Can you trust your LinkedIn contacts?

Have you been contacted by a prominent banker on linkedin that you don’t know?

Interestingly I have been getting several contact requests from prominent bankers from the big banks such as the Royal Bank of Scotland. I read over their profile and see a detailed CV with experience that most people can only dream of. How lucky was I that they found me and wanted me as a connection. Proudly, I accept the acquaintance and wonder why this person wanted to become my connection. What makes me so special and does he actually have some interesting business proposition?

Well, fortunately I don’t have to wait long, unlike most of my other contacts on LinkedIn that never make any contact with me, this prominent banker, contacts me the day after we connect. I must be dreaming, not only wants he to connect but he actually also wants to communicate with me! Not only wants he to communicate with me, but he also has a business proposal for me! The respectable man on the picture in LinkedIn, with glasses dressed in his suits on the profile image, with all his experience is actually offering me a business proposal. Then something hits me …. he actually wants our communication to go through email, which would be normal, if he was contacting me on the banks behalf  but this is not my case. He wants us to communicate through an hotmail address that he prefers to use.

How strange is that that this prominent banker, with a high position, and years of experience only wants to communicate with me through his hotmail address, which is formed like FirstnameNumberLastname@hotmail.com. That actually does not sound like a respectable banker address, nor would a respectable banker approach me like this suggesting only to use a hotmail address.

My guards are up, I investigate better. I look at his profile later in the day and notice that surprisingly he has added 150 people since I was added. He seems pretty quick in making new connections with people that he most likely does not know at all. He is simply adding anyone who is ready to add him back. Well, things are clearing up, I was maybe not so lucky after all to get to connect with this serious looking, prominent banker with all his experience. In fact, most likely, I am dealing with someone in Nigeria that has no banker experience at all, but has a good experience in defrauding people and is probably using the name of some innocent banker or just an invented name. Well, so much for my prominent banker connection…. [stextbox id=”warning”] DON’T believe the image and description on people that want to connect with you on LinkedIn. If they have a business proposal, put all your guards up. You may be dealing with a Nigerian fraudster![/stextbox] 

I have now reported 2 such connections to LinkedIn and one profile has already been deleted and the other will probably soon be down as well. 

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If you have stories about some fraudulent activity in LinkedIn or elsewhere, please share that with others in the comments below.