Fake Profiles in Online Services

Fake Profiles are all over the Internet. It is almost expected if that half the profiles online are fakes. Facebook? Fake. Match.com? Almost certainly fake.

But LinkedIn profiles? Where professionals go to get networked? Plenty of fakes there too.

Linkvarrk.com have found and busted quite a few fakes, where fakers borrowed photos from other websites to create fake employees for (their own?) firms and such or just put up fake pictures.

And it's amazing how easy it is to find fakes now... If you just use TinEye the image search engine.

Here's one example: Susan Burgos on LinkedIn

http://linkvaark.com/2010/12/05/meet-susan-burgos-angel-johns-mentor/#comments

(borrowing this screenshot from Linkvaark)

Except that's a picture of a makeup artist called Petra Strand

http://www.beautyinthebag.com/wordpress/beauty-gurus/brand-pioneers/petra-strand-pixi/

Can you say... BUSTED?!

Related articles

• "Persona management": how automated fake profiles threaten the heart of online community (robcottingham.ca)