This is the hilariously embarrassing story of how someone pretended to give me $5,000 on Valentines Day.
I'm a streamer and content creator on Twitch.tv, and I broadcast myself playing video games, cooking, painting, and making crafts. It's currently my full-time job as I make money from subscriptions to my channel and "donations," or tips for being entertaining. If you don't know what Twitch is, you'd be surprised as to how much money bigger streamers can make. I've seen people surprise streamers with thousands of dollars at one time for no other reason than it's funny to watch the streamers reaction. You can search "Twitch Donation Reaction" on YouTube and find hundreds of videos of people freaking out from being surprised with large amounts of money. You might even find my video in there somewhere.
In the video, I'm sitting at a table working on Valentine cards for some of my viewers. I wanted to do something sweet for the people who continuously watch and support me. I had just gotten "bombed" by one of my favorite large streamers right before the video begins. Bombing someone means sending all your viewers to someone else's channel at the end of your stream. My favorite streamer told her hundreds of viewers to come by my channel to say hello, causing my views to skyrocket quickly and boost me up the main page of Twitch. I was already on cloud nine about that because I was usually averaging fifty views and after she bombed me, I had hundreds. Shortly after, a user by the name of Babaddook sent $5,000 to my PayPal account.
Naturally, I started freaking out. Tears, drool, sobs, etc. It was ridiculous, but what would YOU do if you thought someone just gave you five grand? In the back of my mindnI thought it was too good to be true, but wishful thinking got the better of me. All my viewers were freaking out and my chat was going insane. Everyone was telling me to verify through PayPal if it was real. I checked and sure enough. It was in my account. I was so excited as that would have been money I would have used to go to TwitchCon in San Diego. After the hype died down and I ended my stream, I made the decision to not touch the money for at least six months. I had heard horror stories of streamers receiving large tips and spending them only to receive a charge back notice from PayPal stating the donor filed for a refund. I anxiously checked my PayPal account daily to make sure the money was still there. Months went by and I actually started thinking it might be real. One morning I logged on to pay some bills and noticed that my money had disappeared. Babaddook had filed for a charge back. I honestly wasn't too surprised or upset. I saw it coming and so did some of my longtime viewers. I am so glad I held onto that money or I would have been in a really bad situation.
This is actually a recurring problem on Twitch. People will donate large amounts of money to get their name out there and get a hilarious reaction and then file for a refund weeks or months later. PayPal never really sides with the streamer and they almost always have to return the money. It sucks, but it's a part of Twitch. If you are looking into streaming, I highly recommend not touching large donations/tips for at least six months, as that is the time period where people can file for refunds.
Anyway, I learned a valuable lesson. In retrospect the video is hilarious, and I crack up every time I watch it. I'm glad the only thing I really lost in the end was a little bit of dignity, but at least I got a few laughs.