Picture this, Ten to 20 Men line up single file against the side of a door. One man standing on the other side gives a thumbs up. The last member, closest to the door, is patted on the shoulder, a signal to breach. The door is knocked down violently, and a loud bang and bright flash renders anyone inside instantly blind and deaf. Within a minute, the team has completely overtaken all of the inhabitants and forced any people inside to surrender. This scene may sound like a scene from a movie, but it’s not. The team was a SWAT team, these are scenes of everyday homes being victimized by the a disturbing new trend; “Swatting.”

What is “Swatting”? SWAT stands for Special Weapons And Tactics, and they are used when a regular group of officers with standard equipment and weapons aren’t sufficient to prevent the loss of life or enforce the law. Bank robberies, hostage situations and active shooters are all scenarios where a SWAT team would be called in. “Swatting” is when someone pretends to be a possible victim, the caller describes a fake situation that would require SWAT, and sending the address of the soon to be victim of “Swatting.” The desired end result would be an unnecessary raid of the intended victim.

Who would do this? In most cases it’s been almost exclusively done inside the online gaming community. The targets have been mostly people who broadcast themselves playing video games live. Whoever the victims are, they are in for a nasty surprise when they answer the door. There has been concern that these victims will limit their broadcasting time. “I think most PC Gamers who stream might lay low for a bit to make sure this doesn’t happen to them.” Sophomore Max Moore said. “I don’t think this’ll go on for long because the cops will find ways to find whoever does this.”

A SWAT team deployment against an online gamer in Long Beach, NY back in April costed $100,000 to send over 60 officers according to Yahoo News. The end result of that raid was not a bust for drugs or weapons, but a teenager with a headset, sitting in front of a screen. Unfortunately, this scenario is becoming all too familiar to gamers and Americans.

The videogame industry is estimated to make $81.5 billion dollars in 2014 alone. According to 2010 research by the Electronic Software Rating Board (ESRB), 67% of US households reported that at least one member played video games. The video game business has exploded, the amount of money to be made multiplied roughly 800% in only 4 years. Success comes negative consequences, and it appears that “Swatting” has been the latest. It will by no means be the last.