An Influencer Guide: How to Avoid Influencer Scams

Influencer fraud has been haunting influencers since the beginning of time. Scammers prey on influencers with expanding audiences and promising them to grow their brands through collaboration. Sadly, many influencers fall for this type of ‘influence marketing’. We’ve seen unprecedented growth in all forms of influencer marketing.

According to The Social Shepherd, 93% of marketers have used influencer marketing and the number is expected to keep growing in the coming years. It isn’t surprising that scammers are also growing. This is why I’ve put together this influencer guide, in order to keep you from falling victim.

Watch Out For Emails With Spelling and Grammar Mistakes

It’s easy to get caught in this trap because many times, these scammers make promises that seem too good to be true. As an influencer, it’s important that you keep your guard up when someone approaches you about a potential partnership.

One sign that the person contacting you may not be legitimate is if they have poor spelling and grammar. This is because scammers will often send out emails without checking for mistakes first. If you receive an email from someone who can’t even spell simple words right, there is a good chance that they’re trying to scam you!

While some people might think this is no big deal, if you’ve ever worked in marketing or communications before, you know that good writing skills are important in any industry—and especially when dealing with other businesses. So if their spelling and grammar seem off, it might be because they’re using Google Translate!

Check The Links In The Email

One of the most common tactics used by scammers is sending out emails containing a link that looks genuine but actually leads to a website where they can gather your personal information. When you click on these links, they can easily harvest your data and use it for their own nefarious purposes. It’s important that you don’t fall for this kind of trickery because it can lead to identity theft or worse!

If you have doubts about whether or not an email is legitimate, do not click on any links provided in the message. Instead, contact the sender via phone or text message for clarification before proceeding further with the collaboration process.

Check The Sender’s Email Address 

When a potential client reaches out to you, they’ll usually send an email from their company’s domain name. If they don’t, be wary. If they send an email from a generic Hotmail or Gmail account, that should be even more concerning. A lot of scammers use free email accounts so that it’s easier for them to move on and create new accounts if the one they’re using gets shut down.

If you get an email from a company and it doesn’t look like it came from the company’s official email address, ask for clarification. If they can’t provide clarification or proof of authenticity, be cautious—they may not be who they say they are!

Check the Company Website 

Scammers tend to set up fake websites that look like legitimate businesses. If a company has a website with no information about who they are or what they do, or just a generic email address and phone number, it may be a sign that they’re not on the up-and-up.

If you find yourself on a strange website that doesn’t include information about the company or its owner, do not hesitate to end your communication with the person who contacted you.

Check The Company’s Social Profile

A quick look on social media will tell you if the company is legit or not. If they don’t have any followers or even a website, then they’re likely not a real company.

If they do have followers and a website, check out their Instagram stories to see what they’re posting and how they interact with their audience (this will help you determine if they care about their followers). Also make sure that their website looks professional—if it doesn’t look like it belongs on the web or has relevant information on it, then move on!

Check Out Their Reviews

We know how tempting it can be to partner with the first company that offers you a deal. But the thing is, it’s just not worth the risk! If you don’t check out the company’s reviews and Google search for other people’s experiences with them, you could end up paying for something that doesn’t work or even worse: getting scammed.

Luckily for us all, there are a few ways to avoid these scams by using common sense and doing your research before signing on the dotted line. First things first: check out the company’s reviews! Are there any? If not, that’s a red flag. You can also check out their website to see what others have to say about them on Yelp or Google. If they have too many bad reviews, it might be best to stay away from them.

Use Reverse Image Search

This is a tool that allows you to see where an image came from and what website it is associated with. You can use this tool on any image the company posts, including photos of themselves and their products.

If you find that the picture has been taken from another source, then there’s a good chance that the company was using stock images or stealing content from other people. In either case, this means they’re trying to trick their followers into thinking they’ve used their own product when they haven’t actually done so!

Be Wary of One-Line Emails

If someone is trying to contact you and they have only sent you one line, it’s likely that they are trying to scam you. Most legitimate companies will take the time to write out a whole email, and even if they are only asking for your email address, they’ll send it in multiple paragraphs.

Also, don’t trust anyone who asks for money upfront. If someone asks for money upfront before working with them, chances are good that they’re trying to scam you. This should be obvious enough on its own—if someone is asking for money from you before agreeing to work with them, there’s probably something fishy going on!

Be Wary of Scam Bots on Social Media

Bots can be used to create fake accounts, which can then be used to send messages to other accounts. These bots are created so that they look like real people and are designed to help you buy things. The purpose of these bots is to make money from your followers by selling them things that they don’t need or want.

It’s important for you to know how these bots work so that you don’t fall for them when using social media. Here are some signs that might indicate a bot:

-The profile picture looks fake or blurry

-The account doesn’t have any friends or followers yet

-The account only posts links in their bio that take users directly to their website

-The user never posts anything else besides links or photos in their bio

Takeaway

Being an influencer itself is already a difficult job. To make a living out of it, you will have to keep working hard on your own craft and deliver the best content you can produce. All the while, you need to be aware of not just the good opportunities, but also the bad ones—the fakes and scams. Avoid them as much as you can, so that your efforts aren’t for naught.