The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that consumer complaints related to YouTube Premium account-sharing services are continuing to rise.

A total of 202 consumer complaints regarding YouTube Premium account-sharing services were filed with the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center between January and August of this year.

By category, contract changes and non-fulfillment accounted for the largest share with 144 cases, followed by operation suspension, closure, and unreachability with 33 cases, and contract cancellation and refunds with 25 cases.

Broken down by age group, individuals in their 20s and 30s accounted for the vast majority with 152 cases.

They were followed by those in their 40s with 28 cases, those in their 50s with 15 cases, and those aged 60 and older with 7 cases.

Complaints stood at a mere 7 cases in 2023, but surged to 229 cases in 2024 and 488 cases in 2025.

The city explained that consultation cases surged after the monthly subscription fee for the premium service increased significantly from 10,450 won to 14,900 won in December 2023.

According to the city, account-sharing service providers mainly operated by adding buyers' Google accounts as family members to family plans sold overseas.

Google has previously deemed this as abnormal usage and taken measures to suspend the service.

In response, providers also utilized methods of subscribing via VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) in countries where individual plans are cheaper compared to South Korea, but these services are also being cut off due to recent crackdowns by Google.

The city advised users not to make long-term prepaid subscription payments, warning that even if users pay 6 months to a year's worth of subscription fees in advance to account-sharing companies, services can still be interrupted due to Google's sanctions.

Furthermore, as family and student plans are not supported for domestic users, the city has requested Google to make efforts to broaden user choices.

Lee Yeon-hwa, head of the Fair Economy Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, stated, "As YouTube Premium subscription fees continue to rise, consumers need to exercise caution to prevent situations where those trying to save on subscription fees end up suffering damages due to service interruptions." Lee added, "While supporting damage consultations, we will monitor new types of consumer damage emerging in online transactions and strive to prevent damages and protect consumers."

(Photo provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government, Yonhap News)