## This Creator Tricked Us All

A creator had 1M fake followers. Here's how to verify audience authenticity and spot fraudulent accounts in the wild.

#### This Creator Tricked Us All

This week in the Discord, we discussed a creator who had a million followers, but they turned out to be completely fake. We also talked about how you can verify if a creator’s audience is authentic. We also had a session with a successful newsletter operator.

Missed the conversation? [Join the Discord to watch the replay.](https://link.trykarat.com/DiscordNL)

#### How to Spot a Fake Creator / Audience:

- **• Check engagement rate.** A real creator with 1M followers should have at least 1-3% engagement. Below that is suspicious.
- **• Look at follower growth over time.** Huge spikes in followers usually indicate purchased followers.
- **• Read the comments.** Fake engagement usually has generic, vague comments like “Great post!” or “Amazing content!”
- **• Check the ratio of following to followers.** If someone has 1M followers but is following 500k people, that’s suspicious.
- **• Use tools like** [HypeAuditor](https://hypeauditor.com/) **or** [Modash](https://www.modash.io/) **to audit an influencer’s audience** for authenticity before you hire them.

#### Newsletter Strategy:

- **• Your open rate matters more than your subscriber count.** Brands pay for engaged subscribers.
- **• Segment your list.** Send different content to different groups based on their interests.
- **• Consistency is key.** Send on the same day and time every week so your readers know when to expect you.
- **• Repurpose newsletter content** into social posts, YouTube videos, and podcasts. One idea, many formats.
- **• Test your subject lines.** A/B test to find what gets the highest open rate.