--- title: Stop the imposters! description: Stop the imposters! image: https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hs-fs/file-3594798500-jpg/blog-files/bigstock-the-word-verify-on-black-keybo-64565782.jpg --- [![Bluechip_Logo](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/325503/Bluechip%20Assets/Images/Bluechip_Logo.svg "Bluechip_Logo")](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/) ![Search-9](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hubfs/BlueChip%20website/Bluechip%20Assets/Images/Search-9.svg "Search-9") ![Close Icon (3)-1](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hubfs/Bluechip%20Assets/Images/Close%20Icon%20(3)-1.svg "Close Icon (3)-1") This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ** ![Close Icon (3)](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/325503/Bluechip%20Assets/Images/Close%20Icon%20(3).svg "Close Icon (3)") ##### Knowledge Shared # Insights ##### All Articles ![](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hubfs/BlueChip%20website/Bluechip%20Assets/Images/down-filled-triangular-arrow.png) - [Financial Services (168)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/financial-services) - [Public Relations (133)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/public-relations) - [Marketing (111)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/marketing) - [Social Media (101)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) - [Integrated Marketing (87)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/integrated-marketing) - [Reputation Management (79)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/reputation-management) - [Crisis Management (61)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/crisis-management) - [Growth (46)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/growth) - [Profile (41)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/profile) - [COVID-19 (40)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/covid-19) - [Protect (14)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/protect) - [BC Team (9)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/bc-team) - [Blog (7)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/blog) - [Leadership communication (6)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/leadership-communication) - [Cyber Security (3)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/cyber-security) - [Client In The News (2)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/client-in-the-news) [Client In The News](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/client-in-the-news) ### [Melos Sulicich shares SME success tips on Money News’ “Let’s Talk Business”](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/melos-sulicich-shares-sme-success-tips-on-money-news-lets-talk-business) Melos Sulicich, CEO of Bank of Sydney was interviewed by 2GB’s Money News "Let's Talk Business" segment with Scott Haywood. He shared tips for family-run businesses to make sure ev... [Client In The News](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/client-in-the-news) ### [Target hostile countries, not us, drug giant CSL tells Trump](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/target-hostile-countries-not-us-drug-giant-csl-tells-trump) This is an extract from an article written by Michael Smith and Jessica Gardner in The Australian Financial Review. Published on the 10th July 2025. “It is weighing on the share pr... - ##### [Social Media](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) - ##### [Reputation Management](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/reputation-management) ## [Stop the imposters!](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/stop-the-imposters/) ###### By The BlueChip Team ###### 15 Aug 2012 [Social Media](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) [Financial Services](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/financial-services) [Growth](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/growth) ##### [Reaching High Net Worth Individuals Through Social Media Marketing in 2025](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/how-target-high-net-worth-individuals-social-media) [Public Relations](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/public-relations) [Reputation Management](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/reputation-management) [Crisis Management](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/crisis-management) ##### [The Science of Crisis Communication: Proactive and Reactive Strategies](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/proactive-and-reactive-crisis-communication-strategies) [Profile](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/profile) ##### [Affluence. Effluence. Influence. Do you know the difference?](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/affluence-effluence-influence-do-you-know-the-difference/) [Public Relations](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/public-relations) [Reputation Management](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/reputation-management) [Crisis Management](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/crisis-management) ##### [Introduction to Crisis Communication](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/introduction-to-crisis-communication) # Insights. [Back to all articles](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog) - Share - [![](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hubfs/Bluechip%20Assets/Images/facebook.svg) ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluechipcommunication.com.au%2Fblog%2Fstop-the-imposters%2F) - [![](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hubfs/Bluechip%20Assets/Images/linked%20in.svg) ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/stop-the-imposters/) - [![](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hubfs/Bluechip%20Assets/Images/twitter-1.svg) ](https://www.twitter.