Whether conducting a pre-employment inquiry, innocently responding to a request to connect professionally, performing due diligence relating to a business deal or investigating suspected insurance or business fraud, be aware that the creation of fake online profiles for a variety of fraudulent purposes is dramatically increasing.
LinkedIn and other professional social media sites are targeted by fraudsters who want to legitimize an online profile, and to the unsuspecting user, these scamming portrayals can appear very authentic. Certified Fraud Examiner Ryan Hubbs describes these sites as,
“a scammer’s playground where fake personas, fake opportunities, and identity theft and phishing scams are becoming more prevalent and more creative. From stolen photos to copied résumés, it is becoming more difficult to truly certify if that new connection really exists or not.”
Here are some guidelines that Research North, Inc. (RNI) investigators employ to identify this type of online fraudulent activity:
- Does it pass the too good to be true test? Examine profile content, and ask yourself does this individual’s background make sense? Do their skillsets match education, experience, etc.
- Search the photo image and some of the phraseology on the Internet to see if one or both actually belong to someone else or are copied on other profiles.
- Check for spelling and writing errors since the creator’s first language may not be English.
Business and professional social media sites can be effective tools to satisfy a variety of needs. Approach carefully, however, recognize that content can be manufactured and understand that entire profiles can be fake.
Research North, Inc. (RNI), is a professional private detective service providing support to the business community, the insurance industry and individuals in Michigan and Wisconsin since 1981. The company also offers pre-employment background checks to small and medium sized businesses through a subsidiary called Backgroundcheckswork.com that is fully staffed by professional investigators who are retired from law enforcement.
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