An investigation details a huge Instagram verification scheme using fake profiles on Spotify, Apple Music, and more; Meta removes badges from 300+ accounts
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. Tweets: @craigsilverman , @blackamazon , @tariqkrim , @robleathern , @profcarroll , @craigsilverman , @zivabranstetter , @brettmmurphy , @senatorshoshana , @craigsilverman , @biancafortis , @propublica , and @zivabranstetter Tweets: Craig Silverman / @craigsilverman : Meet Goody. He sells jewelry in Miami. He also had musician profiles on Spotify/Apple/Google & articles about his songs. His is one of 100s of fake musician personas created to get verified on Instagram/FB. Inside a million-dollar fake musician scheme: https://www.propublica.org/... https://twitter.com/... @blackamazon : This is amazing and hilarious and infuriating considering how hard it is for certain folks to get verified, stop fake accounts and get basic protections https://twitter.com/... @tariqkrim : There is something rotten in the world of social media. https://twitter.com/... Rob Leathern / @robleathern : Fantastic from @CraigSilverman - scammers will always find ways around these systems so it's important to take action when discovered including pursuing legal remedies. Exposing these schemes via in-depth reporting is useful for us as consumers (and the companies alike) https://twitter.com/... David Carroll / @profcarroll : Your growth hacks and frictionless UX are actually the fraudster's toolbox... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Craig Silverman / @craigsilverman : Meta confirmed our findings and has so far removed verification badges from over 300 accounts, with more under review. When asked if any Meta workers were involved in the scheme, a spox said the company can't comment on internal personnel matters or investigations. https://twitter.com/... Ziva Branstetter / @zivabranstetter : After @propublica asked @Meta & @Spotify about these accounts and many others that were part of the scheme, @Meta removed blue checks from more than 300 accounts. Brett Murphy / @brettmmurphy : “What appears to be the largest Instagram account verification scheme ever uncovered.” https://www.propublica.org/... @senatorshoshana : Geez, @propublica going after Olivia Rodrigo kinda hard if you ask me https://www.propublica.org/... https://twitter.com/... Craig Silverman / @craigsilverman : Our investigation uncovered what's likely the largest Instagram verification scheme. @biancafortis & I found crypto bros, OnlyFans models, a cannabis co., surgeon, reality TV stars & others were turned into fake musicians as part of an elaborate scheme. https://www.propublica.org/... Bianca / @biancafortis : Never did I imagine I would report on Instagram influencers, least of all for @propublica, but life is full of surprises. Thanks for letting me help with this, @CraigSilverman https://www.propublica.org/... @propublica : New: A jeweler. A plastic surgeon. An OnlyFans Model. They and others received a blue check in likely the biggest Instagram verification scheme revealed to date. After ProPublica started asking questions, Meta removed badges from over 300 accounts. https://www.propublica.org/... Ziva Branstetter / @zivabranstetter : Exclusive from @CraigSilverman @biancafortis: A plastic surgeon, Only Fans models, reality TV stars & crypto entrepreneurs among hundreds verified as musicians in the largest @instagram verification scheme uncovered. https://www.propublica.org/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Instagram's blue check has been a target for years: the coordinated takedown of OGUsers account-hijacking forum members showed how much value attaches to coveted handles and statuses, while the Fuelgram engagement-trading rings proved users would industrialize fakery to game ranking signals. ProPublica's reporting adds a new layer — instead of stealing or buying status, operators manufactured entire musician personas, complete with streaming profiles on Spotify, Apple Music and Google, to satisfy Meta's notability criteria.
Meta's response — stripping badges from 300-plus accounts and confirming more are under review — makes this one of the larger single verification purges on record, and it lands alongside ProPublica's later look at the account-banning and extortion economy around influencer accounts. Together they sketch a market where platform trust signals are commodities with suppliers, buyers, and now documented supply chains.
First-order effects
- Over 300 badge holders lose verified status immediately, and anyone who bought a persona-based verification faces review as Meta works through the rest of the scheme.
- Spotify, Apple Music and Google are exposed as the unwitting identity oracles of the scheme — their low-friction artist-profile creation became the credential Meta relied on.
Second-order effects
- Music platforms come under pressure to harden artist-identity vetting, since their open profile creation is now a documented attack vector against another company's trust system.
- Verification-as-a-service sellers must shift tactics, because the fake-musician playbook is publicly documented and its output is being actively revoked.
Third-order effects
- The episode shows verification is only as strong as the weakest linked platform: when one service's self-serve profiles attest to notability everywhere else, cross-platform identity checks become structurally necessary rather than optional.
- If manufactured-persona schemes keep scaling faster than manual review, Meta faces pressure toward either paid verification or automated provenance checks — both of which change what a blue check actually certifies.
The trend: Platform trust signals are becoming arbitrage targets, with fraudsters chaining weak identity controls across streaming and social services until verification either gets paid for or gets cryptographically hardened.