Instagram is full of fake accounts nowadays, and even after a recent mass cleanup where millions of fake accounts were removed, many still remain. But why is it so important to get rid of these fake accounts?

 

How Do Instagram Fake Accounts Impact Your Business

You may think that fake accounts are not your problem, but they can actually have a negative impact on your performance on the app. This is because fake Instagram accounts don’t engage with your posts, which can damage your reputation on the app. Additionally, Instagram doesn’t allow fake accounts, and if moderators suspect that you have purchased Instagram followers due to the number of fake accounts following you, your account may be limited, suspended, or even banned.

Now that you understand why fake accounts can be a problem, you may be wondering how to spot and stop them.

 

How to Spot Fake Accounts and Put a Stop to Them

From scammers to bots, here are five red flags to identify fake accounts:

Random Comments on Posts: When reading comments that may seem suspicious, look for generic or impersonal comments that are not relevant to the actual photo, as well as grammar or spelling mistakes that may indicate the comment was translated using an artificial translator.

Inconsistent Bio: Fake accounts often copy real Instagram bios, but with a few changes or inconsistencies. They may add an extra number, letter, or symbol to the original bio, or they may not have a bio at all.

Offers Money or Promotes a Product/Service: These accounts may pose as reputable brands in order to gain your trust and offer you the opportunity to make quick cash or win free products. However, these accounts can also hack your account, so be cautious.

Follows a Lot of Accounts: This is one of the most visible red flags. Fake accounts often follow a large number of accounts in order to gain followers, using the #followforfollow method to get people to follow them back. If the number of followers and following seems off balance, it may be a fake account.

Lots of Spam in Your DMs: These fake accounts may slide into your DMs pretending to be reputable brands and offer explicit content, crypto schemes, fake partnerships, or fake gifting. To identify them, check how often the account posts, the number of followers, and if the captions repeat across their feed.

To get rid of these fake accounts, block them and report them in the DMs or on their profile. Follow all the steps and answer all the questions that Instagram asks in order to keep your account free from these harmful bots.