Facebook estimates 60mn users may be fake: report

ISLAMABAD: Facebook estimates that around 60 million or 2 percent of its monthly average users may be fake accounts, according to a report from the company.

Separately, Facebook estimates that around 10 percent of its accounts are "duplicate" accounts, meaning they are accounts run by a user separate from their main account. This would amount to more than 200 million accounts.

Although Facebook has introduced a lot of checks which like birthday, email, phone number and more to fight fake profiles but it is still unable to control the fake profiles completely.

Although it claims that it will be able to control the fake profiles soon.

While talking to APP, PTA official said, Facebook is working to control fake profiles. Vigilance is required in this process as one person may have multiple accounts on same social media application.

Many of the false accounts are used for spam, the company was doubling its in-house staff focused on reviewing accounts and would use artificial intelligence to find more fraudulent accounts, he added.

Twitter also reports that nearly 5 percent of its user base, or more than 16 million accounts, are fake "spam" accounts, Sean Edgett, the social media giant's acting general counsel, said in testimony.

Some of those “fake” accounts may be duplicate or false accounts. Facebook has consistently struggled to police such accounts — which include accounts for pets or accounts using a fake name — in an attempt to verify users.

Social media giants must do something to detect and delete these fake accounts as fake accounts are ruining the social media experience.