If you've missed the first instalment of this two-parter, you can find it via the link below...
Ten Ways to Spot Fake and Catfish Twitter Accounts (Part 1)
If you've read Part 1 and are ready to go with Part 2, here are the concluding indicators...
6. FAKE PROFILE PIC
This doesn’t always help. It depends on the type of fakery. If someone’s masquerading as a specific, known individual, like a celebrity, then the profile pic will most likely feature that celebrity, so checking out the image is unlikely to reveal much. However, some fakers fabricate ficticious identities that don’t exist at all, and in doing this they commonly use stolen images of random members of the public. If you don’t recognise the person on the profile pic, and are suspicious about the account, use Google Images and Tineye to reverse image search the pic. This will often tell you if the photo has been used before on the Internet, and by whom.
However, don’t put too much emphasis on this. Cropping or mirroring the photo can prevent the reverse search routines from finding matches, and experienced fakers know they can limbo under this particular radar using simple photo editing tools. There are also certain parts of the Web that search engines can’t index (private Facebook matter or protected Twitter accounts, for example). If the faker is taking photos from someone’s locked Twitter feed or private Facebook, you won’t find the original pics on Google, because Googlebot doesn’t have permission to access the files. So if you do nail a match and prove a fake is fake, great, but if you don’t, you should not drop your suspicions.
7. FURTIVE DEMEANOUR
A very common property of fake accounts is furtive behaviour – in particular, attempts to keep ordinarily straightforward and non-threatening interactions quiet. Does the account holder tend to push people towards DM (Direct Message) communication? Particularly if this involves people he or she barely knows or doesn’t know at all, and you can see no obvious reason why the matter(s) couldn’t be discussed publicly, heavy reliance on Direct Messaging is highly suspicious behaviour, and it commonly indicates a fake.
Remember that people have to be following a Twitter account to receive its DMs, so if you see someone making a lot of “Follow me, I need to ask you something” requests, that should be considered highly furtive too. Remember also, though, that following in itself can prompt a followback, which can then facilitate DM contact, so revisit Point 3, question who your suspected fake is following, and why. Are they following a lot of people who appear vulnerable to a particular type of ruse or scam? If so, it’s probably not a coincidence. If you ever get the sense that there’s a lot going on out of public view, be on your guard.
You should also keep an eye open for the hugely furtive practice of deleting large numbers of interactive tweets. If you're seeing someone getting replies from other users, but their original questions have usually gone when you look for them, there's little doubt that they're up to something dodgy.
8. DUPLICATION
You’d be amazed how many fake accounts on Twitter and across the Web in general are the work of the same person. Faking identities on social networking sites is literally some people’s life. Most fakers, however, overlook how unusual their whims are in comparison to typical users, and the same, strange themes tend to crop up in all of their accounts, giving them away. This kind of runs straight back to Point 1 – the motivation. Why are they needing to fake identities or portray themselves as someone they’re not? Usually, it’s because they have a characteristic aim, and they’ll work in a pretty uniform way to achieve it. So whoever they try to become, the goal remains the same, and their mannerisms remain the same. That creates duplication. Personality is hard to hide – especially when it’s unusual. So if you spot some odd behaviour, and it gives you déjà vu, chances are you’ve run into this character before – under a different name.
9. DENIAL BEFORE ACCUSATION
This is quite a common trait across the Web in general, but it applies very definitively to fake Twitter accounts. If someone’s shouting: “This is not a scam!” before anyone’s even said it is, they’re probably a scammer. If a Web user feels the need to repetitively tell people they’re female before anyone suggests otherwise, they’re almost certainly male. The psychological need to assert a point no one’s even questioned simply doesn’t exist in genuine situations. But the fake sees the crux of his or her falsehood as massively important, and therefore has a tendency to overstress minor, often inconsequential details, and to deny before anyone’s made an accusation.
10. WHERE DOES THE ACTUAL CAREER FIT INTO THIS?
Sometimes, you look at a Twitter account, and the activity is relentless. But is that compatible with the claims the account holder is making? For example, if they’re claiming to be some big shot business luminary, but a rummage down their profile page reveals that they’re on Twitter all day, every day, week in, week out, then when exactly are they doing all this important work they claim be to doing? It’s true of course that some people use bots and Websites to automate their use of Twitter, but it’s pretty easy to determine mechanical posting, and bots can’t interact with other users as human beings do. If someone is interacting on Twitter for most of their waking life, then basically, that IS their life. When someone spends more time than they could possibly have available messing about on Twitter, there’s no career, no reality. The account is 100% fake.
You can find a broader look at online fakery in: How to Spot an Online Faker.
