Urgent ‘dodgy firestick’ warning as secret WhatsApp probe catches out kingpin who made £14,000 with pirate ’empire’
AN EX cop has issued an urgent “dodgy firestick” warning after a secret WhatsApp probe caught out a kingpin who made £14,000 with his pirate “empire”.
Alec Dodson, 57, sold more than 200 pirate sticks, boxes and packages – giving punters illegal access to sports channels.
The Mancunian was snared after he sold a firestick to an undercover anti-piracy agent.
Dodson’s trial at Manchester Crown Court heard that the agent had arranged to buy a stick from a pirate in Scotland.
But the Scot got cold feet and passed the agent’s number to Dodson – who sent him a WhatsApp message offering him a stick.
Hapless Dodson invited the agent onto an encrypted Telegram channel where he offered him a dodgy box for £120 a year.
Dodson also posted an ad for sellers to join his dodgy firestick empire.
The agent transferred £120 to Dodson’s PayPal account, getting an “Android Box” in return.
It includes access to all the major UK sports channels as well as countless films and TV shows owned by the likes of Disney.
Cops combed through Dodson’s WhatsApp messages and PayPal account after arresting him in March 2021.
They found 222 separate transactions between September 2020 and the time of Dodson’s arrest – totalling nearly £14,000.
David Barrett, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution’s case is that the defendant was an aggregator.
“He was the owner of the group – he was not just selling subscriptions and boxes but was also advertising for resellers.”
Dodson, from the Beswick area of east Manchester, pleaded guilty to one count of supplying articles for fraud at an earlier hearing.
The court heard he has 29 convictions for 57 offences, although his last was more than 30 years ago.
Robert Kearney, defending, said firms like Disney were “entitled to protect their copyright”.
But he added: “It does not necessarily follow that the people who bought these sticks would have been able to afford to buy these services from these companies if they were sold legitimately.”
Kearney described the firestick racket as “low-level fraud” – adding that Dodson only made £7,500 a year from it.
Dodson was described as a hard-working man still in employment and a “perfect candidate” for a suspended sentence.
Recorder Andrew Long sentenced Dodson to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
The judge said: “You have a very long record, but it’s clear you had been able to turn your life around and live your life productively.”
He added: “These offences represent a serious backward step in that regard.
“It was a business set up by yourself and you earned 14,000 as a result.
“However by selling the boxes for use in ongoing fraud, the level of harm is likely to be higher.”
What is a 'dodgy firestick?'
INTERNET protocol television (IPTV) is TV streamed over the internet to a device.
IPTV streams are legal if you use them to watch freeview channels or ones you have paid the real owner for.
But they become illegal when people use them to stream pirated channels.
For several years crooks have been selling dodgy firesticks and boxes which connect to an illegal IPTV when plugged in.
The sticks cost broadcasters and film studios millions in lost earnings every year.
Long said: “I am satisfied you played a significant role and the harm is serious.”
Dodson gave the press two fingers as he left Manchester Crown Court yesterday.
Kevin Sharp – a former City of London Police detective – warned those using modified Fire Sticks to stream premium content for free may receive warning letters.
Sharp – who now runs IP protection organisation FACT – said his organisation is ramping up efforts to tackle illegal streaming.
Asked whether individuals can begin to expect written warnings and police visits, alongside distributors of illegal gadgets, he said: “Yeah, so we’ve done this before.
“We had a large distributor of illegal content who was arrested and went to prison 18 months or so back and what we did there was we looked at the customer base and then sent notices to all of the customers.”
Sharp urged that the focus is making illegal streamers aware of what other crime they might be funding in buying ‘jailbroken’ gadgets.
Only the worst offenders, such as the large-scale distributors, will face prison time.
“Our desire is not to prosecute everybody or arrest everybody,” he added.
“It’s more about getting them to understand the consequences of paying for illegal schemes… they’re probably film fans and sports fans and we want them to pay.
“Some of this has organised crime behind it, not all of it, but some of it does… which is why when we prosecute people they get such long prison sentences as you can see from previous cases we’ve sent to court.”