📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Crime
US Man Jailed for $8M Streaming Fraud via 10k Bot Accounts, AI Songs
✍️ NDTV
🗓 08 Oct 2026, 03:20 AM
👁 19
A United States man has been sentenced to prison for orchestrating an $8‑million streaming fraud scheme that used roughly 10,000 fake bot accounts and AI‑generated songs to inflate play counts and illicitly earn royalties.
Federal prosecutors said the man created a network of about 10,000 automated accounts that repeatedly played songs on major streaming platforms. The tracks were produced using artificial intelligence tools, allowing the fraudster to generate large volumes of music without human artists. The scheme generated roughly $8 million in fraudulent royalties before investigators uncovered the activity, leading to a guilty plea and a prison sentence.