Member-only story
LinkedIn published an update during August 2019, describing how it is successfully fighting against fake profiles on the network. Between January and June 2019, it took action against 21.6 million fake accounts, preventing 19.5 million fake accounts from being created at registration and restricting two million fake accounts before members reported them and 67,000 following member reports (linkedin.com).
Even though the numbers of stopped fake profiles is impressive, imagine how many fake profiles LinkedIn didn’t block and how many are still there — and how many fake profiles scammers will try to create in the future.
For some groups and companies, the fake profiles they created become the way they earn money. They are scraping our profiles and selling that data to other companies, who are using our data for talent mapping or to create a list of people to target with business proposal and investments.
Fake profiles are always going to be part of any network or social site because they are a good way for some people to earn money and for others to get information about competitors or from the market. You can learn how to spot them, but they are not going to disappear.
I performed various tests over the past twelve months, and here are the top reasons why fake LinkedIn profiles exist and why they are not going to disappear anytime soon.
Top Reasons Why Fake LinkedIn Profile Exists
1. Collect Email Addresses
This reason was the primary reason for a few years, but after the LinkedIn make it harder to access people’s email addresses, scammers stop trying to get email addresses this way. However, people still post their email addresses on private profiles that are not accessible publicly via Google, so scammers create fake profiles collect email addresses.
2. Sell and Offer Services
Some people are looking for easy ways to grow their networks quickly or get endorsements that give them credibility. That is why it is so easy to buy fake connections for likes or endorsements. People are buying fake likes to appear as influencers, and that’s why websites offer fake connections and fake…
