Worlds largest hacks distributor brought down by police in China

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Luxury cars seized by Chinese police
(Image credit: Weibo)

Members of a Chinese cheat distribution operation have been collared by police in Kunshan, with a little help from Tencent along the way.

Dubbed 'Chicken Drumstick,' the operation has been described as "the world's largest" by Chinese police. While the group mostly dabbled in cheats for mobile phone shooters—unsurprisingly including a few from Tencent's library—apparently there were also hacks being designed and sold for the likes of Valorant and Overwatch (thanks, BBC).

The operation was raking in its members some decent dough, netting around $10,000 (£7.2k) a day. The group charged anywhere from $10 a day to $200 a month for a subscription key to access the hacks, according to a translated Chinese news broadcast.

    The Chinese police known as Kunshan police were working with Tencent Games to take down the biggest Cheat provider based in China they were Jailed and around $46m in assets were Seized this is the BIGGEST GAME Cheating provider bust ever Cheaters never prosper what a big win pic.twitter.com/WBfkjNiP2gMarch 28, 2021

Police were tipped off to the operation a year ago, and have now since closed down 17 websites, with 10 resellers arrested. Assets of around $46 million (£33mil) were seized, including several luxury cars. 

It's not actually stated what Tencent's role in the raids was, but their involvement isn't a surprise considering how many pies the company has fingers in. Cheat makers seem to be popping up everywhere recently, with both Activision and Bungie hunting down cheat services in the last few months. 

Games like Call of Duty: Warzone has huge problems with hackers too, with massive monthly ban waves for those darn dirty cheats. It's something that's frustratingly becoming the norm, though there are ways to spot and report cheaters in Warzone.

    Comments

Luxury cars seized by Chinese police
(Image credit: Weibo)

Members of a Chinese cheat distribution operation have been collared by police in Kunshan, with a little help from Tencent along the way.

Dubbed 'Chicken Drumstick,' the operation has been described as "the world's largest" by Chinese police. While the group mostly dabbled in cheats for mobile phone shooters—unsurprisingly including a few from Tencent's library—apparently there were also hacks being designed and sold for the likes of Valorant and Overwatch (thanks, BBC).

The operation was raking in its members some decent dough, netting around $10,000 (£7.2k) a day. The group charged anywhere from $10 a day to $200 a month for a subscription key to access the hacks, according to a translated Chinese news broadcast.

    The Chinese police known as Kunshan police were working with Tencent Games to take down the biggest Cheat provider based in China they were Jailed and around $46m in assets were Seized this is the BIGGEST GAME Cheating provider bust ever Cheaters never prosper what a big win pic.twitter.com/WBfkjNiP2gMarch 28, 2021

Police were tipped off to the operation a year ago, and have now since closed down 17 websites, with 10 resellers arrested. Assets of around $46 million (£33mil) were seized, including several luxury cars. 

It's not actually stated what Tencent's role in the raids was, but their involvement isn't a surprise considering how many pies the company has fingers in. Cheat makers seem to be popping up everywhere recently, with both Activision and Bungie hunting d