Chinese man jailed for faking livestream views using 4,600 phones

Bryan Ke
·1 min read

[Source]

A man in China's Zhejiang province has been jailed for manipulating livestream views, a scheme that earned him hundreds of thousands of dollars in a just few months.

Key points:

  • The man, identified by his surname Wang, was sentenced to a year and three months in jail and fined 50,000 yuan (approximately $6,900) for “illegal business operations.”

  • The Yinzhou District People's Procuratorate in Zhejiang province shared the details of the case on April 17.

  • The sentencing reportedly marked the first time someone was punished for fraudulent livestreaming in Zhejiang, which many consider to be the center of China's livestreaming industry.

The details:

  • Wang's illegal business started in late 2022 after a friend informed him about the practice known as "brushing," as per the South China Morning Post. This entails using fake accounts to boost a livestream's real-time engagement metrics — including views, likes and comments — which would later attract more legitimate viewership.

  • In his confession, Wang admitted to procuring 4,600 smartphones controlled by specialized cloud software. He also bought VPN services and other equipment for his business.

  • Wang said each phone generated 6.65 yuan (less than $1) per day. But in just four months of operation, he made 3 million yuan (about $415,000) from his two studios.

  • Wang bought fake viewer accounts in bulk. While he occasionally encountered problems during registration, he managed to re-register them with ease.

  • Aside from Wang, 17 other people are under investigation for related offenses. Ten have already been convicted, according to the Qianjiang Evening News.

 

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