We've known for some time that fake influencers are a huge problem on social media - they're simultaneously duping followers and affecting trust in authentic influencers - but brands are now being hit too, with the reported cost of these pretend profiles a whopping £157 million.
According to a study from New York marketing company Captiv8, reported in The Times, brands are paying more than $200 million US dollars (about £157 million) for fake influencers on social media.
The report looked into social spending, and found that brands paid as much as 2.1 billion US dollars (£1.65 billion) to online influencers in 2017. However, 11 per cent of those accounts were fake - meaning a massive waste of money for companies who rely heavily upon influencers.
'Fake' accounts can be entirely constructed; previous studies have uncovered accounts where a model has been hired to star in multiple shoots, with a corresponding online identity then dreamt up, or instances whereby all the images featured on an account are lifted from other users and stock photo agencies.
Follower fraud also refers to social media users (who are real) paying robots or fake accounts to follow them in the hope that it will boost their appeal online.
Another report recently showed that some Instagram users have been faking sponsorship deals and #ads in order to boost their appeal to brands in the hope that these pretend posts could lead to real deals.
Instagram and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently changed their rules to make it very clear when influencers and celebrities have been paid to share a post.
The social platform also announced plans to clamp down on apps that help people buy fake followers, and in December deleted millions of fake accounts in the hope that brands and users won't be duped again.
