Pirating movies and TV shows opens Australians up to cyber scams and ID theft

Aussies who are pirating movies and TV shows are falling victim to scams. See the 10 most illegally downloaded shows and why you need to protect yourself.

James Wigney

@JamesWigney

3 min read

October 4, 2024 - 12:00PM

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Australians who “think they are being smart” pirating movies and TV shows are falling victim to cyber scams and ID theft at an increasing rate, new figures show.

The data, from Creative Content Australia, shows that of the nearly one in five people who admit to illegally downloading copyrighted programs, a third – more than 2 million Australians – had experienced some form of ID theft, ransomware, credit card fraud or hacking.

“They think they are being smart but they are being dumb because it’s going to cost them in the long run. They think they are going to get something for free – but they are giving their data away and they are ultimately going to get ripped off,” Creative Content Australia chair Chris Chard said.

“They watch a movie ad, then a week later they notice something on their credit card. The people setting these sites up aren’t doing it to give away free movies – they are doing it to get your credit card details.”

Creative Content Australia chair Chris Chard.

Pirating content can open you up to cyber scams and ID theft.

While piracy overall is down from its peak in 2009, when more than one in two Australians admitted to the illegal practice, Mr Chard said it’s more dangerous than ever.

The proliferation of streaming services such as Binge and Netflix has given viewers more legal options, but subscribing to illegal streaming services is particularly risky, with three quarters of Australians who do so becoming victims of cybercrime.

“The fact that you are paying, people think they’re dealing with legal sites, so they set themselves up to look the part,” said Mr Chard. “But they are very well organised and, for them, it’s easy income for organised crime.”

Although the most common side effects for pirates include poor viewer quality, slow-running devices, age-inappropriate content and viruses or malware, more serious consequences can be result in computers crashing, being hijacked and ransomware being installed.

It can also result in exposure and loss of personal details, which can lead to identity theft and contributing to a problem that has an economic impact on Australia of more than $1.6 billion a year, according to the Department of Home Affairs.

The direct cost of piracy in Australia is difficult to calculate, although 2021 figures released by the Australian Institute of Criminology estimated it resulted a loss to retail content industries (music, film, publishing, games and software development) and the Commonwealth of $6.8 billion.

Palace Cinemas chief executive Benjamin Zeccola. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

Chief executive officer of Palace Cinemas, Benjamin Zeccola, said that an attitude still persisted that piracy was a “victimless” crime, but “paradoxically, they sustain offshore criminal gangs that undercut local jobs and opportunities”.

“The initial victims of piracy are often the pirates themselves, followed by frontline workers, as cinemas and nearby cafes, restaurants, and stores suffer from reduced visitation and are forced to cut staff,” Mr Zeccola said. “This impact ripples through to filmmakers who, unable to recoup their investments, cancel future films, putting another 500 crew members out of work each time.”

The Creative Content Australia figures show that new movie and TV show releases are the most popular targets for pirates – with the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer and The Last Of Us the most often illegally accessed content of 2023 globally.

Oppenheimer was one of the most illegally accessed movies of 2023.

Film lovers also continue to hunt for releases still in cinemas as well as on streaming services, with website Torrent Freak revealing that last week’s most illegally downloaded movies included the Brad Pitt and George Clooney thriller Wolfs, as well as superhero hit Deadpool & Wolverine.

The national survey of 1293 adults conducted in October 2023 showed that the most common profile for a pirate was a tertiary-educated male between the ages of 18 and 39, with a household income of over $90,000. More than half of the active pirates referenced the cost of living crisis as adding to their piracy behaviour and 46 per cent of persistent pirates argued that paying for a legal service justified their illegal pirating activities.

But Mr Chard rejected the excuses, arguing that the cost-of-living claims “didn’t pass the sniff test” when cinema box office tends to rise during times of economic hardship as a relatively inexpensive night out, and that legal content can be easily found and accessed using apps such as Just Watch.