Fans react as PowerGPU gets swatted on livestream on the last day of charity operations

PowerGPU's charity stream took a scary turn when an unknown person called the police on the team. The pre-built PC company was continuing their Operation Giveback stream at the time, where they were building PCs for people who did not get their refunds from now-defunct PC company Artesian Builds.

Such incidents have happened in the past as well, where viewers call the police and inform them of fake emergencies at the streamer's residence. These incidents are termed "swatting." Although it is not known exactly what the callers exactly say to the police, there have been incidents where SWAT teams have jumped into a streamer's room with automatic rifles.

Read on to find out how the PowerGPU team handled the situation and how the streaming community is taking the news.

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PowerGPU team swatted on livestream: All you need to know

Artesian Builds was a similar brand that sold pre-made PCs well known in Twitch circles; they often gave away free products to streamers. Ironically, this led streamers to find out about the company's unethical giveaway practices. Soon after being called out for the same in early March, Aretesian Builds closed shop.

The most affected people were the customers who had already placed fully-paid orders with the company. Needless to say, none of them received any refunds from the company, and the company refused to fulfill their orders. Luckily, PowerGPU came to the rescue of some of those in this plight and pledged to assemble and give away 50 PCs to these Artesan Builds customers.

The last stream of Operation Giveback was marred by the team getting swatted, but users can still donate towards the cause on the official website of Operation Giveback. Moreover, any reader who has lost their money due to the crash of Artesian Builds can also fill out an application form and make a request for their own PC.

The management coordinated with the police and explained the situation to them. Now, the team is working with both the police and with Twitch management to find out who the culprit is.

Fellow Gaming PC/Component marketplace NZXT was one of the first to check in with the streamer.

Fans who have been following the PC builds for quite some time now were shocked that someone would pull such a prank on a charity stream.

The big challenge that streamers face when something like this happens is convincing the authorities that there is no emergency and that pranksters can take things a bit too far.

It should be noted that such incidents are commonplace despite the fact that making a call to the police under false pretense is a felony. Many PowerGPU fans were shocked that even that is not enough to stop perpetrators from doing these things.

Although the stress of the day must have taken a toll on the PowerGPU team, the police concluded its preliminary investigation quite soon, and the team appeared relatively calm while leaving.

Among the sea of well-wishers, a user made a hilarious comment about the scary incident and was appreciated for it by fellow netizens.

Operation Giveback commenced on April 4, 2022, and was scheduled to end on May 31. The unexpected delay caused by the swatting may shift the timeline, but the group has made a public promise to complete all 50 builds.

PowerGPU also shares $25 of the proceeds from every sale towards the same goal.

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