Does anyone like being trolled? In fact, fake twitch donations are one of the worst things you have to face if you offer high-quality streams online.
It is a widely known fact that most of the streamers earn their money through donations predominantly, so every dollar they receive raises their mood and makes them closer to the aim.
However, there are trolls and scammers who get pleasure from making fake donations and then disappoint streamers getting their money back.
This article will explain what fake donations are, the most popular ways of sending fakes and how to know and protect yourself from this experience.
Is There a Way to Fake a Donation on Twitch?
Despite the fact that we live in the era of technology and the biggest investment of most of the online services is the security of its users, nobody is insured against cheating. Twitch has become one of the most visited streaming platforms with thousands of broadcasters and this popularity makes other people envy streamers’ success. Moreover, the Internet has an overwhelming number of users who show their nasty upbringing by trolling others and, unfortunately, streamers are ones who have to suffer from these scammers more often than others.
How does it happen? Every streamer can be supported by viewers and one of the most efficient ways to do that is to send money. This way of encouragement is called ‘donation’ on Twitch and its main goal is to help broadcasters continue the job they do. However, not all donations are real on the platform. Some users have found ways of how to cheat streamers by making them believe that they were sent money and then take it back or never send it. It is a kind of a joke but not everyone laughs at it. Such fake Twitch donations have become a real problem since they not only lead to disappointment and stresses but even streamer’s extra expenses. If you do not want to be cheated like that, continue reading the article and you will learn everything about fake donors and ways how they act.
How Can Twitch Donations Be Fake?
Naturally, when a viewer donates money to a streamer in accordance with all the terms and requirements issued by the platform, it seems that it cannot be a fake one. However, here streamers face the obstacles which cannot be influenced by Twitch. First of all, these are chargebacks which are available both on PayPal and in banks serving credit cards. When a PayPal account holder, for example, has purchased some goods or services (or just send some amount of money to another account – the way donations are made), he or she can turn to the customer support of the e-wallet and claim for a chargeback as if services or goods purchased were not received by the recipient. The same goes for credit cards where you can return the payment made too. You can see that such fake donations cannot be influenced by the platform, though it puts effort to contest such chargebacks and there was a successful experience which has become a real punishment for scammers.
There are also fake donors who register on the platform to make fun of streamers or specially created bots performing the same function. They send fake messages and any complaint about such viewers leads to the account ban.
How to Send Fake Donations on Twitch
In fact, there are several ways to cheat streamers by sending fake donations. Some of them do not require special skills or much effort, while others require the knowledge of special software and tools to be able to do that. Some fake donations can be easily recognized while others may become a real disappointment only in several weeks or even months. Learn basic ways of sending fake donations to be armed in this war.
In the Chat
The easiest way to play a trick with a streamer is to fake a donation in the chat. However, this game can be easily spotted by experienced streamers while young broadcasters can dance joyfully being not aware of the joke.
Twitch users are aware of messages that appear in the chat when a donation is made. Moreover, streamers who have already received donations know that they see not only a donation message in the chat but also a notification in the respective section over the stream. However, there are registered viewers who participate in the chat discussions or join one of them for trolling. How do they achieve their goal? They simply enter the command “/ me donated $ 100. Thank’s for donation”, where a slash is the name of a user and a figure is a sum of money, and send these messages. It can be colored red to attract attention too.
The main feature of such messages is to choose the right monetary unit since it will not look like a standard Twitch one. It works better on a mobile app because this command was tested there.
Using Bot
It is not surprising to see bots on the channels to interact with viewers. However, some players hide under the names of popular bots and send fake donations in the chat using the method described in the previous paragraph.
Donation Generator
There are websites which have donation generator widgets which allow sending donations quickly and easily. They are used different types of charity, public safety, healthcare, animal protection, medics research, and, of course, support of streamers.
In fact, the donations performed via a generator are the same PayPal money transactions. It is enough to enter the sum of money and the email address of the sender’s PayPal account to process the payment. You can ask for a chargeback anytime within 3 months.
Donate With Fake Money by StreamLabs
StreamLabs is a third-party service which makes both watching and donating much more exciting. However, if it is a fake donation, it must be prepared. Before trolling takes place a manipulator considers the software and OBS configuration. The capture field can reveal the joke easily so it is preferable to pause broadcasting for several seconds, for example.
