Twitch payout leaks reveal a massive Bit scandal in Turkish esports scene

Early this month, Twitch streamers' revenues and credentials were leaked after an error in the platform’s server configuration change that was deliberately accessed by hackers. Though the investigations are underway, the data breach deeply impacted the community.

Following this breach, a new fraudulent scandal has been uncovered of the data breach has been reported. According to various sources, several notable Twitch streamers in Turkey have been accused of their involvement in laundering money through a Bit scam.

Twitch Bit Scam rampant in Turkish streaming community

A new list has been leaked online, including the names of the Turkish Twitch streamers that are allegedly embroiled in a Twitch Bit scam. Those involved are receiving emails from scammers asking streamers to collaborate with them by donating Bits and Prime subscriptions using stolen credit cards.

A MASSIVE Twitch scandal is ongoing in the Turkish scene involving dozens of esports players and streamers money laundering through bit donations

After Twitch’s massive payout leak, people noticed several smaller streamers making absurd amounts of money from bits (1/2)

— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) October 30, 2021

These donations are then made out to the streamers, as they would pocket 30% of the revenue, and the remaining goes to the scammers. While some streamers have admitted their guilt in this scandal, others have claimed that they were unaware that the scam was legitimate.

Some of the names featured on this leaked list are the following:

• dilaratoprakci
• brasco
• almira
• logicman
• Japone
• lurzy0y0
• farewell
• Deepmans
• cinar
• bacyx
• tecoNe
• Kuzuur
• thecadyyx
• zz_yankas

Turkish esports team, NASR Esports, commented on one of their players, Bahadir “Japone” Çolak’s involvement as his name was mentioned in the leak. The organisation’s general manager, Berk “Uberq” Uyguner posted a screenshot of an email from Çolak with the caption, “Leave my boy alone”.

Rahat bırakın çocuğumu. pic.twitter.com/N5FPbZYD1Z

— Berk (@Uberqlol) October 27, 2021

The League of Legends player wrote that while he understands what’s happening regarding the Twitch Bit scam and states that the Bits donated are coming from legitimate ways.

“I can understand the situation about the bits; I would not want to receive the amount of money from them if the payments are not legal. I think it happened because nowadays, my channel’s viewers are going up day by day. You can check if the bits are coming from legal ways, I would appreciate it too much,” Çolak responded.

Turkish streamer and content creator Mert Günhan responded to the reactions from the Turkish Twitch community and their response to curbing corruption and theft schemes in the country.

“Now hardworking and clean Turkish streamers started a movement called #TemizTwitch, it means ‘Clean Twitch’ in Turkish. In [a] short time, [the] movement gained lots of support, but we also need international coverage about the rampant corruption in Twitch Turkey,” he tweeted.

Now hardworking and clean Turkish streamers started a movement called #TemizTwitch, it means "Clean Twitch)" in Turkish. In short time, movement gained lots of support but we also need international coverage about the rampant corruption in Twitch Turkey.

— Mert Günhan #TemizTwitch 🎃 (@mertgunhan) October 29, 2021

Günhan continued to highlight how the country’s corruption has grown over the years; however, those affected are too afraid to speak out. “The corruption is not limited to money laundering, credit card theft; there are lots of other things that people are afraid to talk about. It’s [the] culmination of corruption that’s been rampant in years. There are many aspects to this scandal.”

Followers of the accused streamers were shocked by their mention on the list and have demanded a response or explanation regarding their involvement in the scam.

While new developments have been brought to light since the leak was made public, the Twitch Bit scam has made national news in Turkey, gracing the front pages of local newspapers. Several rumours making the rounds on Reddit have speculated that the Turkish Department of Finance is investigating the matter.

Twitch’s Turkish administrators have yet to comment on this latest fraudulent scam. We'll be sure to update you as soon as more details regarding the Twitch Bit scam have been released.

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Featured image courtesy of Twitch.