Is nothing sacred? Meta and Twitter get a lot of flak about bogus profiles, but bots have invaded LinkedIn, too.
LinkedIn removed 21m+ fake accounts between January and June — a ~28% increase compared to the previous six months, per CNBC. It also booted 87m+ scams and spam content.
For reference, LinkedIn claims 875m+ real users.
What do fake profiles do?
Try to swindle people out of money or data. According to experts, malicious accounts:
- Lure people to other websites — perhaps with fake career opportunities — where they collect info
- Trick people into crypto or financial scams
Why it matters
Just as romance scammers target people looking for love, LinkedIn scammers prey on people looking for work or opportunities — something bound to increase amid widespread layoffs.
Scammers benefit from LinkedIn’s professional nature and gain trust through profiles connected to respected businesses.
In August, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said of the 7k LinkedIn profiles that claimed to work for him, only ~50 did. Other fakers claimed to work for Apple and SpaceX.
What’s LinkedIn’s plan?
A security expert told CNBC that verifying identities would help, but it would also make it more difficult for real people to set up accounts.
Instead, LinkedIn now:
- Uses AI to detect and remove bad content, and checks for AI-generated profile pics
- Shows users when profiles were created and if they have verified contact info
- Warns users about suspicious messages
So, stay frosty, folks — and enjoy these tips for avoiding scammers.
