{"id":42367,"title":"The War Continues On Fake Twitter Followers","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2018-07-14T11:15:17+00:00","modified":"2018-07-14T11:21:00+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/the-war-contiunes-on-fake-twitter-followers/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/the-war-contiunes-on-fake-twitter-followers.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/the-war-contiunes-on-fake-twitter-followers.json","category":"Blogs","categories":["Blogs","Marketing PR","Technology, Media & Telecoms"],"tags":["Democrat","Devumi","fake followers","New York Times","Russia","spys","Twitter","Twitter bots"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Stencil-Google-Chrome-2023-04-19-at-2.47.43-PM.jpeg?fit=1231%2C615&quality=89&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":" \n\nMost who read this think of account they follow, celebrities, companies who gain followers, were the numbers just don’t add up. But the true reason the attention has now firmly focused on this issue “The Russians are coming”\n\nTwitter has struggled to rein in the fake accounts overrunning its platform, with the problem now reaching the Senate and House intelligence committees in the US. In the past, the social media giant refused to act on fake news, accounts, bots.\n\nSep 2017, The[New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/technology/twitter-russia-election.html) reported on evidence of [Russian operators creating hundreds or thousands of fake Twitter accounts](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/politics/russia-facebook-twitter-election.html) to flood the network with anti-Clinton messages during the campaign. The [cybersecurity company FireEye](https://www.fireeye.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=paid-search&gclid=CPGPkv-tntwCFZaMhQodZ6YEdg&gclsrc=ds) identified what it called “warlists” of accounts linked to Russian intelligence that sometimes spewed messages like #WarAgainstDemocrats several times a minute.\n\nBeyond those restrictions, there is also an online black market for services that can allow for the creation of large numbers of Twitter bots, which can be controlled by a single person while still being difficult to distinguish from real accounts.\n\n \n\n![](https://www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Capture-13-300x153.jpg)\n\n \n\n \n\n[DEVUMI IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING CLIENTS ](https://devumi.com/alternatives/)\n\nWith the hunt widening, the main player in sales of fake followers has mysteriously has been closed down.  Reported in the in the [New York Times ](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/31/technology/social-media-bots-investigations.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer)Twitter Followers Vanish Amid Inquiries Into Fake Accounts. Federal and state authorities are investigating the sellers of artificial followers and other fraudulent social media engagement.\n\nWith Russian interference being proven to have tried to alter the democratic political possess in the U.S, this dragnet will only widen and have far-reaching consequences from the humble Twitter user to the entertainers, celebrity’s, athletes, media users.\n\n![](https://www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1-792abfbb4a-232x300.jpg)\n\n[The Daily Mail in the US](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5952961/John-McCain-calls-Trump-CANCEL-summit-Helsinki-Russian-agents-charged-hacking.html) reported that on Friday **12 Russian intelligence officers** were charged on with allegedly hacking into Democratic email accounts during the 2016 presidential election and releasing stolen and damaging conversations.\n\nThe group are also accused of stealing information on 500,000 US voters after hacking a state US election board.\n\nWhite House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters stressed the indictments against the Russians contained no allegations of intentional involvement by anyone on the Trump campaign.\n\nTwitter followers purchased from a company called [Devumi. ](https://devumi.com/alternatives/)will now be affected with more than a million plus fake followers being lost due to the suspension of the company.\n\n \n\n![](https://www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Capture-12-300x161.jpg)\n\n \n\n#\n\nAmid Inquiries Into Fake Accounts, implementing [Devumi](https://devumi.com/alternatives/). Its business practices were detailed in a [New York Times article](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/31/technology/social-media-bots-investigations.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer) describing [a vast trade in fake followers and fraudulent engagement](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/27/technology/social-media-bots.html) on Twitter and other social media sites, often using personal information taken from real users.\n\nTwitter said that it would take action against Devumi’s practices. A Twitter spokeswoman on Tuesday declined to comment about whether the company was purging fake accounts.\n\nThe Florida attorney general, Pam Bondi, a Republican, [has also begun an investigation](http://myfloridalegal.com/) into Devumi, joining Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general and a Democrat, who [announced on Saturday](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/technology/schneiderman-social-media-bots.html) that he would begin reviewing whether the company had violated state laws against impersonation and commercial deception.\n\nLooking across social media today, the purge has started and now the Washington political beat is involved, this story will be making the headlines on regular bases. If you purchased your followers, l would be worried!\n\n \n\nSource Links\n\n[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/31/technology/social-media-bots-investigations.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/31/technology/social-media-bots-investigations.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer)\n\n[http://myfloridalegal.com/](http://myfloridalegal.com/)\n\n[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5952961/John-McCain-calls-Trump-CANCEL-summit-Helsinki-Russian-agents-charged-hacking.html](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5952961/John-McCain-calls-Trump-CANCEL-summit-Helsinki-Russian-agents-charged-hacking.html)\n\n[https://devumi.com/twitter-followers/](https://devumi.com/twitter-followers/)\n\n "}