Fake profiles on LinkedIn

[Sdorica]

Are they common? I have no idea why one would do that. They have a lot of connections, mostly job seekers. Maybe trying to gather sensitive information?

Try searching "FSA, FCAS, CFA, PhD" for example. I randomly came across this guy while trying to find someone with the most number of credentials and letters, but soon realized it's a fake profile. I sent email to his "current" company's generic inbox about potential impersonation but they don't seem to care heh.

[TDH]

Why would you care

[Tom]

Yes there are fake profiles claiming to work at real companies, and LinkedIn is perfectly ok with that. It’s even outlined in their TOS that they don’t verify employment.

They also don’t give the companies any ability to remove these people as employees. Furthermore, these fake accounts are usually out of your network, so you can’t even see how they’re representing themselves on your company’s behalf.

There are scams where people pretend to be HR professionals, give fake interviews, and regardless of how bad you do, YOU’RE HIRED... now just fill out this W2, complete with SSN, name, address, etc.

It’s amazing that LinkedIn would allow this to run rampant on their platform, but after talking to their customer service about this numerous times, I’m no longer surprised. They are the MySpace of networking.

[ShivamS]

i noticed this for the first time the other day. A few people I worked with who didn’t have the title (and didn’t work in the industry/group) that they put on LinkedIn.

[whoanonstop]

Originally Posted by Tom

They are the MySpace of networking.

Wait. Weren't you the founder of MySpace?

-Riley