Fake Accounts on Social Media

Facebook admits to as many as 270 million fake or clone accounts

Have you ever had your friends tell you they received a new friend request from you? And then you think…wait, I didn’t send that! You’ve most likely been cloned on Facebook. And you’re not alone.

All these accounts belong to customers of a company named Devumi that has collected millions of dollars in a shadowy global marketplace for social media fraud. Devumi sells Twitter followers and retweets to celebrities, businesses and anyone who wants to appear more popular or exert influence online. Drawing on an estimated stock of at least 3.5 million automated accounts, the company has provided customers with more than 200 million Twitter followers, a New York Times investigation found.

Fake accounts, deployed by governments, criminals and entrepreneurs, now infest social media networks. By some calculations, as many as 48 million of Twitter’s reported active users — nearly 15 percent — are automated accounts designed to simulate real people.

In November, Facebook disclosed to investors that it had at least twice as many fake users as it previously estimated, indicating that up to 60 million automated accounts may roam the world’s largest social media platform. These fake accounts, known as bots, can help sway advertising audiences and reshape political debates. They can defraud businesses and ruin reputations.

Devumi’s founder, German Calas, denied that his company sold fake followers and said he knew nothing about social identities stolen from real users. “The allegations are false, and we do not have knowledge of any such activity,” Mr. Calas said in an email exchange in November.

The Times reviewed business and court records showing that Devumi has more than 200,000 customers, including reality television stars, professional athletes, comedians, TED speakers, pastors and models. In most cases, the records show, they purchased their own followers. In others, their employees, agents, public relations companies, family members or friends did the buying. For just pennies each — sometimes even less — Devumi offers Twitter followers, views on YouTube, and endorsements on LinkedIn, the professional-networking site.

“Social media is a virtual world that is filled with half bots, half real people,” said Rami Essaid, the founder of Distil Networks, a cybersecurity company that specializes in eradicating bot networks. “You can’t take any tweet at face value. And not everything is what it seems.”

Buying Bots

Most of Devumi’s best-known buyers are selling products, services or themselves on social media. Some claim to buy followers because they were curious about how it worked, or felt pressure to generate high follower counts for themselves or their customers. “Everyone does it,” said the actress Deirdre Lovejoy, a Devumi customer.

While some said they believed Devumi was supplying real potential fans or customers, others acknowledged that they knew or suspected they were getting fake accounts. Several said they regretted their purchases.

“It’s fraud,” said James Cracknell, a British rower and Olympic gold medalist who bought 50,000 followers from Devumi. “People who judge by how many likes or how many followers, it’s not a healthy thing.”

Several Devumi customers acknowledged that they bought bots because their careers had come to depend, in part, on the appearance of social media influence. “No one will take you seriously if you don’t have a noteworthy presence,” said Jason Schenker, an economist who specializes in economic forecasting and has purchased at least 260,000 followers.

Devumi also sells bots to reality television stars, who can parlay fame into endorsement and appearance fees. Sonja Morgan, a cast member on the Bravo show “The Real Housewives of New York City,” uses her Devumi-boosted Twitter feed to promote her fashion line, a shopping app and a website that sells personalized “video shout-outs.”

While Devumi sells millions of followers directly to celebrities and influencers, its customers also include marketing and public relations agencies, which buy followers for their own customers. Phil Pallen, a brand strategist based in Los Angeles, offers customers “growth & ad campaigns” on social media. At least a dozen times, company records show, Mr. Pallen has paid Devumi to deliver those results. Beginning in 2014, for example, he purchased tens of thousands of followers for Lori Greiner, the inventor and “Shark Tank” co-host.

Mr. Pallen at first denied buying those followers. After The Times contacted Ms. Greiner, Mr. Pallen said he had “experimented” with the company but “stopped using it long ago.” A lawyer for Ms. Greiner said she had asked him to stop after learning of the first purchases.

Still, records show, Mr. Pallen bought Ms. Greiner more Devumi followers in 2016.

