Fake AI-generated social media profiles
There are 1,600 LinkedIn profiles with the name Lucy Zhang. The fabricated LinkedIn identities pair AI-generated profile photos with text lifted from legitimate accounts.
Ok, this is getting ridiculous.
Lucy Zhang, a young model-looking entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, partner, and Harvard MBA, says she is looking for “excellent talents worth cultivating" on LinkedIn. Apparently, she wants to “learn and grow together."
Lucy sent me the following LI message: "Hi! Recommender on LinkedIn, nice to meet you. We hope to communicate with each other through LinkedIn and learn and grow together. LinkedIn is the world's largest workplace platform. There are many excellent talents worth cultivating here."
Is the intention of this contact request to influence and gather intelligence (i.e., honey-trap), or is it a financial scam? Only the person who set up the fake account knows. There are 1,600 LinkedIn profiles with the name Lucy Zhang.
Members waste valuable time blocking and reporting fake accounts. I reported at least a dozen over the last two days. Many have the same face as Lucy Zhang – the fabricated LinkedIn identities pair AI-generated profile photos with text lifted from legitimate accounts.
When is LinkedIn going to stop this fake account [contact request] harassment and fix the problem? We know how to report fake accounts because we do so every day, sometimes all day long. Hence the harassment.
According to the Global Anti-Scam Organization, a victim advocacy and support group, the majority of perpetrators are based in Southeast Asia.
#linkedin get rid of fake accounts! They’re worse than spam. Many are set up to steal from those who contact them, sometimes taking their life savings.
Stop the fraud and reduce the odds of LinkedIn members becoming victims! The perpetrators are aided and empowered by your platform.
Just one of the many reasons why I left that platform a while back - too many bogus and annoying requests to 'link up,' not to mention the unbearably restrictive 'professional pretense' of the platform! Talk about a fish tank for group think! No thanks.