New Delhi: Everyone wants their five minutes of fame, and some will stop at nothing to use other’s fame for their personal gain. Elvish Yadav, the Big Boss OTT and Roadies XX winner, knows this very well. This newfound boost of fame had attracted the attention of opportunists, where many influencer management agents pitched for brand deals using his name. The confusion got so out of hand that Elvish had to post a story on Instagram naming his official manager, and that any others taking his name are frauds. Simran Malhotra, a travel and lifestyle influencer, recently posted a reel detailing how a fraudster posed as a representative of a well-known skincare brand and tried to get photos of her skin and intimate areas. She then lodged a formal complaint with the relevant authorities.
In the influencer marketing ecosystem, this has become a regular issue, where impersonators claim to represent famous brands to pitch for lucrative endorsement deals. Upcoming brands are routinely targeted, as they look for influencer collabs to boost their brand’s reach.
Some influencer marketing agencies also falsely use the names of unaffiliated influencers in early-stage discussions to boost their profile, even though their partnership may have ended prematurely or may not have even existed in the first place.
The situation has become so bad that some estimates suggest the influencer loses 30% of their brand value due to false representation claims, and some brands actually lose trust in the whole process after that.
The industry has started to fight back. xley.ai offers brands a tech-driven solution where every representation claim is verified, and there is complete transparency in the whole process. Hashfame is also another brand where creators can directly connect with brands, eliminating any sort of fraud.
The influencer industry thrives on credibility and engagement, and fraudulent claims are known to erode trust amongst the influencer’s loyal followers.
Influencer marketing agencies find it easy to gain a brand’s trust when they claim to represent prominent influencers, but this can be counterproductive in the long run.
The situation is slowly catching the attention of the Advertising Standards Council of India, a self-regulatory advertisement watchdog that has listed out a set of guidelines for agencies to follow. However, implementation of the same is not consistent, and not everyone is adapting to these guidelines.
To stay safe, influencers are now insisting on contracts and direct interactions with brand representatives to boost transparency.