Think you’ve been hacked? Check for this:

Your name, birthday, email or password has been changed
Someone sent out friend requests to people you don’t know
Messages have been sent from your account, but you didn’t write them
Posts are appearing on your timeline that you didn’t post

To secure your account:

Go to Settings – A new menu will pop up. Choose Security and Login, then Where You’re Logged in From. A list of all of the devices that you’ve logged into and their locations will pop up. If there is a login you don’t recognize, chances are you may have been hacked. If you see anything that isn’t you, click Not You? on the right side of the log. Then click Secure Account. Facebook will then walk you through the steps of securing your account after running a diagnostic on your account.

About Us:

We have been mining social media since 2007 for our clients. By utilizing best in class software programs, we offer a service called eChatter.

eChatter works with you to obtain your objectives in a fast, accurate and reliable facet. By keeping our strengthened principals, yet evolving with this industry, we lead in social media monitoring. Since 2007, we have been dedicated to providing our customers with the most authentic data.

We offer:

· Deep Web Scans

· Jury Vetting

· Jury Monitoring

· Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net

(866) 703-8238

Inside the Dark Web

What you Need to Know

The dark web is just that…dark. This part of the web is only accessible through special software and allows buyers and sellers to remain anonymous or untraceable. And you know what that means…a lot of suspicious and illegal activity.

Accessing this invisible part of the internet – where you can buy almost anything – requires the use of an anonymizing browser called Tor. It routes your web page requests through a series of proxy servers operated by thousands of volunteers around the globe, rendering your IP address unidentifiable and untraceable. Tor works like magic, but the search results are unpredictable, unreliable and maddeningly slow.

But if you are willing to wait, the dark web provides a plethora of illegal opportunities…and plenty of people are taking advantage. Here you can buy credit card numbers, all manner of drugs, guns, counterfeit money, stolen subscription credentials, hacked Netflix accounts and software that helps you break into other people’s computers.

Beneath the Surface

Dark web sites look pretty much like any other site, but there are some important differences. One is the naming structure. Instead of ending in .com or .org, dark web sites end in .onion. That’s “a special-use top level domain suffix designating an anonymous hidden service reachable via the Tor network,” according to Wikipedia.

Dark web sites also use a scrambled naming structure that creates URLs that are often impossible to remember. For example, a popular commerce site called Dream Market goes by the unintelligible address of “eajwlvm3z2lcca76.onion.”

The cryptocurrency factor

The dark web has flourished thanks to bitcoin, the crypto-currency that enables two parties to conduct a transaction without knowing each other’s identity. “Bitcoin has been a major factor in the growth of the dark web, and the dark web has been a big factor in the growth of bitcoin,” says Patrick Tiquet, Director of Security & Architecture at Keeper Security. Nearly all dark web commerce sites conduct transactions in bitcoin or some variant, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe to do business there.

Dark web commerce sites have the same features as other e-retail operations, including ratings/reviews, shopping carts and forums, but there are notable differences.
Quality control – When both buyers and sellers are anonymous, the credibility of any ratings system is dubious. Ratings are easily manipulated, and even sellers with long track records have been known to suddenly disappear with their customers’ crypto-coins, only to set up shop later under a different alias.

Shipping – Completing a transaction is no guarantee that the goods will arrive. Some shipments need to cross international borders, and customs officials are cracking down on suspicious packages. The dark web news site Deep.Dot.Web is full of stories of buyers who have been arrested or jailed for attempted purchases.

The good side

On a more positive note, there’s also material that you would be surprised to find on the public web, such as links to full-text editions of hard-to-find books, collections of political news from mainstream websites and a guide to the steam tunnels under the Virginia Tech campus. You can conduct discussions about current events anonymously on Intel Exchange.

“More and more legitimate web companies are starting to have presences there,” Tiquet said. “It shows that they’re aware, they’re cutting edge and in the know.”

There’s also plenty of practical value for some organizations. Law enforcement agencies keep an ear to the ground on the dark web looking for stolen data from security breaches that might lead to the perpetrators. Many mainstream media organizations monitor whistleblower sites looking for news.

Keeper’s Patrick Tiquet checks in regularly because it’s important for him to be on top of what’s happening in the hacker underground. “I use the dark web for threat analysis and keeping an eye on what’s going on,” he said. “I use this information to gain insight on what hackers are targeting.”

