An investigation by Symantec has revealed a growing number of incidents involving fake LinkedIn accounts targeting members of the social network. Symantec has worked with LinkedIn to take down some fake accounts that were uncovered during their research, in which scammers were scraping contact information from users.
The primary goal of the fake LinkedIn accounts, posing as recruiters, is mapping business professionals’ networks and establish a sense of credibility in order to reach more people. The information they are then scraping, including personal and professional email addresses as well as phone numbers, could be used to send spear-phishing emails.
Symantec advises LinkedIn users to be very skeptical of who they add to their network: “If you’ve never met the person before, don’t just add them. We weren’t surprised to learn that these fake LinkedIn accounts received endorsements from real users.”
More information about the scam can be found here
