Apex Legends pro Phillip “ImperialHal” Dosen was swatted live on stream during his January 5 broadcast of Respawn’s battle royale. Thousands of viewers watched as ImperialHal’s doors were breached by a team of law enforcement officials.
Unfortunately, popular streamers and YouTubers are the most common victims of a concerning trend known as swatting – the false reporting of an emergency to public safety with the intent of summoning a SWAT team to a specific location. ImperialHal was the latest victim of the crime, though he escaped the scenario unharmed and shockingly calm.
Late into the streamer’s broadcast of Apex Legends viewers could a loud series of knocks, followed by demands to open the door by local law enforcement. ImperialHal swiftly ducks out of frame to comply with their orders, leaving his teammates stunned and concerned for Dosen’s well-being. Luckily, the Apex Legends pro eventually returned to his desk completely unharmed and confirmed he had been swatted. Though ImperialHal said the officers responded calmly, he did mention they entered his home with pistols drawn.
Swatting has become disturbingly common in the gaming community. The officers were not surprised ImperialHal was a streamer, as these types of cases have increased at a startling rate. Twitch streamer Tfue had very recently just dealt with his own swatting situation during a Minecraft stream in late December. While ImperialHal and Tfue were lucky enough escape the frightening situation unharmed, there have been a number of instances where swatting victims were not as fortunate.
The dangers of swatting are very real and can result in irreparable harm for all involved. In 2017 a 28 year old father of two was killed by police after becoming the unintended victim of a swatting “prank” between Call of Duty: WW2 players. Tyler Barriss, the man responsible for the call that led to the death of Andrew Finch, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of 51 federal charges.
The alarming frequency of swatting attempts has become an all-too-common practice among virtual communities. The anonymity of reporting techniques allows perpetrators to place calls with relative ease. As officials make technological advancements in order to prevent swatting, cyber criminals are constantly developing ways to circumvent their efforts.
While there may not be a fool-proof method of completely preventing swatting from occurring, there are ways for streamers to help protect themselves from becoming an easy target. As the officers who entered ImperialHal’s home mentioned, streamers should absolutely invest in a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) provides online privacy protection by encrypting a user’s internet protocol (IP) address so that its source is virtually untraceable. It is unfortunate people need to go to such lengths to protect themselves, but it is the unfortunate reality of today’s cyber world.
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