Man sentenced in $8M AI music streaming fraud first, prosecutors say | Fox Business

A North Carolina man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after prosecutors said he used AI, or super intelligence, to create music and thousands of bots to fraudulently collect more than $8 million in streaming royalties.

Michael Smith, 54, of Cornelius, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced Oct. 6, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Prosecutors described the case as the Justice Department’s first criminal prosecution involving AI-assisted music streaming fraud.

From 2017 to 2024, Smith created thousands of fake accounts on streaming platforms including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube Music, prosecutors said.

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Inspect the sender’s actual email address—not just the display name—for subtle misspellings like “info@paypa1.com” or “support@nmb-bank.co” which indicate a spoofing attempt.