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bluechipcommunication.com.au%2Fblog%2Fstop-the-imposters%2F) [![The word verify on black keyboard with green key](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hs-fs/file-3594798500-jpg/blog-files/bigstock-the-word-verify-on-black-keybo-64565782.jpg?width=740&height=493&name=bigstock-the-word-verify-on-black-keybo-64565782.jpg)](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/hs-fs/file-3594798500-jpg/blog-files/bigstock-the-word-verify-on-black-keybo-64565782.jpg) The Internet is full of scams and imposters - [some obvious, others not so](http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/OnlineScams) - and as social media booms, it's the next frontier for spoofers and cheats. So how can you be confident that the Twitter account you are following is legitimate? If you are a prominent person or business, how can you fend off impersonators and protect your reputation in social media? There's plenty of tongue-in-cheek spoof accounts out there; [@Queen_UK](https://twitter.com/Queen_UK), [@BPGlobalPR](https://twitter.com/bpglobalpr) and [@FakeQantasPR](https://twitter.com/fakeqantaspr) to name a few. However, in all seriousness, a fake account could be damaging for you or your business. It could result in your [customers being deceived or spammed](http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-2097702/Fake-Twitter-account-shut-tricking-Tesco-Bank-customers.html), or [humiliation and ridicule](http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/making-sense-of-news/181706/journalists-beware-shell-arctic-hoax-signals-move-from-subtle-spin-to-activist-deception/). Twitter has a [verification program](https://support.twitter.com/groups/31-twitter-basics/topics/111-features/articles/119135-about-verified-accounts) which proactively authenticates the identity of account holders, and identifies verified accounts with a blue badge. The program is focused on very high-profile Twitter users in the areas of "music, acting, fashion, government, religion, journalism, media, advertising, business and other key interest area", and that's the extent of the criteria. You can not request verification from Twitter, and verification has been [known to fail.](http://gigaom.com/2012/01/03/why-twitters-verified-account-failure-matters/) Australian organisations and people who have verified accounts include [NAB](http://twitter.com/nab), [Qantas](http://twitter.com/qantasairways), [ATO](http://twitter.com/ato_gov_au), [Julia Gillard](http://twitter.com/juliagillard) and [Joe Hockey](http://twitter.com/joehockey). However, there are a number of high profile accounts that are not verified: [Westpac](https://es.twitter.com/westpac), [St George](https://twitter.com/stgeorgebank), [AMP](https://twitter.com/amp_au), [ANZ](https://twitter.com/anz_au), [Financial Review](https://twitter.com/financialreview) and [Tony Abbott](https://twitter.com/tonyabbottmhr). With some of the biggest brands in financial services remaining unverified, you can start to appreciate how high the "high-profile" bar has been set. While you wait in hope that Twitter will seek you out for verification, what can you do to protect your online identity? The best advice is to ensure your social media presence is strongly tied to the channels you control - your website, email communication, advertising and products. If your genuine social media presence is strong and prominent, there will be less opportunity for the spoofers to hijack it and leave you playing catch-up. Another way to be proactive is to register the Twitter handles that could most easily be used to impersonate you, and leave them dormant. If you are subject to a spoof account, you can report it to Twitter ([like Qantas did](http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/spoof-qantas-twitter-account-shut-down-20120214-1t3h5.html)). Twitter will close accounts that impersonate others in a way that is intended to "mislead, confuse or deceive", violate copyright/trademarks or infringe any other [Twitter rules](https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311-the-twitter-rules). However, some spoof accounts are tolerated, so long as they skirt the rules by making their satirical nature obvious. All in all, fighting the counterfeiters requires action by you - keep your social media presence strong, frequent and engaged, and the imposters will have less opportunity to take hold. *Tamera Lang is currently undertaking an internship with BlueChip Communication. *This post first appeared on 14 August 2012 on [www.cardencalder.com](http://www.cardencalder.com)** [![New call-to-action](https://hubspot-no-cache-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/537730/431002e3-250a-4808-8e24-851fccc589ac.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/537730/431002e3-250a-4808-8e24-851fccc589ac) [![how to drive your fame agenda](https://hubspot-no-cache-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/537730/353fa2e0-53b3-407b-b7b3-d03aa771c86d.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/537730/353fa2e0-53b3-407b-b7b3-d03aa771c86d) ## Related Posts [Social Media](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) [Financial Services](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/financial-services) [Growth](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/growth) ###### 07 August 2024 #### [Democrat or Demobrat? How meme-driven Gen Z marketing reached US politics and why it works](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/demobrat-is-gen-z-marketing) [Social Media](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) [Financial Services](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/financial-services) [Growth](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/growth) ###### 25 June 2024 #### [Reaching High Net Worth Individuals Through Social Media Marketing in 2025](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/how-target-high-net-worth-individuals-social-media) [Social Media](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) [Financial Services](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/financial-services) [Growth](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/growth) ###### 19 June 2024 #### [The Dual Edge of Apple's AI Sword: Innovation and Implications](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/apple-intelligence-ai) [Social Media](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) [Reputation Management](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/reputation-management) [Profile](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/profile) ###### 18 July 2022 #### [The price of your (and my) human rights might be more human responsibility](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/the-price-of-your-and-my-human-rights-might-be-more-human-responsibility) [Social Media](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) [Reputation Management](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/reputation-management) [Profile](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/profile) ###### 20 June 2022 #### [Media bias and you, whether you're 15 or 50, Amber Heard or AlboPM](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/media-bias-and-you-whether-youre-15-or-50-amber-heard-or-albopm) [Social Media](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/social-media) [Reputation Management](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/reputation-management) [Profile](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/topic/profile) ###### 20 May 2022 #### [The election war of memes is no laughing matter](https://www.bluechipcommunication.com.au/blog/the-election-war-of-memes-is-no-laughing-matter) ## Stay up to date ### Marketing insights you’ll want to read. 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