Spotting fake profiles

LinkedIn is the de-facto professional network that has dominated the space since it was launched in 2004. How do I know this? I have been on the network since September 2004. Interestingly, it began by simply allowing you to share your connections online, as an online listing of your professional Rolodex. There was no content angle, no premium option, no sales navigator, or any of the other snazzy features. The value proposition is quite clear and as a consumer product the first set of users helped propagate the same. Now 16 years later, we are looking at a network of 630 million professionals across the world. That’s HUGE! Yes, we have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp but to have this amount of concentration of professional network is the value. However, it’s worth pausing and thinking about the issues when a platform becomes too big.

Firstly, it is worth pausing to think about why Fake profiles on LinkedIn exist and what people get from it. The answer is sadly simple, they are after your data. It might be your data that you share every time you connect with someone on LinkedIn, it might be that they want to track your activity to see who you interact with, who you know, who you work with, and more. This is enough to prove that connecting with all is not necessarily the best strategy in the age of data and identity theft.

The good news is that these profiles are often easy to spot. It took me a long time to identify the different types and now it takes less than 10-15 seconds on a new connection request to see if the profile is Not Fake and worth connecting. Here’s how to spot Fake LinkedIn profiles, and to make sure you don’t connect with them. Following are nine things (disclaimer: not comprehensive) to look for in a not so legitimate LinkedIn profile:

1. Fake display pictures/photos

Some of the typical tell-tale signs begin here. The DP may be of some lesser-known actor or actress, or an image of a well-known public figure or some random stock image, obviously the cheesy smile and the bright white teeth ones that contradict the age/experience provided in their profiles. Simply doing a reverse image search using TinEye, Bing, or Google’s Reverse Image Search can help you to find the authenticity of the profile. Some profiles may contain an edited image in parts (blurring) etc. done.

2. Incomplete profile

Genuine profiles of real people typically include a mixture of personal details, such as causes, volunteering, hobbies, education, recommendations, and the use of the first person when writing the 'Summary' or 'Experience' sections. Fake ones lack legit information; hence end up adding way too much unnecessary info or no info at all. You often find that their profiles have multiple focuses. Meandering from their specialist fields shows their expertise may be narrow and lack depth. You can dig deep or just go with your gut in this case.

3. Limited connections 

Linkedin is all about connections and networking. An unknown profile, that doesn’t seem genuine or with connections, less than 100, is most likely a no-no. The exception is when they have a handful of skill endorsements, belong to several groups, and follow a couple of companies and influencers, not to mention, 100+ connections. In this scenario, checking for a trusted mutual connection will be helpful and also checking twice before confirming the connection. Time-consuming isn’t it? My first port of call has been to reject these.

4. Fake name

Just like the fake photos scammers use generic user names, or celebrity persona. They might use the same fake name with multiple profiles where the DP might differ or vice versa. So if you stumble upon such profiles multiple times, it might ring some bells if you come across it again or else as always a proper checking is advised.

5. Poor spelling and grammar

The assured presence of odd spellings of common names, colloquial spellings of company names in the work history, misspelled words is the welcome sign to “fake profile” land. If the bad grammar or bad typos don’t turn you off, the lack of sync with protocol in presenting professional info will definitely shine a light on the ‘fake’ ness :)

6. Suspicious work history

You can't expect everyone to receive education from a prestigious university and also have an elite job description from the beginning of their career. But the progress matters. One should go through the person's work history, skeptically. If the trajectory is not genuine enough or satisfying enough chances are, it's probably a fake. I have seen a lot of profiles that have a lot of similar types of employers (Ex: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Santander, etc or Consulting companies). One quick skim and you know it’s a hapless recruiter trying to get connected to candidates from those specific industries. I look at valid recommendations from employers to gauge if the person actually worked there.

7. Suspicious connection requests

If you get a request from the executive team of the largest corporations in the world or from someone else who isn’t likely to send you a LinkedIn request, out of the blue, it’s quite assuredly not them, but a scammer. You should always spend a moment investigating before you click accept. Double-check all your invites. In my case my network until 7.5 or 8k were people I know or had a connection with or some common underlying. After which I have been accepting selective requests, but not go around to doing a spring cleaning of my contacts.

8. Lack of engagement

A profile with no posts, no articles, no followers, and no activity or in other words a spiritless account screams "fake". These phony profiles will have very little updates on content and surreal conversations or engagement with other community members, just for the sake of it, which is quite easily identifiable.

9. Pitches for great business opportunities or jobs

As a LinkedIn user, one should also look out for suspicious “recruiters” and job offers. They might send you a connection request or even send you a message about a "job offer". They might provide you with some link and ask you to attach your resume so that they can access personal data and scam your data and money once you fall into the well-crafted trap.

10. Recommendations and Endorsements

If a profile has very good recommendations from credible and seemingly genuine people then you can rest assured that the profile is real. I have found out in several cases the spammer doesn’t really go into the details when it comes to creating and maintaining a fake profile. Look at a combination of recommendations and endorsements to determine that you are connecting to a genuine profile and not a FAKE.

You’ve come across a fake profile. Now what?

If and when you do come across a fake profile, you can report it to LinkedIn. Click 'Report/Block' to file the report and the reason which will help LinkedIn to understand the toxicity of the profile and it will be eventually taken down.

?What to do if you are scammed?

1. Send the suspicious email to [email protected].
2. Delete the email from your account.
3. If you clicked any of the links in the email, run your antivirus and spyware software to find and remove any cookies or malicious software.
4. If you gave out personal information such as a password or bank account number to a scammer, make sure to reset your password and /or contact your bank.

As you learn how to spot a fake LinkedIn profile and report it, you’ll not only avoid the pitfalls of connecting with the wrong people, but you’ll also help the LinkedIn community. I have cherished being part of LinkedIn for too long and after 1 job offer, several businesses/ $$$’s raised, connecting and making friends with interesting people; I am passionate about keeping the community sacrosanct.