The further ‘donation’ procedure is very simple:
- Open the software management menu and select ‘My donations’;
- Click ‘Add a donation’ button;
- Enter the sender’s name, sum, message to accompany a fake, and the date to be delivered on.
All this can be achieved only if you synchronize the program with OBS. Fake alerts can be created using Donation Alerts service.
Fake Card
One of the ways to manipulate streamers is sending so-called donations from Virtual Credit Cards. They are non-existent ones but used to cheat people by scammers. Naturally, there are websites with validators, though it is not difficult to find resources where you can easily send fake money to another card or e-wallet.
PayPal refund
Despite the fact that PayPal has introduced refunds as a means to secure e-wallet users from fraud, this function is now used in fraudulent activity by trollers. Every person who transfers money to another PayPal account can ask for a refund within 3 months after the transaction made. Consequently, scammers send real money from their wallets, wait for some time, and turn to customer support to receive a chargeback stating that they have not received products or services purchased. As a result, it can lead to accusations of fraudulent activities and freezing streamers’ PayPal accounts.
Are Fake Donations Illegal?
Fake donations can be considered fraudulent activity only if a streamer proves this fact. Unfortunately, it is impossible to make an Internet user responsible for a crime if he sends a message which is called a joke by him. However, there are more and more cases when so-called fake donors were punished for their PayPal transactions getting no chargeback.
Streamers should react to such fake money and inform customer support of the platform they use. It may lead to contests, sometimes even court ones, and a possibility not only to punish a scammer but also win money donated.
Biggest Fake Twitch Donations
Could you imagine your reaction if someone dares to donate fake money to you? Will you realize it is a fake from the very beginning? Even experienced streamers who were donated hundreds of dollars cannot always understand immediately that they are cheated. However, many of them have suffered from such a kind of trolling and some fake sums sound unbelievable.
Here are the top 5 of the biggest Twitch donations which turned out to be only a fake:
- KittyPlays has ‘received’ $10,000 from Arafant.
- Shroud was ‘given’ $100,000 by TurnerThePCGamer.
- B0aty’s fake donation from CandyCane was £80,373.
- Summit1g was ‘sent’ $2,100 by RustinTimberlake.
- Young Moolah decided to cheat DingleDerper as if sending her $10,000.
How to Know That You Got a Fake Donation
The first thing every Twitch streamer should remember is the fact that fakes do happen and it is important to admit them as a joke. Otherwise, they can become real stress. Secondly, it is very important to understand as quickly as possible if the money you received or advertised to you is a reality or a fake. Here are some tips on how to understand if the donation sent is only a joke.
- If you have seen a message in the chat, check Twitch notifications over the stream screen. If there are no alerts, probably, someone has made fun of you.
- Consider PayPal donations a long-term investment. They cannot be refunded only in three months, so avoid spending money within this period not to lose your savings.
- Donations can be considered unreal if you get several subsequent transfers from one user within a short period of time.
- Don’t hurry to celebrate your earnings. You need to wait for some time to understand if money is transferred from a real credit card and whether you will get a notification.
Now you should not look for tips on how to tell if a donation is fake. It is enough to be patient and attentive to understand the origin of the donations received.
How to Protect Yourself From Fake Donations
Unfortunately, the only way to protect yourself from fake donors fully is to choose only one safe type of donation. It is a proven fact that Twitch Bits donations are absolutely safe and it is impossible to fake them since they are displayed in the chat like animations.
However, it is not a way out for people who earn money by streaming to use only one method since not all users are ready to buy or earn bits. Naturally, there is no need to refuse from StreamLabs, PayPal or Credit Card donations but streamers must be very careful with these methods since credit card chargebacks will take not only money donated but also $15 transaction fee, while other methods have their underwater stones too.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that Twitch security measures are improved constantly, it is impossible to protect streamers from trolls and scams fully. Users find more and more ways how to cheat online and get on the nerves of streamers, in particular. One more reason is the use of other services which are not connected with Twitch but are a necessity for accepting donations. At the same time, it is enough to be informed about fake donations well to prevent yourself from getting into a trap. Even if you suppose a donation to be fake, don’t hesitate to contact the support team of the platform. Today, we can see multiple examples of how scammers are punished for their actions and many contests are won in favor of streamers who get real donations instead of fakes.
