YouTube account-sharing scams surge after subscription fee hike
YouTube account-sharing scams are on the rise following a recent increase in subscription fees.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday said that 98 complaints of possible scams were reported to the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center in the past two months between January and Feb. 18, a dramatic increase from a total of six cases the center received in all of last year.
These cases involve scammers providing account-sharing services to consumers who want to use YouTube’s premium services at a cheaper price.
The scammers exploit virtual private networks, more commonly known as VPNs, to purchase YouTube’s family plans available only in certain countries, which they use to register their customers under the family plan.
The family plan is not currently available in Korea.
Fraudulent businesses engaging in these practices cause harm by abruptly discontinuing services and cutting off communication within one to four weeks after consumers pay for a voucher. Scammers often don’t fulfill the agreed-upon duration of the contract after registering the purchased account.
The city government advised consumers to exercise caution as cheaper alternatives using abnormal routes are still available online, although some of the fraudulent businesses’ websites have been shut down.
In December, the streaming service hiked the subscription fee for its ad-free viewing premium service, YouTube Premium, for the first time in three years by roughly 43 percent, from 10,450 won ($7.85) to 14,900 won.
The premium service also allows its users to download videos from the platform for offline viewing.
Long-term subscribers who had benefitted from a moratorium on price hikes will face fee increases in April.
These long-term subscribers include those who started paying for the premium service before October 2020.
Meanwhile, KT, a telecommunications company that offers discounted YouTube Premium subscription services to its clients, will also raise its monthly fee from 9,450 won to 13,900 won in May.