In “swatting,” innocent people are targeted by the police through a fabricated emergency situation. In Germany, a group is said to be responsible for the swatting of 132 Twitch streamers over a period of about two years. Some were even hit multiple times. This is reported by SPIEGEL and the ARD magazine Kontraste.
Where do the information come from? The investigations stem from an article by Spiegel and the ARD magazine Kontraste. The episode of the magazine will be broadcasted tonight, on April 11th, at 9:55 PM on ARD.
During the research, journalists gained access to a dataset containing 75,000 internal chat messages and audio recordings. They span over a period of 6 years.
Surrounded by a harbor tour of 30 police officers
Who has been affected? In an article by Tagesschau regarding the investigation, it states: The 31-year-old German streamer “quitelola” (cover photo) took a harbor tour in Hamburg, at the end of which a large police deployment awaited her.
She says:
“It’s obviously a strange feeling when you’re put against a wall and surrounded by 20 to 30 police officers.”
Apparently, unknown individuals reported to the police that she was planning a knife attack on the ship’s captain.
What scale is this supposed to have? The research states that during the examined period, starting from February 2022, a total of 132 Twitch streamers have been swatted by the group, and some even multiple times. In total, the perpetrators had 1,048 streamers in their sights.
The contribution shows, among other things, how easily the perpetrators gain access to data. A recorded call to a police station in the Black Forest is heard, where the perpetrator introduces himself as “Oskar Schöttle, here” and claims to be a police officer from Potsdam who needs to verify the identity of a woman. Help was readily given in the Black Forest.
What the responsible police department now sees in retrospect as “unlawful data transmission” suggests that security regulations were not followed here.
“Felt like a king”
Why do they do this? The perpetrators apparently indulge in power fantasies. They aim to watch the swatting live on Twitch.
A member of this group says:
“It’s no different than turning on the TV and watching ‘On Patrol.'”
In recordings, it is said:
“I had the time of my life. I swatted people for 2 days straight. I felt like a king.”
Swatting is not a “joke.” In the USA, during a swatting incident in December 2018, where the police were sent to a false address, a completely innocent man, who was not even the actual target of the swatting, was killed. Police shot him after a caller faked a hostage situation.
Police shoot innocent man after swatting – What happened next?
