If your Spotify history includes these ‘fake’ bands you may have been HACKED
A report claims fraudsters are using a Spotify security flaw to make easy cash by inserting bogus tracks into people's playlists
HACKERS may be forcing Spotify users to listen to "fake" songs as part of an outlandish money-making scheme.
Unknown musicians are randomly popping up in people's private playlists, racking up thousands of listens and potentially hundreds of pounds.
Security experts suggest fraudsters are using a major security flaw to make easy cash by creating bogus Spotify musicians.
They then hack people's Spotify accounts and force them to play their "fake" tracks to game Spotify's system, which hands more money to artists the more times their tracks have been played.
The shady practice was uncovered by a recent .
It was sparked when music fans began reporting problems with a Spotify tool that showed users their most played artists of 2018.
The '2018 Wrapped' mini-site claimed some people's "favourite" artists were acts they had no memory of listening to.
A selection of mystery artists are involved in the scam.
They have names like Bergenulo Five, Bratte Night, DJ Bruej and Doublin Night, and their tracks are often short and simple, with few lyrics.
Spotify denies that accounts racking up plays of the "musicians" have been hacked, but has not explained how they're appearing on people's playlists.
The mystery artists
Here are some of the artists popping up in people's playlists...
- Bergenulo Five
- Onxyia
- Cappisko
- Hundra Ao
- Dj Bruej
- Doublin Night
- Bratte Night
- Funkena
The musicians raised suspicions because they seem to have little to no presence on the internet besides their Spotify profiles.
Many listeners report never actually searching for or playing tracks by the artists, but found that their music was logged in their listening history anyway.
It's possible people may have listened to these artists without realising – for instance, through Spotify's radio feature which plays you random tracks.
But experts suggest the "artists" may be hackers who have hijacked people's accounts to rack up plays on the streaming service.
The musicians mentioned in the BBC piece have since been removed from Spotify.
“These artists were removed because we detected abnormal streaming activity in relation to their content,” a Spotify spokesperson said.
They added: “We take the artificial manipulation of streaming activity on our service extremely seriously.
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"Spotify has multiple detection measures in place monitoring consumption on the service to detect, investigate and deal with such activity.
"We are continuing to invest heavily in refining those processes and improving methods of detection and removal, and reducing the impact of this unacceptable activity on legitimate creators, rights holders and our users."
Have you been hit by the Spotify scam? Let us know in the comments!
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