Police seize more than £1.2 million worth of equipment after shutting down a large illicit streaming data centre

Police have seized more than £1.2 million worth of equipment, after shutting down a large illicit streaming data centre

The operation, led by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police, has disrupted thousands of illegal streams across the UK. The investigation began after PIPCU received a report of suspicious activity. 

Law enforcement and industry partners are warning that illegal IPTV services carry hidden risks as they can compromise your device and expose your personal data to criminals.

Detective Sergeant Ben Hobbs, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police, said:

 “The size of this operation shows how widespread illegal streaming has become in the UK and our commitment to bringing the criminals behind it to justice.

“If you plan to stream, ensure you only use official and not pirated sources to protect yourself from the risks.

“We will continue to work closely with industry partners like Sky to disrupt these illegal streaming networks and protect consumers.”

During the operation in Farnborough, PIPCU worked with Sky to dismantle the pirate infrastructure. The data centre hosted clusters of high-bandwidth servers that supplied illicit streams to many thousands of customers across the UK. Equipment estimated to be worth over one million was seized and will be forensically examined.

The shutdown caused widespread disruption to illegal streaming services nationwide, demonstrating the scale and impact of coordinated enforcement can deliver.

By using an illegal streaming network, viewers can be exploited by criminals who can access their online data through compromised network channels and use this to access banking information and commit identity fraud. Having one of these illegal services can put your personal information and privacy at risk.

Matt Hibbert, Group Director of Anti-Piracy at Sky said:

“We welcome the action taken by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit to shut down this major nationwide illegal streaming operation that stretched across the nation and exposed the wider criminal network. Illegal streaming is part of organised criminality that undermines the creative industries and causes harm to consumers.

“Continued partnership between police and industry is essential to disrupt these operations, protect our content, and keep consumers safe from the harmful risks it poses.”

Two people have been arrested in connection with the operation, and £700,000 was seized from one of those individuals. They have since been released under investigation.