{"id":1287,"date":"2023-10-05T12:18:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T19:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/blog\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2023-10-05T12:18:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T19:18:31","slug":"where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\/","title":{"rendered":"[Infographic] Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Internet has become <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-find-hidden-profiles-on-social-networks\/\">a world of social media<\/a> and connections. Whatever your wish or desire, you can find it online and find people who share commonalities with even your most unorthodox interest.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From?<\/h2>\n[aesop_image  img=&#8221;https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/social-catfish-fake-social-media.png&#8221; panorama=&#8221;off&#8221; imgwidth=&#8221;100%&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; captionposition=&#8221;left&#8221; revealfx=&#8221;off&#8221; overlay_revealfx=&#8221;off&#8221;]\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>You can use this on your site with the following code:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><textarea style=\"width: 75%; padding: 10px; margin-top: 15px;\" readonly=\"readonly\" rows=\"7\"> &lt;a href=&#8221;https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\/\u201d&gt;&lt;img src=&#8221;https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/social-catfish-fake-social-media.png\u201d alt=&#8221;Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From?\u201d width=&#8221;500\u2033 border=&#8221;0\u2033 \/&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;br \/&gt;Source: &lt;a href=&#8221;https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\u201d&gt;SocialCatfish.com&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;br \/&gt;<\/textarea><\/p>\n<p><b>With the bounty of internet expansion, fake profiles and accounts have increased exponentially. <\/b>According to research, there are now 11% MORE <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-find-out-if-someone-is-on-social-media\/\">fake social media accounts<\/a> created for fraudulent purposes just from the years 2014 to 2016 alone. The ramifications of this are huge. It means that it\u2019s no longer a question of <i>if <\/i>you\u2019ll come into contact with a fake <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/spotting-unfamiliar-activities-on-your-accounts\/\">account<\/a>, but <b><i>when<\/i><\/b><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i> <\/i><\/b><strong>Who are all these \u2018fake\u2019 users?<\/strong> Ever wonder what would happen if you could <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-find-someone-with-a-picture\/\">digitally unmask fake profiles<\/a> from their computer screen? Sites like <a href=\"http:\/\/SocialCatfish.com\">SocialCatfish.com<\/a> have done the expose for you and found that fraudulent users are just the tip of the iceberg:<\/p>\n[aesop_video  src=&#8221;youtube&#8221; id=&#8221;jHPEP-rp-WM&#8221; width=&#8221;100%&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; disable_for_mobile=&#8221;off&#8221; loop=&#8221;off&#8221; controls=&#8221;off&#8221; autoplay=&#8221;off&#8221; mute=&#8221;off&#8221; viewstart=&#8221;off&#8221; viewend=&#8221;off&#8221; revealfx=&#8221;off&#8221; overlay_revealfx=&#8221;off&#8221;]\n<p><strong>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Social_bot\">Social Bot<\/a>:<\/strong> Fake users might be real users hiring bots or companies using bots to promote products. These days, Bots aren\u2019t always after your money or <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/credit-card-fraud\/\">credit card<\/a> info. Often they are <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/social-media-privacy-settings-how-to-make-your-social-media-account-private\/\">after your <i>follows.<\/i><\/a> Indeed, Calder Wilson is one professional photographer who tried BOTTING in 2015, to see if it would help an Instagram account get more followers. The results were effective. Instead of time and effort, by paying <a href=\"https:\/\/quantummarketer.com\/instagress-alternatives\/\">a site called Instagress<\/a>, significantly more followers were gained than a real account. A bot had several thousands more followers in half the time, with only about 5 minutes of real-life maintenance from Wilson, per <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/top-10-most-catfished-photos-for-the-month-of-the-week\/\">week<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>What do these bots do? <\/b>Everything a person can without the authenticity of meaning it. They can like pages and even post comments. When the results of using a Bot mean having new likes in the thousands, it can be tempting for a new user, business, or <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-find-someone-online-find-social-media-phone-numbers-and-more\/\">social media<\/a> savvy user to buy likes. One company, Mediakix promoted pages through botting, at a rate of $3-$8 per 1k followers and\u00a0 $4-$9 per 1k likes. <b>What happened? <\/b>Within these <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-report-fake-accounts-on-instagram\/\">fake accounts<\/a>, 4 PAID BRAND SPONSORSHIP DEALS with beverage and clothing brand companies were secured. Not bad for some extra money spent!