A Sure Sign LinkedIn is Still Maturing
... or at least not always paying attention - happens during an accelerated growth curve so that might be unfair, with 2 new members joining every second these days.
For me the sure sign is the use of the Nigerian Scam via the platform. This is not the first one of these I've seen and probably not going to be the last either.
It started when I got an InBox mail from a Ms. Leila asking to connect. Like most invites it simply stated, "I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. - Alex" and as is my custom, I clicked on the profile pic and saw this -
Gosh what a burden to be in NY and to have 100kg of alluvial gold on deposit and unable to get it out of the country!!! How can I help this poor lady - NOT!
The estimated value is about $35k at $1,200 an ounce - a miscalculation by Ms. Leila to get attention, but really that's not the point. I've reported the account to LinkedIn and I'm pretty sure they'll remove the account, but I also see it as a sign of the platform maturing to the point where a general audience is using it by rote and ignoring the spam.
There was a time that spam was almost unheard of on LI - attempts to connect & message outside your network or create fake accounts was hard - now, apparently not so hard. Here is the inbox message she sent me too -
In a similar vein, I'm pretty sure Ms. Bosewell is either a twin sister of Martha Stewart or again, a spammer who is trying to grow past their 37 connections to create an air of credibility.
This is not a bash on LI, but rather an observation that LinkedIn can now be a platform that these kinds of scam can be attempted. We should all be careful.
It also shows how un-critical some members can be when accepting connections - Ms. Leila has 381 connections! Maybe she'll be able to get one of them to help her move the $30K of gold... out of Nigeria.
Director -Vasudhaiv Engineering Pvt Ltd (Ex. GM Mahindra&Mahindra Ltd)
10 年steven This is regular feature not only through Linkedin but through your inbox E amails for last more than a decade
So...did you help her? Heehee
Consultants ?? FUNDING Options - Debt & Equity ★ AI ★ Founder ★ Teacher ★ Author ★ us$10mm-$100mm+ CRE / its Tech Projects & Businesses
10 年Very good - "connector beware!"
General Counsel | Board Secretary
10 年In the early days (pre-photos) of LinkedIn I would run across fake profiles from time to time that were comic (I saw several Homer Simpson profiles). Then came the fake profiles that were fraudulent and insidious, used to seek employment by falsely claiming to work for a (usually US-based) company, or other benefits by inducing members to disclose personal information. Now we see the fraudulent and comic combined!
Marketing Manager at Ticare Implants
10 年Thanks Steven G. !! It is indeed a matter of awareness of this issue we are not used to on LinkedIn. I want to share here my experience as LI-holic. When I receive an invitaton, first thing I consider is relevance to my work. Well, this is easy in terms of industry + position, and it is easy aswell to spammers trying to reach some(digital)body like me. Second issue to the assessment is related to trust. And guess what is the secret indicator I use: Number of shared connections !! It's a perfect driver for spammers' algorithm :(