TWH – While it is said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, it might be hard to convince some prominent members of the Pagan community of that when it comes to copied profiles designed to defraud.
Since the advent of the internet and social platforms, there seems to perpetually be the problem of the creation of fake pages and profiles. Such pages attempt to take advantage of someone who is high profile and has a large following. As of late, there has been a definite upward trend in the occurrence of fake accounts.
The creators of these fake accounts pretending to be the person whose profile they have copied and then send direct messages (DMs) to the person’s followers and attempt to solicit money for readings or other spiritual services.
Recently, author Amy Blackthorn was the victim of several fake pages that were using pictures taken directly from her Instagram page account and used language similar to what she had on her actual page and profile.
Blackthorn may be one of the more recent victims, but this is a problem that has become increasingly pervasive for Pagan authors, and especially for those who offer spiritual services, like divination.
Author Lilith Dorsey told TWH, “The worst instances started about six months ago. And it seems like every day I am receiving messages from people who are getting fake solicitations in their DMs.”
Dorsey went on to say, “I did my best to respond. Immediately I changed my profile to reflect I would never DM anyone about a reading. Ironically they even copied that too and put that in their bio. Lately, I’ve been asking people to tag me on each of the posts. That way at least people can see that there’s a real Lilith Dorsey out there and I get notified directly.”
The copying of statements about not “sliding into people’s DMs” seems to be more than a little ironic. As does sending direct messages that say, “I was drawn to your energy” and “the ancestors sent me” as a reason for offering someone a random reading, especially to members of the Pagan community.
Michael Herkes, the author of The Glam Witch, who goes by the handle @the.glam.witch on Instagram, said he believes he was one of the first to really get victimized by fake accounts.
Herkes said, “This started mid-2021 for me. I was one of the first few to have this happen and not many of my peers took it seriously until they themselves were on the receiving end. I have had a total of six imposters since it started. I’ve noticed though that when I use hashtags on Instagram, a new imposter shortly follows so it may be linked to hashtags.”
Morgan Daimler who has written numerous books told TWH, “I’d had it happen a few times off and on over the years but the last 6 months or so has profoundly ramped up. It occurs sporadically but in clusters, so I may go weeks or more with nothing and then get a flurry of several in a couple of days.”
In fact, this seems to be a common theme with pretty much everyone TWH spoke with–the uptick in the proliferation of fake pages has greatly increased in just the past six months.
The fake accounts seem to be focused primarily on those who have seen their followings and popularity grow, like Mat Auryn, whose first published work, Psychic Witch soared to the top of Pagan book sale lists in 2020 & 2021, marking 100K copies sold just recently.
Auryn explained how the impersonations and the attempts at defrauding his followers began to evolve, “The first account that impersonated me was near the beginning of the pandemic. Slowly this began increasing to occur maybe once every few months, where a new account would pop up impersonating me. Eventually, it increased to once a month, and then almost weekly.”
The other commonality of those targeted is that they either currently or previously offered some type of spiritual services, often tarot or card readings, centered on mostly those who have really large followings. People with moderate followings seem to be less likely targets.
While author and artist Laura Tempest Zakroff noted she has had a few incidents, “A few on Instagram, though nowhere as bad as other people, as it’s pretty clear I don’t offer readings or services like that.”
Raina Starr who hosts the Blog Talk Radio show Desperate House Witches told TWH, “No, I don’t sell anything. So there’s no reason to impersonate me.”
Shifra Nerenberg who owns Spiral Intuitive and offers readings and services through her website and via social media told TWH, that while she has had friends who have had to deal with imposter accounts, she laughingly said, “I’m not popular enough to have impersonators.”
The response of various platforms when it comes to reporting and removing fake and imposter accounts is also problematic. Trying to get impersonating pages removed can often be an exercise in futility according to nearly every person TWH spoke to.
Auryn said, “Trying to get them taken down is like throwing dice. Unfortunately, since Meta bought Instagram, the customer service is non-existent, like it is on Facebook. It’s next to impossible to get a hold of an actual human to discuss these issues.”
The authors who have had issues said the best way to get a page removed is to get other people to flag and report the page.
Daimler expressed a similar opinion, “Unfortunately because of the way the social media sites in question work the best approach so far seems to be sharing the fakes on my social media and asking help to report them. My individual report never seems effective but getting many people to report so far has resulted in the fakes getting taken down.”
Author Dorothy Morrison and owner of Wicked Witch Studios had fake pages targeting her followers on both Facebook and Instagram about six to nine months ago echoed Daimler’s response, “The pain in the ass for me was that I wasn’t able to fix it myself, and had to depend on folks from my friends list and social media followers to report it for me.”
