They put my address and everything I don’t even put my email on pirated websites and I’m the only person who got this in my family
by MasterPerspective638
They put my address and everything I don’t even put my email on pirated websites and I’m the only person who got this in my family
by MasterPerspective638
25 comments
The website they reference, does the URL looks dodgy?
So: earlier this year the Met was cracking down on illegal football streaming: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/police-premier-league-illegal-streaming-28911133
For many the exact IP address won’t even matter – most people aren’t on a fixed address and it changes every few days.
I can’t find anything else about this particular crackdown or this letter. I’d start with checking if there even IS a John Wall at that station (and the station does exist : its called Barking Riverside).
Tbh I’d be asking them to prove it. If this letter is even really from the Met.
This is your first official warning
Further access[…] would result in an official first warning?!
Ignore it. The only ‘official’ warning you can receive is a caution. The police can’t caution you without proof of a crime being committed. This is bollocks.
Looks like a prank letter. Where’s the letter heading?
It’s just posturing lol, make sure to use a vpn if you illegally stream and you have nothing to worry about
You just said you watch a pirated station.that will be the reason, as they can bypass VPN if they are investigating.seems a bit odd targeting you though,but you may have unwittingly accessed other channels that they have interest in .but yeah, best to ignore it,if it is genuine, they are clutching at loose straws,could be someone winding you up.
I would find out if Mr John Wall of 2 town square exists and if he does I will order for delivery to his work under his name a massive dildo and a 5kg bucket of lube, with a note saying you know what to do.
Apparently the police have recently launched a new campaign to target illegal streaming services and their users.
[Guardian article from 7th October](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/oct/07/uk-users-of-illicit-streaming-services-warned-of-risk-fraud-police-visit)
2 Town Square = Barking Learning Centre
“Senior crime and intelligence **office**” (that’s without an “r” on the end)
This seems like a letter from a rights holder who wants you to think it’s from the police.
Use a VPN and don’t use an email address like one from protonmail.com (and don’t use it for any other service) for your illicit activities
The job title seems fake. As does the address. Anything official will tell you how to contact the correct department.
It looks like a scam. In a week you’ll get a letter telling you that you’re being “fined” and if you don’t pay that fine, they’ll “take legal action”. I’d keep this to one side, and see if another dodgy letter comes.
Is it even on a Met Police letterhead?
This is fake (some sort of prank or scam?) – captialisation and punctuation is all over the place and half of it isn’t even grammatically correct:
“Streaming illicit services”
“Senior(?) Crime and Intelligence office”
“Part ground floor and first floor(?)”
“This is your first official warning… Further access will result in your first official warning”
They’re trying to suck you into dialogue where you’ll give them useful information
Scam letter, police haven’t the time to send warnings in writing 😂
Poor grammar gives it away. Pure scare tactic, probably a scam. Ignore it, move on with your life
Scam.
It reminds me of those “I rooted your PC and you sure do like looking at porn. Send me Bitcoin or I’ll release videos of you wanking” spam e-mails doing the rounds.
“in the illegal gaming and streaming illicit services”. Oh come on you lot, just throw it in the bin.
Also “Senior Crime and Intelligence office”
Holy crap.
I got a few of these when I was with sky. Once I got a VPN it stopped. I wouldn’t recommend a free VPN they’re about £60 to £80 a year. But if you were to buy all the streaming services it’ll cost you WAY more then that
This is fake.
The Met would never admit they’re “cracking down” in a letter to a suspect.
They’d also never write “part ground floor and first floor” as an address of a station.
Further the persons title is wrong. These would be templated and correct in a real letter from the Met.
I think you have nothing to worry about. But use a vpn going fwd.
You dont have to worry if no evidence is given.
Otherwise its mearly a empty accusation
Do you torrent or download anything from sites? I had a friend who got a similar letter for torrenting games a few years back, but it had the IP address, game they downloaded, time, site etc. The top line though is word for word the headline of a recent article about this. Which seems dodgy to me. It also doesn’t seem to have an official letter head which also seems suspect.
Honestly if you’re in doubt I would ask citizens advice or something. Don’t go on any sites the letter may say to check etc. Just in case. Or call up your local cop shop and ask them. Say you got a weird letter and say that to your knowledge no one streams illicitly in your home.
So.
It appears that this is a real police address.
If it’s a real warning, then there is no harm in confirming what exactly the details are. What is the site? You can sometimes stumble on stuff but are trying to learn.
If it’s a scam warning, then someone is impersonating a police officer, which is a criminal offence. You would be doing them a favour in letting them know. You don’t have to tell them that you may be visiting any streaming sites, just that you got a letter that seems suspect and want to be sure.
The address is for the Barking Learning Centre (Barking Library).
Seems clear that this is a scam. Don’t engage with it.
I mean if you could take a photo with all the text that would be a start.
Sounds fake though.