Three Pirate IPTV Operators Arrested and Tens of Warnings Issued in UK Operation
Published on July 24, 2024
A major operation in Thailand targeted pirate Premier League football streams, illegal gambling, and associated money laundering. The operation deployed 21 raids in 5 regions of the country on July 31, with the authorities arresting two individuals for operating ‘mule’ accounts for transferring illegal revenue and running the servers used for pirating.
In Thailand, legal Premier League streams have affordable prices. But since the country prohibits most forms of gambling, websites offering pirated Premier League live streams sprouted, which also include ads for illegal gambling.
The joint operation under the Ministry of Home Affairs saw the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) of the Thai government and the Minburi Metropolitan Police reveal a network of websites offering free Premier League live streams to attract potential gamblers via banner ads and links to other websites.
The DSI investigation claims that mostly poor nationals and foreigners with no fixed income operated more than 100 ‘mule’ accounts to process revenue from illegal gambling.
The police arrested two programmers – Mr. Athiwat and Mr. Yutthaphong – in front of the Songkhla Provincial Court, Bo Yang Subdistrict, Mueang Songkhla District, Songkhla Province, for copyright infringement for commercial purposes.
The suspects are accused of allegedly running the servers used for pirate streams and operating ‘mule’ accounts, with the second suspect also accused of obtaining gambling website revenue.
The suspects reportedly operated around 10 websites from an office in the Minburi district of Bangkok, including TVsod.com, Bee789.com, Ballza.com, 7mscorethai.com, 7mscorethai.net, Dooballdottink.com, Suckballhd.com, Amloin789.com and 7upth.com, none of which are now operational.
Recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sent thousands of DMCA takedown notices to Google in an effort to make it harder for the public to find pirated Olympics streams.