If you find your own information on the dark web, there’s not much you can do about it, but at least you’ll know you’ve been compromised. Bottom line: If you can tolerate the lousy performance, unpredictable availability, and occasional shock factor of the dark web, it’s worth a visit. Just don’t buy anything there.

About Us:

We have been mining social media since 2007 for our clients. By utilizing best in class software programs, we offer a service called eChatter.

We offer:

· Deep Web Scans

· Jury Vetting

· Jury Monitoring

· Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net

(866) 703-8238

Two Cases of Social Media Gone Wrong in Court

Social media content is being incorporated into trials across the world, and the legal system is still trying to determine how to best allow this, what’s legally able to be used as evidence, and other aspects of how social media is/can be used in court. As this is being hashed out, social media continues to impact the legal system in a variety of ways. The following two examples were recently noted in the news; one shows how a judge can be impacted by social media and the other shows how social media content can result in a mistrial.

Mistrial due to social media content

Last month, the Monitor published a story about a high profile, gang related trial that ended up being declared a mistrial. Why? A witness that had testified for over two hours and was given explicit instructions to not talk about the case did exactly that on social media only hours after testifying. According to the article, the witness admitted to posting articles and comments about her testimony after taking the stand, and a social media post she published stated that she had ingested Spice (synthetic marijuana) prior to testifying in court. Despite the witness claiming that she did not post this statement, it was allowed to be used in court and was considered in the decision to declare a mistrial.

This case is interesting in that it shows that what a witness or even juror posts can be used as evidence in court. However, there are methods that need to be used to appropriate capture and memorialize the content that a lawyer wishes to use as evidence – the “rules” are still murky but are being developed quickly across the country.

It also highlights the importance of monitoring social media during a trial, both for general content and for individuals involved in the trial, whether it is a juror or witness, to ensure that instructions are being followed to avoid situations such as the one above.

Judge are recused from case due to social media content

The Chicago Tribune published an article related to an Indiana case in which three judges have recused themselves, citing a potential conflict of interest from both attempted conversations on social media and phone calls, as well as visibility of social media content that may have been seen regarding the upcoming trial. One of the recused judges made a statement about her decision:

“Prior to the transfer of the above causes of action from Judge Julie Cantrell, this court overheard several attorneys discussing these cases in detail and saw several social media posts that create a conflict of interest.”

Another judge stated:

“Numerous uninvited ex-parte communications have occurred or been attempted through social media and telephone calls to influence this court,” Cantrell wrote in her order to transfer the case, saying the transfer was necessary to avoid the appearance of impropriety.”

The case has been assigned to a fourth judge, and as of this writing it is unclear whether that judge will hear the case.

This illustrates how social media can impact high profile cases, both from the stance of a judge being able to hear the case without possible conflict of interest as well as from the perspective of finding an impartial jury. Social media makes it much more difficult to find local residents who are completely impartial and have not read or heard about some high profile cases.

What’s Your Story?

Social media background checks are useful to learn more about a person. Many services offer high level scans of an individual – some focus only on social sites while others can collect content from across the web.

One of the reasons I find social media background checks so fascinating is that it’s so much more than a scan using one or more software platforms – it’s about building a story, and from my experience, no two searches are the same.

A good social media background check starts with a scan of course – it’s a great starting place to start to paint the picture of who the individual is and what their story looks like. It doesn’t stop there though – additional manual research and result filtering is needed to be able to truly get a picture of the individual you’re researching.

In the time we have conducted social media background checks, I’ve learned many things:

Social media research for individuals is so interesting. By collecting content created by or about an individual, you can really start to get an idea of what the person is like without ever meeting them.

Individual background checks for some industries, such as Human Resources, are a bit different. When it comes to other industries, such as investigations or insurance research, it’s much more robust and, in my opinion, interesting.

No software is perfect. We utilize a suite of software programs for this very reason. We use one program as our “base” but rely on the others to fill in the blanks. The final part of our research is manual – corroborating results found and connecting some dots outside of the software programs is vital to a detailed, valuable report.