<\/p>\n<p><b>2. COPYCATS &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/social-media-influencers-and-celebrities-use-photoshop-hide-their-flaws-social-media-platforms-crazy-catfish-story\/\">SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS:<\/a> <\/b>Not everyone posting memes really cares about the content. <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/social-media-influencers-photos-stolen-by-romance-scammers-fake-profiles-spike-during-coronavirus\/\">Some people post commonly<\/a> liked images and content just to garnish followers and likes.\u00a0 This can be done by bots, <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/12-signs-might-getting-catfished-online\/\">catfishers<\/a>, or even <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/social-media-influencers-how-to-protect-your-social-media-photos-from-getting-stolen-by-scammers\/\">social media savvy users<\/a> who think of their account as a business they need to promote. You may use a <a href=\"https:\/\/berify.com\/blog\/best-reverse-image-search-engines\/\">reverse image search engine<\/a> to find the original source of an image.<\/p>\n<p><b>3. Fake News: <\/b>Fake news is a term that 2016 ushered into the collective vocabulary. Whether it was about candidates or even stories or persons, a 2016 Stanford University study discovered 115 <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-spot-a-fake-facebook-profile\/\">fake Pro-Trump stories on Facebook<\/a> and 41 fake Pro-Clinton. While those numbers may not sound staggering on their own, the larger <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/military-catfish-military-mans-pictures-were-stolen-by-scammers-to-create-fake-profiles-and-steal-millions\/\">picture has shown 760 MILLION fake<\/a> news stories discovered to date, with that number only rising. If those <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/manti-teo-fake-girlfriend\/\">fake stories<\/a> were read to every adult in America, that would be 3 stories per adult.<\/p>\n<p>If you thought 2016 was the end of fake news, as <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-find-someone-with-a-picture\/\">many media outlets<\/a> became more aware and took action, the truth is that fake news accounts and campaigns on Twitter and Facebook continue to attract attention, belief, and spread discontent. Sometimes foreign entities get in on the action, the page \u201cBlacktivist\u201d was eventually tied to the Russian government.<\/p>\n<p><b>4. IMPERSONATORS:<\/b> Pulling the mask off of <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/what-is-catfishing-online-dating\/\">an impersonator<\/a> who was pulling the wool over one\u2019s eyes was how things used to be, before botting took hold. Yet impersonators and scammers still exist and find their kicks in social media and dating apps such as <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-find-someones-profile-on-tinder\/\">Tinder<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><b>Who are they? <\/b>People whose own lives are lacking in happiness or substance may take over a <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-report-a-suspected-fake-online-identity-2\/\">fake identity<\/a> by using a real person\u2019s photos or details. That might be all they do, or they can be more sinister and post embarrassing content, pretend to be a trusted friend. Oftentimes, the goal is financially motivating and impersonators are after cash in their pocket by faking relationships to get money or using automated phasing attacks to find user\u2019s passwords and sensitive <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/protecting-your-credit-card-information-best-practices-for-secure-online-shopping\/\">credit card information<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>5. REAL PEOPLE: Not every <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-find-out-who-owns-an-instagram-account\/\">fake user has malevolent intent. Ever follow a funny dog who posts on Instagram<\/a>? Newsflash, it wasn\u2019t really the dog posting! An account for a pet, one made to play games or log in to other sites, to support a professional alter-ego or pen name, or to express one\u2019s self free of professional ramifications or tarnishing one\u2019s reputation are all more valid, less toxic, reasons to have a second or <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/find-people-by-photo\/\">third \u201cfake\u201d account.<\/a> The difference is that these users, while in some cases potentially violating a site\u2019s terms of service, are not out for monetary gain or to harm anyone.<\/p>\n<p><b>Within the same realm is a term called <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/how-to-find-someones-finsta-uncover-hidden-instagram-accounts-in-seconds\/\">FINSTAS. This primarily refers to Instagram accounts<\/a> users (or Twitter and Facebook) who create a separate account for their behind-the-scenes life with family and friends. While their public account might be very polished or only showcase a part of their life, they&#8217;re behind scenes account will be private, possibly not use the name connected with the popular account, and have more true to life, day to day posts, <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/image-search-mobile\/\">free of airbrushed photographs<\/a> or fancy commentary.