According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), a man surnamed Wang, in China's Zhejiang province, has been sentenced to one year and three months in prison and fined 50,000 yuan (US$ 7,000) for orchestrating the operation of 4,600 phones to artificially inflate live-stream viewer counts and traffic, making $415,000 (approximately Rs. 3.4 crore/ 3 million yuan) in less than four months to deceive consumers.

Wang's "brushing" scheme includes tricking viewers into believing they have liked, commented, or shared something to trick them. He attracted clients looking to improve their online profile by focusing on sites such as TikTok.

For Wang, setting up the plan was not too difficult. In addition to network hardware and VPN services, he bought thousands of smartphones that were managed by specialist cloud software. With a few clicks, he could program all the phones to falsely boost audience counts during live-streaming events.

Due to the cheap cost of use for each mobile phone, Wang was able to make a sizable profit from the sale of his fraudulent business. He took advantage of weaknesses in the account administration of live-streaming platforms to obtain phony viewer accounts in mass.

Wang also needed fictitious viewer accounts, which he purchased in bulk from other people, to execute his scheme. Wang found it simple to make fresh accounts even if these were occasionally closed down for being fraudulent. He maintained the seamless functioning of his business by taking advantage of flaws in the way live-streaming platforms handle user accounts.

"The cost of using one of the mobile phones is 6.65 yuan (less than US$1) per day," he said. He also explained that the final fee for his "service" would depend on the amount of time each phone stayed connected to a live-streaming event and the number of mobile phones activated.

The Post reports that Mr. Wang sold the service to live-streamers looking to improve their online presence and made around $415,000 in less than four months. When real-name authentication failed, the accounts might occasionally be blocked, although re-registering was an easy procedure.

“There are certain loopholes in the account management of the live-streaming platform,” the prosecutor in charge of the case told Ningbo Evening News. He also said it was not known where the mobile phones were bought, but there was a “possibility of illegal activities in the mobile phone recycling market”.

According to local prosecuting officials, Wang is not the only suspect under investigation; 17 other suspects are also being investigated for "breaking national regulations, knowingly spreading fake information online through publishing services for profit, and disrupting the market order."

On mainland live-streaming platforms and e-commerce websites, traffic fraud has long been an issue, sparking requests for regulation from the general public. The authorities in China have warned that loopholes in the live-streaming system need to be closed.