Your Quick Answer:
To tell if a social media is fake or real check the display picture of the user and see if it has the real photo of the user or not.
The profile that is not fake mostly has real pictures as display pictures. The fake ones use stock photos or just any random downloaded pictures on their profile.
You’ll also need to check and see if the user has spam links on his profile bio or not.
Check the post section and see if the user posts regular stuff or if his account has only posts related to advertising products or promotional stuff.
You can also check the previous post and analyze it by seeing its reactions and comments.
Check if the account is verified or not to be entirely sure whether the is pretending to be someone else it not.
Tools such as Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Sendible can also help you analyze and find which account is fake and which is real.
How to Tell if a Social Media Account is Fake:
You have to look at these things:
1. Stock Photo or Not Real Faces
Fake accounts on social media are not rare these days which are made to scam people with financial frauds. But if you make yourself known to the signs of a fake profile or a fake account, you’ll be able to keep yourself safe from being cheated by fake accounts on social media platforms.
The first thing that you need to look for is the profile picture of the page or the account. In the case of a real account, the profile picture will always have the real faces of the owner or even the logo of the company. But in case the picture is fake, it will not have the real picture of the person.
Instead, you’ll find that the display picture will have random images or stock pictures that are not linked to the business. You may find the faces of celebrities kept as profile pictures even.
2. Spam Links on Profile (i.e. Links)
On the bio of the normal or real profile, we don’t usually see spam links but just the link to the website that’s associated with the page or the organization. However, on the bio of the fake profile, you’ll find links to the profile bio and even posts without any proper description about it.
These links are meant to track the followers and friends of the account who will click on them. Sometimes malware and spyware are associated with these kinds of links which get installed on your device once you click on them. Therefore, when you’re suspicious that a profile is fake or a link is associated with spyware, you should never click on it. Block the profile and even report it so that it can be taken down by the authorities.
3. No Real Posts and Promote Products
Next, you need to look for the profile posts that are being uploaded by the account that you suspect to be fake. If the account is real then its post will include pictures, videos, and other informative content that can help his friends and followers to gain information about his lifestyle or the brand.
However, if it’s a fake profile, you’ll not find the normal post but just an advertising or promotional post of stuff that’s unrelated to the account. You’ll also find links attached to the posts asking users to click on them and check out the products.
However, these links will not be of some verified websites or verified online companies but some third-party sites that are most probably fake. When you find that a profile has no real posts, you need to count it as fake.
4. Previous Posts & Analyze Followers
When you’re suspicious that an account is fake on any of the social media platforms, you’ll need to check its activities to know all about its previous post so that you can analyze the account and its followers.
You need to check the likes and comments on the previous post and see the number of friends and followers that the account or user has. If the account is real then you’ll find a significant reaction to its post as well as a long list of followers and friends list too.
However, if the account is fake then you’ll not find any mutual friends nor you’ll see any reactions to his profile post. You’ll also see that the user has very few followers or friends with random names or nicknames which sound fake too.
5. Check for Verified Account Mark
When a profile claims to be the official page of a reputed company or an organization, you’ll always need to check for the verified badge next to its profile name. Many fake profiles are created using the fake usernames of reputed companies and organizations to scam people and get money out of them.
These fake pages use the logo of the companies and send messages pretending to be officials from the organization asking for personal details from other users.
However, social media platforms verify most of their pages that are associated with reputed brands, companies, and organizations which help users to understand that the page is authentic. If you don’t see a blue verified badge icon next to the profile name, you’ll understand that it’s a fake account.
Social Media Account Checker:
Try the following tools:
1. Sprout Social
One of the best social media management tools that can analyze and find out whether an account is fake or real is Sprout Social. This is a very popular tool that offers four different types of price plans from which you can choose.
It’s built with many advanced features that help you know easily whether an account is fake or real:
⭐️ Features:
◘ You can check an account’s previous post and sort it according to dates.
◘ It shows the user’s followers and friends list.
◘ You can check the account creation date and user bio details.
◘ You can check whether the bio details are fake or real.
◘ It shows the reactions to posts.
◘ You can find out if the profile picture is downloaded or real.
🔗 Link: https://sproutsocial.com/
🔴 Steps To Follow:
Step 1: You’ll need to visit the Sprout Social website.
Step 2: Then click on the Start your free trial.
Step 3: Select a plan.
Step 4: Next, you need to click on the Authorise app button to connect your profile with other social media profiles.
Step 5: Select any social media account.
Step 6: Then click on Connect.
Step 7: Click on Next.
Step 8: Click on Get Started.
You need to search for the profile and find the user’s profile details in the report to know if the account is fake or not.
2. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is another popular tool that can be used for finding out whether a profile on social media is fake. You can connect your LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles to it and analyze any profile on it.
⭐️ Features of Hootsuite:
◘ You can know if a profile is new or old.
◘ It shows the previous post and its comments.
◘ You can see the bio and details.
◘ It shows the reactions list and viewers list too.
◘ You’ll be able to find the engagement rate of every post in graphs and statistics.
◘ It shows the last active status of the account.
◘ You can find any information of fake.
🔗 Link: https://www.hootsuite.com/
🔴 Steps To Follow:
Step 1: Open the Hootsuite tool.
Step 2: Then you need to click on the Sign Up button.
Step 3: Next, you’ll have to create your Hootsuite account by selecting a Hootsuite plan.
Step 4: Once you plan on the Hootsuite dashboard, you need to click on Add social account and connect your social media profile.
Next, you need to search for the accounts and then find if it’s fake or real from the report.
3. Sendible
The trusted tool Sendible can be used for managing as well as finding if a social media profile is fake or real. It offers a free trial and comes at a reasonable price rate.
You’ll be able to connect any of your social media profiles with Sendible to analyze and find whether a profile is fake or real.
⭐️ Features:
◘ You can find the reaction on the post of the user.
◘ It even shows the last seen time and date.
◘ You can get to see the information and check its rate of authenticity.
◘ It shows the friends and followers list.
◘ You can get to know the user’s profile location too.
◘ You can find out the user’s email and phone number.
◘ It can detect spam links and posts.
🔗 Link: https://www.sendible.com/
🔴 Steps To Follow:
Step 1: Open the Sendible tool.
Step 2: Click on the Free trial and then you’ll need to fill up the form to sign up.
Step 3: Click on Create account button.
Step 4: Once you land in the dashboard, click on Profiles from the top panel.
Step 5: Click on the social media account that you want to connect by clicking on Add.
Step 6: Search for the account which you think might be fake.
It will show the analysis report where you’ll be able to check if it’s fake or real.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What are the signs of a fake Social Media account?
The signs or indications that can help you know a profile is fake is when a profile doesn’t use a real profile photo, doesn’t post regular stuff on the account, or never likes others’ posts either.
Even if you see the user asking for personal information via DMs or doesn’t have many reactions to his profile post, it indicates that the account is fake.
2. Can Someone go to Jail for Making a Fake Instagram Account?
No, someone won’t be taken to prison just for simply creating a fake Instagram profile. But it depends on how the user is using his fake Instagram account.
If the user is using the fake account to promote hate, bully others, or even scam people, it can get him into trouble as these are illegal activities. However, if he doesn’t use his fake account for any illegal activities but just to check on others he won’t be taken to prison.
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