How Pirates Use Stripe and PayPal (and How to Shut Them Down)

Here is something most course creators and content creators never think about: the person selling your pirated course for $5 on a Telegram storefront is probably processing that payment through Stripe or PayPal.

Not some shadowy offshore payment network. Not crypto exclusively. Real, mainstream payment processors — the same ones you use to sell your legitimate products. And those processors have policies against it, reporting mechanisms for it, and the power to shut it down.

This guide pulls back the curtain on how piracy sites actually handle money, what each major payment processor's anti-piracy policies look like, and the specific steps you can take to report infringers. Payment disruption is not a silver bullet — it is one tool in the enforcement toolkit — but it is a powerful one that most creators don't even know exists.

Yes, Pirates Actually Get Paid

There is a persistent myth that piracy is a free-content phenomenon — hobbyists sharing files out of some misguided belief in "information freedom." That era is long over. Modern piracy is a commercial operation.

According to a joint report by the Digital Citizens Alliance and NAGRA, the US pirate subscription industry is valued at roughly $1 billion, with approximately 3,500 US-facing storefronts and an estimated 9 million US broadband subscribers using pirate IPTV services alone. These are not hobbyists. These are businesses — with checkout pages, subscription tiers, customer support, and refund policies.

A separate study by the AAPA (Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance) and Irdeto analyzed 400 pirate IPTV sites and found that the most common payment methods were remarkably mainstream:

• PayPal: 17.3% of sites accepted it
• Mastercard: 14.7%
• Visa: 14.1%
• Cryptocurrency: ~12% (up from 4.3% in 2018, but still a minority)

The takeaway is stark: the majority of piracy payments flow through the exact same financial rails you and I use every day. That is both the problem and the opportunity.

How Piracy Sites Charge Their Users

Not every piracy site monetizes the same way, and understanding the revenue model tells you where the financial pressure points are.

• Premium memberships ($5-15/month). The most common model for organized piracy. Users pay a monthly subscription for access to a library of stolen courses, software, or content. These subscriptions are typically processed through Stripe, PayPal, or direct card payments.
• One-time purchases. Some sites sell individual pirated courses or content bundles. A course that retails for $500 might be listed for $10-20. Again, standard payment processors handle the transaction.
• Ad revenue. Free piracy sites monetize through aggressive advertising — ad networks like PropellerAds and PopAds, link shorteners like adf.ly that pay per click, and banner placements. These sites are harder to hit through payment disruption since the money flows through ad networks rather than direct user payments.
• Crypto donations and payments. A growing but still minority channel. Some sites accept Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies alongside traditional payments. We will cover the crypto angle separately below.

The sites running premium memberships and one-time purchases are the most vulnerable to payment disruption, because they depend on processors that have rules — and consequences for breaking them.

Stripe's Anti-Piracy Policy and How to Report

Stripe's Acceptable Use Policy is explicit. It prohibits the "sales or distribution of music, movies, software, or any other licensed materials without appropriate authorization" as well as "cyberlockers" — file-hosting services used to distribute infringing content. Pirated course sales fall squarely within this prohibition.

How to Report a Piracy Site Using Stripe

1. Confirm the site uses Stripe.The most reliable way is to initiate a test purchase (without completing it) and look for Stripe's checkout elements, or check the page source for Stripe API references. You need evidence that Stripe is the processor.
2. Submit a report via Stripe's IP Notice form at support.stripe.com. Stripe requires: evidence of Stripe usage (screenshots from the test purchase), evidence that you previously contacted the infringer, and identification of the specific infringing goods.
3. Provide your proof of ownership. Link to your original course sales page, include platform dashboard screenshots, and document the specific content being sold without authorization.

PayPal's Anti-Piracy Policy and How to Report

PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy prohibits transactions involving items that "infringe or violate any copyright". Given that PayPal was found on 17.3% of pirate IPTV sites in the AAPA/Irdeto study, it is one of the most common processors in the piracy ecosystem.

How to Report

1. Email infringementreport@paypal.com — this is PayPal's dedicated intellectual property reporting address.
2. Download and complete PayPal's Infringement Report form (a PDF available from their IP reporting page). The form requires your identifying information, details of the copyrighted work, the PayPal account or transaction involved, and a statement under penalty of perjury.
3. Attach supporting evidence. Screenshots of the piracy site showing PayPal as a payment option, links to the infringing listings, and proof of your copyright ownership.

PayPal has a long history of acting on IP complaints — they are a founding partner of the IACC RogueBlock program (covered below). When PayPal terminates a piracy merchant, the impact is immediate: the site loses its most widely accepted payment method overnight.

Visa and Mastercard: Going to the Card Networks

When a piracy site accepts credit cards but you cannot identify the specific processor (or when Stripe/PayPal reports have not resolved the issue), you can escalate to the card networks themselves. This is a more powerful lever — and a more complex process.

Visa

Visa operates a Report Brand Abuse form at usa.visa.com/legal/report-brand-abuse.html. Submitting a report requires:

• Proof of IP ownership
• Evidence of prior enforcement efforts (you tried other channels first)
• Evidence that the merchant accepts Visa
• A signed attestation under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate

Mastercard

Mastercard handles IP complaints through ipinquiries@mastercard.com and operates its BRAM (Brand Risk and Abuse Management) program. The consequences for merchants found in violation are severe:

• Fines up to $200,000 plus $2,500 per day the violation continues
• Terminated merchants are placed on the MATCH list (Member Alert to Control High-Risk Merchants) — effectively a blacklist that prevents them from obtaining a merchant account with any processor in the Mastercard network

Getting placed on the MATCH list is one of the most devastating consequences a piracy operation can face. It does not just shut down one payment channel — it makes it nearly impossible to process card payments anywhere.

