Computer security and antivirus company Symantec says some Twitch streamers may be inflating their viewerships with bots.

Symantec claims to have uncovered what it calls a "Twitch botnet marketplace" where streamers can "take a shortcut and generate a large audience of bots for their Twitch channels".

The bots were made up of users who agreed to allow their accounts to be used, or infected computers that were being directed to view Twitch streams of operators who had paid for the service.

Symantec added that the practice isn't unique to Twitch.

"These services allow people to rent bots over a period of time to boost their Twitch channel viewership stats," said Symantec. "The offerings are marketed as being easy for customers to set up. We also found that many services offered a single application that could generate a huge number of fake Twitch channel viewers."

Symantec said the botnet marketplace was sophisticated enough to offer package deals. Streamers could purchase 100 "viewers" and 40 "chatters" (bots that would make generic comments in the discussion panel) for US$29.99, or US$159.99 for 1,000 viewers and 400 chatters.