Comments on: Are There Fake Profiles on LinkedIn?

By: Joel Don

Joel Don — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:07:14 +0000

Fake profiles on LinkedIn and how they are deployed to game/spam the system. http://bit.ly/c51zF1 #MProfsLink

By: Sean Martinez-Dantonet

Sean Martinez-Dantonet — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:54:03 +0000

Thank you. Sean Martinez-Dantonet

By: nealschaffer

nealschaffer — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:24:08 +0000

Thank you for your comment Sean. The person who claimed that you were a fake was not myself but someone who commented on my blog post. I urge you to try to contact her directly to try to clarify things. If I see further false claims by commenters I will consider blocking them or removing their comments.

- Neal

By: Sean Martinez-Dantonet

Sean Martinez-Dantonet — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:22:28 +0000

I am Sean Martinez-Dantonet !!! and there is nothing Fake about me or my practice! it is very unprofessional, not to mention just wrong to make statements about people based on some off the wall assumptions! it seems to me that you are defaming others at random in order to adversity your own business. shame on you. Sean Martinez-Dantonet BFRP

By: nealschaffer

nealschaffer — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:23:39 +0000

Hi Angela,

Well, I never mentioned any company name in my blog post. It was someone who commented after my blog who took the liberty of mentioning names. Either way, it goes to show that sometimes those who say they are "experts" in social media are sometimes the biggest fakes!

- Neal

By: angela neal

angela neal — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:33:35 +0000

Boy....you seem pissed off at socialmediamagic.com? Here are some more names which are fakes ...

Becky Bornstein
Mitchell Beck
Sean Martinez-Dantonet
Shawn (Teresa) McCollum
Stephen Herman
Jeff Weidner
Craig Laday

The biggest fake is John Souza himself who hides behind bogus companies. Beware of socialmediamarketing.com!

By: Michael Andreano

Michael Andreano — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:49:24 +0000

RT @TriumphCISO: Fake Profiles on #LinkedIn? Beware, verify ask for company & contact info. – http://is.gd/1Z3OR #cybersecurity #fraud

By: Neal Schaffer

Neal Schaffer — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:20:46 +0000

Thank you, whoever you are, for this information. I have not personally confirmed this, but should anyone confirm that the above is correct or incorrect, please inform us all on this comment board. Thank you!

By: withheld

withheld — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:28:58 +0000

Yes, there are fake profiles on Linkedin. In fact, here are examples of af few of about 700 profiles that all share the identical content except for the name, job title and company:

Michelle Garcia
Michael Rodriguez
Brian Clark
William Lee
Ruth Garcia
Paul Garcia
Betty Lee
Sandra Lewis
Kevin Clarke
Elizabeth Rodriguez
Patricia Robinson
Michael Garcia
Rodriguez, Steven
Edwards, Susan
Garcia, Nancy
Johnson, James
Lewis, Steven
Garcia, Linda
Thomas, Laura

The purpose of these profiles is to market a supposedly free webinar with a $149 value at this website:

Social Media Magic
http://www.socialmediamagic.com/vip/

The Co-founder of Social Media Magic, Stephen Jones (who knows if this is even his real name) should be ashamed of himself.

The only way to stop this is to:

- report it immediately to your Group Owner or Moderator whenever you see a post for it.
- file a complaint with Linkedin through “Help”
- call their phone number Toll Free: 888-500-2380
and demand to speak to Stephen Jones (they won’t let you) and leave a message complaing about their fake profiles and spam – if enough people call and jam their lines, they may get a taste of their own medicine and stop

This is what the fake profile looks like:

Connections 0 connections

Summary
SpecialtiesSocial Media, Social Promotion, Social Media Consulting, Social Media Strategy, WordPress, Branding, Trend-Spotting, Media Relations, Blogging, Viral Marketing, Media Training, New Business Development, Digital Marketing, SEM, Guerrilla Marketing, Public Relations, Podcasts, Wikis, Widgets, Plinking

Mission:
Making Social Media work for Companies and Individuals to achieve their goals on a simplified and turnkey basis.

We are recognized Social Media Strategists that can help you and your Company be most successful with LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media Platforms.

Social Media Workshops
Web 2.0 continues to evolve, our workshops are designed to help attendees stay informed of emerging trends and social media tools.

Social Media and Viral Marketing Consulting:
We provide expert advice to how to brand companies, products and services online. Our goals are to help individuals and companies expose and expand their brand online so their businesses grow.

How can we help you:
We help executives, companies, who need an experienced point of view on bringing their brand online. If you are unfamiliar with Social Media, Web 2.0 applications, or Social Networking, We can help you easily and effortlessly overcome this fear.

I have withheld my name as I don’t want to become a target for these unscrupulous spammers.

By: How Can You Spot a Fake LinkedIn Profile? « LinkedIn Expert Advice & Insight through Your Questions – A LinkedIn Blog that Goes Beyond the “Official” Explanations

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:25:05 +0000

[...] You Spot a Fake LinkedIn Profile? This is actually a follow-up to a post I did recently on Are There Fake Profiles on LinkedIn? At that time I found proof of a few people with fake profiles that I shared with everyone. And [...]