I have noticed similar groups like this but never investigated further.

Since the start of the summer I started to check accounts I had suspicions of before curating.

It does add a little extra work and although I don't have whale status curation rewards I did work hard to create original content and stake my rewards to add value to the work of others and will not curate accounts that I feel are gaming the system.

Likewise I never curate accounts that have been on hive or pob for some time yet never stake a single token.

I do understand that some are living in difficult situations, but even a small amount of earned tokens staked shows at least an effort to support the communities they enjoy engaging in.

If aged accounts don't stake I won't curate.

Great detective work, I will follow your lead and start muting those accounts I see that are doing this.