LinkedIn Is Verifying Users for Free — And Kicking Out Fake Recruiters in the Process LinkedIn is more than halfway to its goal of verifying 100 million users, and unlike X and Meta, they're not charging for it.
By Erin Davis
Key Takeaways
- AI tech like ChatGPT has made it even easier for bad actors to create fake profiles and social media accounts.
- In an effort to combat misinformation, LinkedIn has verified 55 million people so far.
- The company does not charge users for the service; LinkedIn is footing the bill.
Artificial intelligence has made deepfakes even easier to create, and with social media being bombarded with misinformation, LinkedIn is taking a different approach to verification, per CNBC.
"You now see things like deep-fake videos, photos that are increasingly harder with the naked eye to understand if they're real or fake," Oscar Rodriguez, LinkedIn's vice president of trust and safety, told the outlet. "That line-blurring is what we believe poses a significant challenge in combating things like misinformation, faking expertise, and so forth."
Related: How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile in 6 Easy Steps
LinkedIn has struggled with scammers posing at recruiters for years and has been working on its verification efforts for some time, per Axios.
The company began its verification service in April 2023 and announced this week that it has verified more than 55 million users so far. That's more than any other social media platform, the company told CNBC.
However, unlike X and Meta, LinkedIn is verifying users for free. And it isn't cheap. Rodriguez said the company has spent "a sizable investment" on the process.
Users can be verified through their company email addresses at select larger businesses. If your company is not participating, users can get verified with a government-issued ID through verification partners Clear and Persona, with LinkedIn footing the bill.
LinkedIn's goal is to have 100 million users verified in 2025.
Microsoft bought LinkedIn in 2016 for $26.2 billion.
