Cybercriminals have been increasingly using fake LinkedIn profiles over the past year in order to get access to members and collect contact information. The scammers commonly disguise themselves as recruiters and target people in a range of sectors such as Information Security.
LinkedIn has over 400 million users across the world, with 33 million of them being based in India. This makes it a prime target for cybercriminals who are looking to map out a business professional’s network. The fake account allows them to establish a reputation for trustworthiness among peers, which serves to support more connections.
The scammers thus get access to addresses and phone numbers, which can be used to send things like spear-phishing emails. LinkedIn worked with Symantec to get rid of these false profiles. Many of the accounts followed the same drill. First, they pretend to be recruiters from fake businesses. This works in their favor as members expect to be contacted by hirers.
Second, the swindlers use unoriginal photographs, mostly of women, which are sourced from real professionals or stock photo sites. Symantec used reverse picture search tools like TinEye and Google Search by Image to confirm this. Third, the cybercriminals copied the text for the Summary and Experience section word-for-word from an actual user’s profile.
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Fourth, the scammers tended to cram their fake LinkedIn page with keywords like Exploration Manager, Cargo Securement Training and Reservoir Engineer. This was done in order to gain visibility through the site’s built-in search engine. Con artists usually used keywords which were related to the Logistics and Oil and Gas industries.
Symantec advises LinkedIn members to be skeptical of whom they add in their circles. If the user doesn’t know the person, they shouldn’t add them. To check for fake accounts, they can perform a reverse image search or copy the person’s profile information into a tool to find out if they’re real.