It has been announced that LinkedIn has introduced three new features to fight fake profiles and malicious use of the platform, including a new method to confirm whether a profile is authentic by showing whether it has a verified work email or phone number.
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Today criminals will regularly use social media platforms to con people out of money, so any move to protect users is a positive step.
LinkedIn in one of the most widely used platforms in the world and while it primarily attracts legitimate users, it also offers criminals with an avenue to commit fraud.
These scams range from criminals setting up fake profiles and advertising the sales of fake counterfeit goods, which can endanger people’s lives, to monetary scams where fraudsters set up spoofs of legitimate websites, advertise them on social media, and then con people into visiting them and handing over their financial information.
Furthermore, criminals also use social media to lure people into romance scams, or even to set up fake profiles pretending to be recruiters for legitimate organisations.
These scams cause irreparable emotional and financial damage and more need to be done by businesses and online platforms to protect users. If a business sees its site is being duplicated by criminals, they must ensure it is taken offline with speed and efficiency before it causes harm.