This is related to content distributed to YouTube Content ID that has been claiming content that YouTube considers SPAM or FRAUD.
Most of these users are likely to be directly involved in this activity, abusing their service to circumvent YouTube's monetization policies. Some of them (knowingly or not) may have hired outside services to inflate their income through this abusive practice.
How it works: Users submit sound recording assets to YouTube Content ID, which then claims large amounts of unwanted videos or illegal uploads of TV shows and movies.
These scammers share various patterns of behavior and can be used to detect these fraudulent users on their platform. The typical scammer profile is usually a combination of these elements:
- Users with auto-generated email addresses, mostly with Gmail addresses (example: tom123456@gmail.com)
- Users with false or empty profile information.
- Users who only distribute to 1-2 DSP, mainly YouTube Content ID and Spotify.
- Users with a disproportionate amount of royalties from a single DSP (usually YouTube or Spotify).
- Generic artist and release name.
- Users who distribute various artists with no real existence (no social networks, no website, etc.).
- Users connecting from multiple IP locations (using VPN).
- Several users who share the same PayPal account or similar emails.
- Poor quality of covers (not technically, but artistically: generic images, basic sources of free image-making software, etc.).
- Mainly distributing instrumental songs. Often with a single instrument, usually piano (mass generated audio with midi or AI).
This relatively new type of fraud is an ongoing problem and we are working closely with YouTube to detect and prevent these cases.