A search is only as good as the information provided. It’s amazing how much you find about someone given very little information. However, conducting a thorough search requires much more information than a first name, last name, and city of residence. The more information provided, the better the results.

Conducting social media background checks has been a favorite part of the work I do. Some stories are happy ones, while others have saddened me greatly. Either way, I know that we are helping our clients get a better understanding of the people and cases they are investigating, one story at a time.

Social Media in Court: A Look Back at Casey Anthony & Scott Peterson

I’ve often wondered what the OJ Simpson trial would have looked like had social media been a “thing” at the time – that was an extremely high profile case that would have likely blown up social media.

The two high profile cases that were “firsts” really as far as the boom of social media include the Casey Anthony case, the young woman acquitted in her toddler’s death in 2007 and Scott Peterson, who is currently on death row for the death of his wife and unborn son in 2002. Both trials stuck with me, partly because I kept tabs on both trials, especially the Casey Anthony case, where the public had full view of the search for Caylee, the videos of the conversations between family members, and the day to day trial news.

From a legal perspective, these cases are interesting for another reason – both were influenced by social media, even though it was in its infancy at the time. Thinking back to those trials and looking at how impactful social media has (and will) become in court is fascinating.

In the Casey Anthony case, the defense lawyer hired a jury consultant who monitored social media to gauge perception and, more interestingly, help the lawyer as he presented his case. After the trial was over, it came out that the trial consultant actually monitored the online conversation and encouraged Casey’s lawyer to go easier on his questioning of Casey’s father, George. The online sentiment was negative, and showed that the public felt he was being too harsh on the father. The lawyer listened and changed his game plan. According to Amy Singer, the jury consultant, “Social media was the difference between winning and losing.”

Scott Peterson’s case was a bit different. Social media was still very new, and wasn’t likely used as it was in the Casey Anthony trial. However, on recently watching a show that recapped this case, it came out that there is an appeal set to expire at the end of the year. One of the reasons for the appeal? A juror may have lied during voir dire, which they can claim compromised the trial. If the appeal holds, it will be a major event. Personally, I don’t think it will be an issue, but stranger things have happened. Imagine if social media monitoring were prominent back then – this may have been easily uncovered and given the defense one less reason to try to appeal.

So, how has social media evolved since then?

There is a wealth of information that can be taken from social media, and it is being used more and more by investigators, lawyers, and jury consultants. I’d still consider it in its infancy, but I fully expect this will be commonplace across the board in the next three to five years.

In case you’re having a hard time keeping up, here are some ways social media is being used in the legal industry:

Social media background checks/investigations: used as a source of supporting information, there are now pretty in depth social media background checks available to lawyers and investigators. The name is slightly misleading though – while some providers do only focus on social media, most are starting to provide a variety of content from all public facing online sources. These can be used for a lawyer’s client, a defendant or plaintiff, or anyone tied to a case.

Voir dire: In the Scott Peterson case, having a way to run quick online checks during the jury selection process may have uncovered the juror’s past and immediately made her ineligible to serve as a juror. Some states allow for a list of potential jurors to be available prior to voir dire, and others do not. In either case, social media/online research services are available for this purpose.

Jury monitoring: Keeping jurors from posting to online sites during a trial can be a tricky process. They are given the instructions at the onset of the trial, but how can you ensure they are adhering to it? Using social media monitoring of the individuals sitting on the jury can be beneficial, as can geolocating monitoring. Put a fence around the courthouse, a hotel if the jury is sequestered, and and monitor online content being posted throughout the trial.

Witness/evidence content for trial: People now serve as novice journalists – how often do we see a situation unfold and it’s followed by several witness accounts, posts, and videos? This can be cruical information for a trial or case. By utilizing a service that will scan for mentions of the incident as well as location based monitoring that can go back to a recent time when the incident happened, it may allow lawyers and investigators to find & identify witnesses or obtain details/video that will help immensely.

This is still a new technology as far as the legal/investigative industry is concerned, and the “rules of the game” are still being defined and made into law. However, this cannot be overlooked – the content that you may uncover can be the one thing to help win your case.