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Newsie Events:–
A man in China has been jailed for running a scheme involving 4,600 phones to inflate live-stream viewer counts, earning him $415,000 in less than four months.
This marks the first punishment in Zhejiang province for such fraud, a hub of China’s live-streaming industry.
Wang, the individual behind it, was sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison and fined $7,000 for illegal business operations.
Operating since late 2022, Wang used a practice called “brushing” to fake viewer counts, likes, and comments on live-streams. He bought 4,600 mobile phones and software, making it easy to flood streams with fake interactions.
He also bought VPN services and network equipment, such as routers and switches, from a tech company based in Changsha in central China’s Hunan province.
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Wang, earned money by selling this service to streamers seeking to boost their online presence, using bulk-bought fake viewer accounts.
Authorities are investigating 17 others for similar crimes, highlighting the issue of traffic fraud on Chinese live-streaming platforms.
“This is clearly not an isolated case, ” one online observer said.
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