Man charged with providing illegal access to pay TV content in Clydebank

A man has been charged in relation to the distribution of IPTV services providing illegal access to pay TV content.

A Police Scotland investigation in partnership with Sky led to the arrest of the man in connection to intellectual property theft after officers raided a property in Clydebank on February 8.

Detective inspector Andy Maclean, of Police Scotland Cyber Investigation Department, said: “This was an intelligence led, multi-agency operation between Police Scotland and partners.

“From today’s operation, we’ve seized a large amount of computer hardware and technology which will be analysed by our detectives to identify further offences and take appropriate action.

“Anyone tempted to purchase one of these services should be aware that their money is going towards a fraudulent scheme, and they might well find themselves having a visit from police or other authorities.

“Money from such activities might well be used to fund other crime, so people need to be aware of that. This is, without doubt, a form of organised crime.

“Police Scotland will continue to work with partners to tackle this type of crime.”

Matt Hibbert, director of anti-piracy at Sky, said: “We’d like to thank Police Scotland for taking this action.

“More and more effective action is being taken across the country by police and partners to tackle the organised criminal networks responsible for digital piracy.

“This type of action helps protect consumers from the very real risks associated with piracy, such as malware, fraud and identity theft.”