Popular Valorant streamer and former professional player Shahzeeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan received threatening text messages after speaking out against alleged betting activity tied to his ranked matches.
In a series of tweets, ShahZaM alleged that gambling on high-level Valorant ranked games has persisted for years and that individuals are deliberately manipulating the outcome of matches by buying accounts to throw games. According to ShahZaM, repeated reports to Riot Games have gone unaddressed.
“We’ve been dealing with our ranked games on betting websites for a couple years now, telling Riot about it, and they’ve continued to not do anything about it until it gets to this point. People buy accounts and get into our games to throw for these bets,” he posted on X.
ShahZam threatened with violence by alleged Valorant gamblers
ShahZaM said he recognized that one of his games was being bet on and discussed the situation live on stream. Shortly afterward, he received a series of threatening text messages. One message read:
“Hey there shahzam. If you do not start throwing this game I will open loans in your name. Your social is [blanked out].”
Another message stated: “If you do not listen to me and stop talking in your stream. There will be 4 men with AR-15s at your door. We are outside watching you.”
The sender hoped to intimidate ShahZaM’s by claiming to have his personal information and with threats of deadly violence. ShahZaM shared the texts publicly but did not confirm whether he has contacted law enforcement or Riot Games’ security team.
The incident has renewed concerns within the Valorant community regarding the security of high-profile players and the ongoing presence of third-party gambling operations linked to live ranked matches. Riot Games has not yet issued a public response.
ShahZaM is a veteran of the professional Valorant scene and regularly streams ranked games to thousands of viewers. The threats follow concerns from streamers and professional players about the impact of account boosting, match-fixing, and betting-related interference in high-ELO games and even tier 2 professional matches.