IACC RogueBlock: The Industry-Wide Program

The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) runs the most significant cross-industry payment disruption program: RogueBlock. Since its launch in 2012, RogueBlock has:

• Terminated 5,000+ merchant accounts
• Impacted 200,000+ websites
• Partners include Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, American Express, Discover, and Western Union

RogueBlock works by allowing rights holders to submit evidence of infringing merchants directly to the payment companies through a centralized portal. The program streamlines what would otherwise be individual reports to each processor.

RogueBlock is primarily used by major brands and entertainment companies, but its existence demonstrates that payment processors take this seriously at an institutional level. The infrastructure for disrupting piracy payments is not theoretical — it is operational and has been for over a decade.

"Follow the Money" as an Enforcement Strategy

Payment disruption is not a new idea. The phrase "follow the money" has been adopted as official anti-piracy policy by the European Commission, Canadian Heritage, and the IACC, among others. The logic is straightforward: if you cannot take down the content (because the site is hosted in a non-cooperative jurisdiction), you can still cut off the revenue that makes the operation profitable.

Law enforcement has operationalized this at scale. PIPCU (City of London Police) has suspended 28,000 websites and investigated IP crime worth more than 100 million GBP. Europol's "Operation Taken Down" in 2024 shut down an illegal IPTV network serving 22 million users, with 102 suspects identified and 11 arrested. A significant part of that investigation involved tracing the money.

The Cryptocurrency Challenge

Cryptocurrency usage in piracy is growing — up from 4.3% in 2018 to roughly 12% in recent studies — but it is not the untraceable safe haven pirates assume it to be.

In November 2025, Europol announced it had traced €47 million (~$55 million) in cryptocurrency linked to 69 piracy sites and referred 25 services to crypto exchanges for disruption. The blockchain is a public ledger. With the right analytical tools, law enforcement can follow crypto payments just as they follow traditional ones — it just requires different expertise.

That said, crypto does create real challenges for individual creators:

• There is no equivalent of "report this merchant to PayPal" for a Bitcoin wallet address.
• Crypto transactions are irreversible — there is no chargeback mechanism.
• Reporting requires engagement with crypto exchanges, which have varying levels of responsiveness to IP complaints.

The practical reality: crypto is a growing concern, but it remains a minority payment method for piracy. The majority of piracy revenue still flows through traditional processors where reporting mechanisms exist and enforcement has a track record.

What Individual Creators Can Do Right Now

You do not need to be a major brand or entertainment company to use payment disruption. Here is a practical checklist for individual course creators and content creators:

1. Identify how the piracy site makes money. Visit the site (carefully — use a VPN and do not download anything). Look for payment buttons, subscription tiers, and checkout pages. Screenshot everything.
2. Determine the payment processor. Look for Stripe or PayPal branding on the checkout page. Initiate (but do not complete) a test purchase to identify the processor. Check the page source for API references.
3. Send a DMCA takedown to the site first. Most payment processors want to see that you contacted the infringer directly before they will act. Even if the site ignores you, document the attempt.
4. File reports with the relevant processors.Use the specific channels outlined above — Stripe's IP Notice form, PayPal's infringementreport@paypal.com, Visa's Brand Abuse form, or Mastercard's ipinquiries@mastercard.com.
5. Combine with DMCA takedowns and search engine delisting. Payment disruption works best when the piracy site is simultaneously losing its content (via takedowns), its traffic (via delisting), and its revenue (via payment blocking). One lever alone is rarely enough.
6. Keep records of everything. Document every report filed, every response received, and every action taken. This evidence trail strengthens future reports and supports escalation to law enforcement if needed.

Payment disruption is not a replacement for content takedowns — it is a complement. The goal is to make the piracy operation unprofitable from every angle, not just one.

Key Takeaways

• Modern piracy is a commercial operation. The US pirate subscription industry is valued at ~$1 billion with ~3,500 storefronts — and the majority process payments through mainstream platforms like PayPal (17.3%), Mastercard (14.7%), and Visa (14.1%).
• Stripe explicitly prohibits sales of unauthorized licensed materials and cyberlockers. Report via their IP Notice form at support.stripe.com with evidence of Stripe usage and prior contact with the infringer.
• PayPal prohibits transactions involving copyright-infringing items. Report to infringementreport@paypal.com with their completed Infringement Report form.
• Visa and Mastercard accept direct reports. Mastercard's BRAM program carries fines up to $200,000 + $2,500/day, and terminated merchants land on the MATCH blacklist across all processors.
• IACC RogueBlock has terminated 5,000+ merchant accounts and impacted 200,000+ websites since 2012, partnering with Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, AmEx, Discover, and Western Union.
• Cryptocurrency is growing (~12% of piracy sites) but is not untraceable — Europol traced €47M in crypto linked to 69 piracy sites in November 2025.
• Payment disruption is most effective as one layer in a multi-pronged strategy: DMCA takedowns remove content, search delisting cuts discovery, and payment blocking cuts revenue. No single approach solves the problem alone.