• Home
  • Blog
    • Business Partner Magazine Archive
  • Resources
  • About Us
    • Cookie Policy
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Website Use
  • Contacts

Business Partner Magazine

Tips and advice for entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs

  • Business Success
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Employees
  • Technology
  • Start-up
  • Productivity
  • Communication

What is Influencer Fraud and How Can You Avoid It?

November 19, 2021 by BPM Team

Click here to get this post in PDF

Too long to read? Enter your email to download this post as a PDF. We will also send you our best business tips every 2 weeks in our newsletter. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Enter your NameEnter your Email Address
Young woman influencer making a selfie

White collar crime is sadly a recurring theme in modern life, both in movies and the news. Real or not, fraud has always existed. But thankfully, in today’s digital world, some instances of it are more difficult to cover up.

As influencer marketing has expanded into a multi-billion-dollar industry, it’s no surprise that influencer fraud has also grown to be fairly common. Influencers have learned how to manipulate their profiles to seem more attractive in order to do brand collaborations to collaborate with.

But, just as profiles can be manipulated, they can also be analyzed to reveal that fraud. You just need to know where to look.

What to be on the lookout for

The best way to catch influencer fraud is by thoroughly analyzing an influencer’s performance-driven statistics. You can get this info by asking an influencer for their media kit. Or, even better, use influencer software, which will show you performance metrics that you know the influencer hasn’t modified.

Below are some of the data points to look at when running this analysis.

Follower growth over time

This is the growth of an influencer’s followers over time. The best type of growth is organic, which means the influencer attracts followers for their content. This type of growth is usually slow, but steady. 

If you see sudden dramatic increases in follower count, dig deeper. First take a look at the influencer’s content around the time of the spike, and Google them, too. Did they host a giveaway? Did they appear on a TV show? Did they have a video go viral? Any of these could be logical explanations.

Line graph of follower evolution

A sharp spike like this should be investigated.

But if you can’t find anything like that, those spikes in growth might be showing you times when the influencer bought fake followers. 

Engagement rate

Engagement rate measures how much the audience interacts with an influencer’s content. When followers trust an influencer and enjoy their content, they’re more likely to like it or comment on it. Good engagement is good for your brand, as the audience will be more receptive to the branded content.

So, what’s the average engagement rate? It varies based on social network, category, and follower range. TikTok creators and Twitch streamers, for example, don’t have the same benchmarks.  Neither do micro influencers and mega influencers.

If an influencer bought followers, they’ll probably have a very low engagement rate. On the other hand, if you see an influencer with a very high engagement rate, they may have purchased fake likes or comments. So, before you contact anyone for a collaboration, check how their engagement stacks up.

Audience authenticity

Take a look at the influencer’s audience and get a sense of which percentage might be bots. This is easiest with influencer marketing software because you can get an immediate, AI-powered analysis. 

Green and gray pie chart followers data

An analysis from influencer software.

Here are some warning signs common in bots:

  • No profile picture
  • Unnatural names, like nonsensical combinations of letters, words or numbers
  • No uploaded content, or minimal content designed to advertise
  • Very low amount of followers compared to following
  • No, or extremely vague, biography or personal information 

What to Do if You Encounter Influencer Fraud

If you think you’ve encountered influencer fraud, you can report it. Many social networks address fake engagement, automated comments and other types of fraud in their community guidelines. 

And thankfully, there’s no shortage of real influencers looking for collaborations. So do your due diligence with the metrics above, and you’re bound to find a hard-working, creative individual who can open new roads for your product or brand.

Conclusion

Always be on the lookout for fraud when finding influencers for a campaign. Carefully analyze each profile to make sure you don’t end up investing your marketing budget on someone with a fake audience. And when you find someone with healthy stats and who aligns with your brand, then it’s time to reach out to initiate a collaboration.

You may also like: How To Protect Yourself From Business Fraud?

Image source: Unsplash.com

Filed Under: Security Tagged With: Fraud, influencers, security

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Disclosure

We earn commissions if you shop through the links on this page.

Recent Posts

  • Everything You Need to Know About Selling Your Company
  • Flam raises $14M to scale AI infrastructure for brand and marketing industry globally
  • How Profit Tracking Software Can Increase Business Profitability
  • How to Protect Your Business and Assets After a Car Accident: Essential Strategies for Entrepreneurs
  • Collision Economy: How Car Accidents Fuel a Hidden Business Ecosystem

Categories

Archives

Tags

Accounting bitcoin brand business growth business skills business success communication cryptocurrency Customer Service Data design Digital marketing ecommerce Efficiency employees Featured Article finance finances Health and Safety infographic insurance Investing investment legal legal services legal tips Management Marketing marketing strategy Outsourcing productivity property Real estate sales security SEO Social Media software starting a business startup Technology Trading Training website workplace

Innovation in Business MarTech Awards – Best SME Business Support Platform 2024 – UK

Innovation in Business MarTech Awards 2024 UK

CorporateLivewire: Innovation & Excellence Awards – Business Publication of the Year

CorporateLivewire: Innovation & Excellence Awards - Business Publication of the Year

Disclosure

We earn commissions if you shop through the links on this page.

Digital Marketing Agency

ReachMore Banner

Business Partner Magazine

Business Partner Magazine provides business tips for small business owners (SME). We are your business partner helping you on your road to business success.

Have a look around the site to discover a wealth of business-focused content.

Here’s to your business success!

Copyright © 2025 - Business Partner Magazine·

x