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the reason you encounter any fake social media accounts, it can throw you for a loop if you trust any person or persona which is not what it seems. That is why <a href=\"http:\/\/SocialCatfish.com\"><b>SocialCatfish.com<\/b><\/a> recommends always using internet safety. Do not share personal info with people you haven\u2019t met in person and never, ever let your <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/online-payments-how-to-protect-yourself-from-fraud-and-keep-your-financial-information-safe\/\">financial information be at risk online<\/a>. Not sure if you\u2019re talking to a bot, impersonator, or real-life person? <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/\">Do a reverse search on Social Catfish now.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>We also wanted to thank <a href=\"http:\/\/zymanga.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zymanga.com<\/a> for helping us with some of the data for the infographic. If you don&#8217;t know the guys at Zymanga, they do <a href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/social-media-privacy-for-seniors-navigating-privacy-settings-and-protecting-personal-data\/\">social media data<\/a> for Instagram. They&#8217;re really good at it and we highly recommend you check them out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Internet has become a world of social media and connections. Whatever your wish or desire, you can find it online and find people who share commonalities with even your most unorthodox interest. Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From? [aesop_image img=&#8221;https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/social-catfish-fake-social-media.png&#8221; panorama=&#8221;off&#8221; imgwidth=&#8221;100%&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; lightbox=&#8221;off&#8221; captionposition=&#8221;left&#8221; revealfx=&#8221;off&#8221; overlay_revealfx=&#8221;off&#8221;] You can use this on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[98,97,99],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips","tag-fake-social-media","tag-fake-social-media-accounts","tag-ghost-account"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/My-Post.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"David McClellan","author_link":"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/author\/david-m\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the bounty of internet expansion, fake profiles and accounts have increased exponentially. According to research, there are now 11% MORE fake social media accounts created for fraudulent purposes just from the years 2014 to 2016 alone. The ramifications of this are huge.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the bounty of internet expansion, fake profiles and accounts have increased exponentially. According to research, there are now 11% MORE fake social media accounts created for fraudulent purposes just from the years 2014 to 2016 alone. The ramifications of this are huge. It means that it\u2019s no longer a question of if you\u2019ll come into contact with a fake account, but when.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scamfish - A Consumer Protection Publication - SocialCatfish.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialCatfish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-05T19:18:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-05T19:18:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/social-catfish-fake-social-media2-2.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David McClellan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"With the bounty of internet expansion, fake profiles and accounts have increased exponentially. According to research, there are now 11% MORE fake social media accounts created for fraudulent purposes just from the years 2014 to 2016 alone. The ramifications of this are huge. It means that it\u2019s no longer a question of if you\u2019ll come into contact with a fake account, but when.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/social-catfish-fake-social-media2-2.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@socialcatfish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@socialcatfish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David McClellan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David McClellan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/acb5f367f717a1bcd8011a20a896f884\"},\"headline\":\"[Infographic] Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-05T19:18:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-05T19:18:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1143,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/My-Post.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"fake social media\",\"fake social media accounts\",\"ghost account\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Tips &amp; Resources\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/\",\"name\":\"Where Do Fake Social Media Accounts Come From?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/where-do-fake-social-media-profiles-come-from\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/socialcatfish.com\\\/scamfish\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/My-Post.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-05T19:18:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-05T19:18:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"With the bounty of internet expansion, fake profiles and accounts have increased exponentially. 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According to research, there are now 11% MORE fake social media accounts created for fraudulent purposes just from the years 2014 to 2016 alone. The ramifications of this are huge. 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