexandroupoli and Western Macedonia to combat pay TV piracy.

Dozens of investigations were carried out in homes, shops, vehicles and businesses throughout almost all of Greece, with more than 50 members of the Electronic Crimes Unit taking part in the operation.

Digital and handwritten lists of thousands of users with addresses and mobile phone numberslarge amounts of cash, a number of digital media (computers with illegal customer management software, mobile phones, illegal decoders) and many digital cash transactions amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros.

According to knowledgeable sources, this is one of the largest operations not only in Greece, but also at the European level, the preparation of which took many months. As the Greek police announced, a voluminous dossier was compiled on 12 members of the organization (of which 9 were arrested), who “laundered” tens of millions of euros through virtual companies. It also names 43 more clients of the organization for illegally viewing subscription services, and the illegal material benefit received by the organization exceeds 420,000 euros. In total, the damage caused to legitimate pay TV providers amounts to EUR 2,240,000.

It is estimated that a monthly subscription to illegal streaming costs 15-20 euros, which results in millions in lost revenue for the state and business. Criminal organizations involved in illegal streaming consist of a pyramidal criminal organization with clearly defined roles (servers – data centers, leaders, deputy leaders, cashiers and multi-level resellers), with a rigid structure (mafia style) and a dark web.

It is worth noting that during the continuation of the operation, photographs of illegal decoders that ended up in the trash are circulating on the Internet, since at the second stage it is possible that their subscribers will also find themselves under the close attention of law enforcement agencies.

Greek Police Announcement:

The Cybercrime Directorate dismantled a criminal organization whose members systematically illegally rebroadcast pay television services without the permission of the licensed operator throughout the country.

To eliminate the criminal organization, on Friday, December 1, 2023, a coordinated police operation was carried out simultaneously in the areas of Attica, Ilia, Thessaloniki, Kozani and Crete, during which 9 key members of the organization were arrested, and 3 members, including the leading ones, appear in the generated dossier.

A criminal case has been opened against them for, in some cases, the creation, management and membership of a criminal organization, forgery of documents and violation of laws on intellectual property, protection of subscriber services and weapons.

To achieve the goal of their illegal activities, two leading members created a network, which they supported technically and on which a server operated for illegal broadcasting of channels.

For their part, key members worked with their own clientele as resellers of illegal pay-TV services, and to avoid detection, received money in cash, through banking institutions or online money transfer companies, and through cryptocurrencies.

If we talk more specifically about the methods of activity of a criminal organization, then leading members of the criminal organization created and maintained the technological infrastructure, and the rest acted as resellers of special devices (IPTVBOXES), with the help of which each user could connect to the Internet through a special program and could, with appropriate program settings, connect to illegal servers and check the status of each user, whether he has fulfilled his financial obligations, whether his subscription has expired, and whether he could activate or deactivate the Internet.

In fact, through a thorough and lengthy analysis, investigation of information and data, it turned out that the clientele of the organization’s members numbered no less than 2,000 clients, their profits exceeded 420,000 euros, while the total damage to legitimate companies providing pay television programs amounted to 2,240,000 Euro. During searches carried out in residential buildings and shops during the operation, the following was found and seized:

• 52,915 euros,
• 24 mobile telephony devices,
• 5 portable tablet devices,
• 3 portable digital storage devices (USB flash drives)
• 22 computer hard drives,
• 46 bank cards (debit/credit/withdrawal),
• 11 computers,
• folding knife with a total length of 20 cm and a blade length of 8 cm,
• 3 bank deposit books,
• 6 SIM cards,
• microsd card
• 41 Internet receivers,
• wireless router,
• 14 pepper sprays
• fake ID,
• numerous documents, client lists and handwritten notes.

At the same time, during the investigation, 2 people were arrested – for violating intellectual property laws and for protecting pay television services. The first created his own network for illegal broadcasting of pay TV channels, and the second – for viewing pay television services.

A case was also brought against 43 people for violating intellectual property laws, since they received illegal software and equipment for watching pay TV channels from members of the organization for a fee.

Those arrested were delivered to the competent prosecutor’s office and sent for main interrogation, and the seized digital evidence will be sent for laboratory examination.

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