Copyright agent shares information they ‘already know’ about people using 'dodgy' Fire Sticks

A copyright expert has warned that investigators comparable to a 'mini police force' are hot on the trail of people flogging so-called dodgy Fire Sticks.

A recent report found that millions of people in the UK use these doctored devices to stream their favourite TV shows and films, despite it being illegal.

Despite the fact that doing this can land you in hot water, a lot of Brits are still willing to run the risk of having one of these gadgets in their homes.

There's been a crackdown on illegal streaming as of late, though, which is being led by police, broadcasters and The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT).

Tech experts at this organisation play a pivotal role in tracking down the people who are flogging these dodgy devices.

FACT's chairman, Kieron Sharp, previously told the Daily Mail: "You could liken us to a mini police force in that we are intelligence-led."

Around four million Brits watch their favourite shows via dodgy fire sticks, according to a recent report (Getty Stock Image)

These copyright enforcers analyse devices seized from sellers - which have been modified to allow users to access paywalled shows and live sports - with the same precision as cops would handle evidence from a crime scene.

Explaining how the process works, Sharp revealed that FACT do their 'own computer forensics', saying: "When we do a job with the police, and the computers are seized from whichever place has been raided, we take the computer forensic work on and provide that as evidence back to the police."

These confiscated devices are obviously loaded with a tonne of data, some of which is relevant, and some of which is redundant.

For efficiency, FACT investigators use special software which allows them to get to the good stuff a lot quicker.

Tech experts at FACT have a nifty way of finding data on dodgy Fire Stick sellers (Getty Stock Image)

For example, they can search for keywords - such as the very obvious term, 'illegal', which is surprisingly used very often - to track down the data that is of interest to the investigation.

Explaining why this is key, Sharp said: "The importance of doing word searching is that if you seize a computer and there's like three terabytes of data on it, you're never going to search the whole computer.

"You're only going to search the computer for your terms. You're never going to know what's fully on it.

"So, you have to concentrate on the evidence. You'll know the name of the stream, the name of the subscription they're selling, the names of the people involved. You might even have a customer database."

These snippets of information - such as messages, IP addresses and payments - give tech gurus a digital paper trail to follow.

It is illegal to stream content via these doctored devices, but a lot of people still take the risk (Michael Short/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It's still quite a tangled web to unweave, though, as Sharp admits there are often a lot of people involved in these illegal streaming operations.

"There's a lot of people working together that perhaps have never even met," the FACT chairman went on. "They are faceless on the internet. So there's a lot to investigate to make sure you capture all the evidence.

"From one person, that web can then extend to dozens of people."

He explained that these investigations can often 'take a significantly long time' because all of the 'people, devices and jurisdictions' involved.

After assembling all the evidence they can, FACT then offers it to broadcasters and the police, resulting in dodgy Fire Stick kingpins being raided.