Jan 12 (gulf-times.com) - A Japanese firefighter moonlighting as a gaming YouTuber had cold water poured on his career by public officials, who uncovered the secret side hustle by identifying his voice in the lucrative videos.
An anonymous tip-off prompted Wakayama city in western Japan to launch an investigation into the 33-year-old's channel, which had around 15,000 subscribers.
But because the firefighter never appeared on screen, a local official had to painstakingly comb through the clips for vocal clues to his identity, the city said.
The man's salary was cut in punishment for contravening a law limiting public workers' engagement in commercial activities.
Over a 10-month period he had uploaded more than 300 videos, typically showing him playing multi-player strategy games - racking up around 1.15 million yen ($9,970) in advertising revenue.
Source: MBS NEWS