LinkedIn Combats Fake Accounts

Finally, LinkedIn is addressing the issue of fake accounts. LinkedIn combats fake accounts with new exciting feature that will come out in the next few months.

The business-focused social media platform is a great place to meet other like-minded businesspeople and find new recruits, prospects, and opportunities.

However, due to the popularity of the platform, scammers are creating more and more fake profiles for malicious purposes.

Bot-like accounts are popping up all over. They spam people, using fake personas to trick people into downloading malware, and deceiving people into giving away personal information.

LinkedIn stores a large amount of information for all its users, including their employment history, contact information, skillset, and places of work. This information is all of value to a cybercriminal.

These fake accounts can be tricky to spot. These personas appear to work for reputable companies and look like actual people. Sometimes AI is able to make some convincing deepfake photos. The profiles are made to look authentic.

Changes to LinkedIn

In order for LinkedIn to combat these fake accounts, they will be making some changes to the platform, including a better account authentication process.

Microsoft, the company that owns LinkedIn, is working with secure identity platform Clear to make it easier to verify accounts using phone numbers, official IDs, and work email addresses.

The first test of this will happen in the US. However, if successful, we can anticipate a wider rollout over the next couple of months.

Accounts will receive a verification mark, similar to ones on Twitter, once it is provided with relevant information. But, unlike Twitter, LinkedIn will provide verification at no cost.

When we have more information, we’ll let you know, but in the meantime, if you need assistance keeping all of your accounts secure, contact us today!


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