Running Red Lights with Darth Vader, Bruce Wayne, Batman, Clark Kent, Superman, Satan, Dr. Evil, Mr. Chow and All Mighty God

By Jim Yenzer

When is enough enough?  The number one non violent crime in America is identity theft.  Perhaps the new age social media society has itself to blame.  You can search anything on Google and it reveals so much information especially when people are the subject.  Searching words is just the beginning, you can search words, voice and images.  Information is power and it is also a weapon. Just ask John McClane from Die Hard who’ LinkedIn’s account was closed recently.  https://www.dhirubhai.net/pub/johnmcclane/20/62b/b94 The success of LinkedIn’s increasing number of members to 414 million is actually the problem.  The achilles heel of LI is the more successful it becomes the more it transforms into a one stop shopping center for stalkers, thieves and trolls.  There is a treasure trove of data on LinkedIn including listed birthdays of members, phones numbers, emails, projects they are working on etc.  It is unwise to post personal information like birthdays on a public site.   

LinkedIn has made some progress since my last article with respect to the control, content and the empowering of users with the management of information.  LinkedIn allows members to block others feed.  For example, if they are constantly pestering members with too many unimportant updates, useless puzzles, political option or non business related materials members can now filter it out.  One can hide an individual post if there is something that is of no interest to the member or is offensive. LinkedIn uses a third party system that allows members to report fake and false profiles however it does little if anything to promote this tool.  LI needs to educate the public on this tool and how to make the platform safer even if that means empowering the users to action.  In the upcoming follow up article this tool will be featured and explained.  New key security features need to be put in place as LinkedIn becomes a more dangerous place with the number of hackers on LinkedIn continually growing.  The problem was so apparent that LinkedIn filed suit against fake accounts as explained in the Bloomberg article.  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-01-07/linkedin-sues-unknown-hackers-over-thousands-of-fake-accounts

More advances are required for member safety and security to permanently improve user experience and significantly reduce fake accounts. The suit which went from the John Doe defendants to HiringSolved represents LI’s own admission that fake accounts are a problem and LinkedIn is having difficulty making a meaningful dent on the growing number of fake accounts.  New accounts coming from China contribute to fake account growth.  LI’s success growing to 414 million users represents a treasure trove of data for hackers and predators.

Eric Vanderburg, a cybersecurity investigator, has been involved in
numerous investigations explained, "Users need to scrutinize profiles before they accept a connection request.  Make sure the profile is complete with descriptions for work experience, a profile picture that does not look like a generic internet photo, and has a realistic-sounding name." Below is a snapshot of open LinkedIn accounts with their URL’s that are fake. It demonstrates the lack of real commitment by LI to bring about change.  When will LinkedIn take action and close them?  Perhaps when they are so embarrassed they are forced into action.

Papa Smurf, Chewy Chewbacca, Obi Wan Ken Obi, Bruce Wayne, Batman, Al Bundy, Satan, Dr. Evil, Scrooge McDuck, Mr. Chow and All Mighty God, just to name a few.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/papa-smurf-2976ba50

 https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/chewy-chewbacca-0a54aa71

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/obi-wan-ken-obi-13458b66/en

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/brucewayne

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/batman-bruce-wayne-43275131

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/al-bundy-01037829

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/satan-s-helper-861a663

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/dr-evil-a8074831

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/scrooge-mcduck-79a5735a

https://th.linkedin.com/in/mr-chow-5bb45038

https://nl.linkedin.com/in/god-all-mighty-81125211

https://il.linkedin.com/in/god-all-mighty-44138b13

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/the-all-mighty-god-c-boss-74043342

https://ru.linkedin.com/in/god-god-a1783310b/en

https://ru.linkedin.com/in/god-god-a1783310b/en

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/jehovah-god-ab97a83a

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/emiliya-petkova-8b6820ba

The less sophisticated fake profiles are surviving with impunity.  The stakes are high.  LinkedIn recently lost half its market cap after the earnings conference call not that long ago.   We can all do our part to change and make LinkedIn better by being more vigilant.  Please share the petition with others in the hopes to stop the growing number of fake accounts and alter the anonymous searching feature on LinkedIn.  Together we can all make a difference.  https://www.change.org/p/linkedin-must-stop-the-aggressive-proliferation-of-fake-accounts-before-the-damage-is-irreversible

To learn more about the author visit his LinkedIn page: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/jimyenzer