A swatter is said to have been responsible for hundreds of police operations for over a year. With the help of a private investigator and a Twitch streamer, he has now reportedly been arrested.
What kind of criminal was he? Under the handle “Torswats,” a swatting service was offered on Telegram for over a year. For a fee, users could trigger a police response.
Services provided by Torswats included bomb threats to schools as well as police responses to well-known personalities, such as Twitch streamers.
Swatting is not a harmless prank: such an armed police response can be traumatic or even fatal for those involved. We have already reported on this topic at MeinMMO:
– Twitch streamer works hard, is more successful than ever in 2022 – But she is extremely sad and completely exhausted
– After being banned in his favorite shooter, he gets the developers a police response – Now he has been convicted
In late January 2024, the FBI arrested a 17-year-old who is said to be connected to Torswats. A Twitch streamer is said to have played a crucial role in the arrest.
Swatting has become such a widespread problem among Twitch streamers that it has even been addressed in games:
Private investigator assisted the FBI
What role did Twitch play in the arrest? Private investigator Brad “Cafrozed” Dennis works with Twitch streamers who have fallen victim to swatting. He has been working since 2022 to take down Torswats and is said to have provided the FBI with evidence such as the IP address and username of the swatter in January 2023.
The WoW streamer Matt Morse, aka StaySafeTV, also reached out to Dennis. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the streamer reports that he has been regularly swatted for about a year. He was pulled out of his house, where his wife and their small child were present, and faced a group of armed SWAT officers.
The justice system would not prioritize the arrest of swatters, StaySafeTV continues. In a stream, he explained that he additionally supported the private investigator with information. He recognized some characteristics in the writing style of the swatter from conversations on a private Discord server five years ago.
“If this boy hadn’t specifically swatted me, he wouldn’t be in prison now,” StaySafeTV said (via X).
It is unclear whether Torswat was a lone actor or part of a group. There are already reports of a person with the Torswat username claiming to never be caught. However, a copycat cannot be ruled out in this case.
Swatting has also arrived in Germany: “I stopped counting at 50” – Berlin Twitch streamer reports how often the police is sent to him
