Don’t Fall for This Trick by These Guys

All writers, please take heed.

After being active on this platform for about a full month, I have already been reached out by these fake accounts.

I wrote a story about how in the past I have been painfully scammed by online fraudsters. That experience has stayed with me and as much as I don’t want to fall for it again, I don’t want you to be a victim either.

You can read the full story here:

In this month, two of these scammers that use the profile pictures of influential writers here responded to my comments on stories written by the actual writers themselves.

The idea is to make you think it is the actual writer that has responded to your story.

Well, it is not.

I will later show you an easy way to check if it is the genuine writer who has responded to your comment.

After commenting on one of Eve Arnold’s great stories, this was the response I got from the fake account.

I received a similar response (typically the same) from a fake account impersonating Cipher /\/\@X, another good writer on the platform.

This was only today.

It was right after I saw it that I decided to write this story.

Fortunately, you can easily know if the real writer is the one who responded like I said earlier.

This is how:

1. Read the response from the account. If it includes a message that says you are invited to join a community of writers off the Medium platform, it’s a red flag.
2. Click on the profile name which will take you to the profile of the account holder. If the number of followers on this account is a single or double-digit figure, it’s probably a scammer. You can also check the URL of the page. You’ll realize the handle is very different from the name on the profile.
3. Head over to the Medium home page and search for the name of the real account. The real writer’s account is going to show up. Click on it and view their profile. You will see their actual follower count which is normally thousands or tens of thousands. You will also see their bio and their stories, as well as their membership tag.

Now that you know the schemes these scammers are using, you can protect yourself and your money as you work hard and thrive on Medium.

After all, it is your money they are after. Don’t let them get the chance.

Lastly, these fraudsters may not always use clone accounts of big writers on the platform.

That being said, always be on the lookout.

Thank you so much for reading to the end.

If you found this helpful or can relate in any way do leave some claps or highlight and comment with your thoughts.

Also, if you loved my writing take a look at other stories of mine:

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