YouTuber’s Pet Fish Streams Pokemon, Then Commits Credit Card Fraud

YouTuber Mutekimaru Channel is well-known for livestreaming their pet fish playing various games through motion tracking software, which registers the pets’ positions as button inputs. The fish have accomplished some pretty impressive things during these streams — in 2020, they even beat Pokemon Sapphire after a 3,195 hour run. But earlier this month, their fish did what no fish has (hopefully) done before: commit credit card fraud.

During a livestream 12 days ago, the fish were off to a good start in Pokemon Violet, winning a few battles and slowly but surely progressing through the story. About 5 hours into the stream, however, the game crashed, giving the fish free access to the rest of their owner’s Switch.

These fish committed credit card fraud while playing Pokémon. ????? pic.twitter.com/w0TgKgJSUL

— IGN (@IGN) January 25, 2023

From there, the fish went to the eShop and added 500 yen (about $3.85) of funds to their owner’s account, even exposing their owner’s credit card information to viewers in the process.

They also sent their owner a PayPal verification email, redeemed Nintendo Switch Online points for a Nintendo Switch Sports profile picture, and downloaded the Switch’s Nintendo 64 emulator app.

Luckily, according to TechSpot, the YouTuber was able to get a refund after explaining the situation to Nintendo.

We gave Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet a 6 in our review, praising its massive open world and story but criticizing its all too apparent performance issues.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.