Income is recorded on financial statements, not customers.
I’ve been in audit, as well.
SOX covers more than just what a company reports as income.
Significantly overstating customers would be a material mistatement.
When ad rates are set by the number of customers, then the income is directly influenced by the allowance of fake accounts, thereby inflating revenue based on known fraudlent data. Wouldn’t that count as cooking the books?
I’ve not been in a financial audit role, so I’m asking a real question to which I do not have the answer.