But not everyone held to that opinion, Herkes advised, “The only way that I have been able to successfully get Instagram’s attention and have the accounts removed, is [to] fill out one of Instagram’s official imposter account forms.”
Herkes continued, “My understanding is that followers reporting them will not help unless you have a verified account with a blue checkmark. Many of us have tried to get these but Instagram’s criteria for receiving it is very high and limited so despite being authors and actually having imposter accounts, the app will not recognize us as important enough to verify.”
Auryn related some of his frustrating experiences trying to get pages removed, “I’m still getting notifications about an account I reported almost a year ago. To paraphrase the contradictory message, ‘we didn’t have time to look at it, but we didn’t find anything wrong, so we’re leaving it up.’ I have one imposter account that’s been up for almost a year despite having at least hundreds of people reporting it for impersonation.”
“As the problem increases, I’m not sure what is actually effective anymore to get these accounts taken down. It’s hard not to believe that Instagram doesn’t care about its users and is benefiting from these accounts being active.” He explained, “What I mean, is that you can block these accounts and even put ‘block any new accounts they make’ which means they [Instagram] have the ability to see the IP address and which accounts are connected to the scammers.”
Auryn continued and pointed out one of the major problems with that approach, “Often when a scammer account is taken down, they just create new profiles impersonating someone else. [This] means Instagram seems to have the ability to weed these individuals off their platform but are seemingly choosing not to.”
One of the things that many of those who have been targeted cited as a reason is the difficulty with Pagan authors’ accounts being verified on social media platforms. The elusive “blue star” and verified “checkmark” are rarely extended to independent authors, and few if any Pagan authors.
Morrison told TWH that her legal name being different from her trade name is a huge obstacle, “The reason is that although ‘Morrison’ was once my legal surname, my legal ID no longer reflects that – so I couldn’t follow the steps set up by social media to prove that I was who I said I was.”
Blackthorn has had the exact same issue, as has Daimler who said, “I also really wish Instagram and Twitter would offer verification for pagan authors because that would help a lot. I’ve tried to get verified multiple times without success, despite being the author of 42 books and having an established online presence.”
Addressing the problem of fake pages is not an easy proposition no matter what the approach as Dorsey points out, “My only advice for others is stay vigilant, people have been talking about blackouts and such but for authors and other professionals these social media channels are very important to us and that might not be possible.”
Nearly everyone TWH spoke to offered similar advice to readers which Herkes summed up in his response, “Always remember that real authors and public figures do not reach out in DMs to solicit their services directly to you. Our services are posted for you to reach out if you are interested.”
When it comes to direct messages and offers sent that way, checking the profile page of the person, and who they purport to be is key.
Herkes noted that “You can also look at the number of posts the profile has and when they were posted. Usually, the imposter accounts post around 30-40 of an author’s most recent photos within the same hour which should be a red flag. If you are ever in doubt, go to the author’s official website and direct to their social media accounts from there.”
Another issue with Instagram and Facebook being linked and owned by the company Meta, is that what happens on one platform can affect accounts on the other.
Nikki Kirby of the podcast, Witch Hat Chats, had her Instagram account permanently disabled because it allegedly “didn’t follow community standards” but Kirby never received any kind of answer or explanation as to why. Kirby believes it was likely due to an impersonating account but has no proof one way or the other.
To complicate the issue further, the only way she can create a new account and link it to her Facebook Page would be to access the old account and that is impossible since it has been permanently disabled. A maddening cycle that is seemingly unending.
When it comes to identifying fake accounts, extra characters, underscores, and asterisks in weird places in profile names are all indicators of a fake profile, in addition to small numbers of posts, profiles, and relatively recent dates of the profile being created.
Blackthorn stressed, “We value our fans enough that these pages are taken down as fast as they pop up but we can only do so much. If you see one, report it.”
For Auryn another unpleasant side effect is all of the messages he receives from followers when a fake account pops up, “One of the frustrating things, is not just all the people being scammed through impersonating myself and others – but the hundreds to thousands of direct messages I get from people either informing me of imposter accounts or asking me if the imposter accounts are really me. It’s gotten so bad at flooding my DMs that I’ve shut my DMs off completely.”
As the proliferation of fake and imposter accounts continues to expand, a word to the wise, verify and make sure who you are messaging with.
Dorsey said, “I would tell readers to question anyone who shows up in your DMs for Readings. And make sure you are actually talking to who you think you’re talking to when you book a reading or other psychic service. I even had someone ask to see me on the zoom chat before they would send payment. But that’s fine and I appreciate the thoroughness.”
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