I am honest caring doctor and have communion in the face and breasts.....

.... I'm talking about the fake profiles that have been following me on Twitter of late!  I get followed by roughly 20 of these per day at the moment, and am writing this so that you recognise them and don't follow them back 😂😄

They target middle-aged women and are clearly made by people looking to carry out some scam or other ~ you never know what you might be clicking on if they send you a link in a DM 😱😲😳.   As Julia has said, in a comment below, it's a numbers game; the people who make these profiles are often run by the master scammer, who knows that if they make enough of them and follow enough people, eventually they'll get a 'hit' ~ someone who is foolish enough to send them money. 

 

Please click the links and enjoy...

Take a look at @Steven21773017

(Note 2024: Steven has recently had a head transplant)

He is a perfect example; a photo that's clearly taken from photobucket or similar, and a bio in bad English.  No tweets.  They're usually 'medical doctors' or 'bankers' or 'army officers', and claim to be 'simple' or 'humble' or 'love God'.  'Am honest and caring man' is another favourite.  Sometimes the maker of these profiles has taken two pictures from whoever's profile they downloaded the photos from, and used one as a header photo too...like Lucas20Davis who is even tweeting the occasional one!

Harry Smit is a great one - look at his tweets; he hasn't realised you need to leave a gap between words to make the user name link work...!!
 
@dennisham3131 can't seem to decide how to spell his name and, though a 'military office', cannot write basic English....

... but centre stage must be given to @albertgrandy3

At least this one's tried harder with the bio!  

....although he appears to be the same person as @Drjimwilliam, a man of 'dignity and honest', albeit about 10 years older.....  and @wonderwilliam56

And then there's @willians6643007 who is clearly the identical twin of @Lewis336David!
whose picture is actually that of Dr Steve Jones, NY hypnotherapist (see below).

They target us in the hope that we are lonely, naive and looking for love; they've probably seen all these programmes like 'My Online Nightmare' about women who fall 'in love' with men they meet on the internet, and get conned out of their life savings.  My sister says she gets them popping up on Skype; they're always respectable looking, middle-aged men in military uniform, but have no actual profile.  Those on Twitter are the lowest of the low when it comes to internet scam hierarchy; they don't want to pay for online dating profiles, and aren't even intelligent enough to make sure their English is right and their profiles convincing!

I was followed by one this morning who claimed to be 67, and left the army in 1971.  That would have made him 18.  Yet he was born in 1947, which would make him 70.  Looks like the maths is as bad as the English....

Be careful.  They might con you out of your life savings.  
Then again,  I doubt they'd know where to start.

(Note: Nov 2017.  This is Dr Steve Jones, a New York hypnotherapist.  His pictures are used for many of the profiles.)

A quick guide to Twitter bios....

Every couple of days I click on my Twitter followers to check out new ones and follow back those I'm interested in.  I'm guessing you do the same.  But how do you decided whether to follow back or not?  'Social media expert', 'chocaholic', 'loving life' - what do those bio details really mean? (ps, this is just a bit of fun....!)

Just 'Author' and nothing else
Doesn't really want to do Twitter but someone told him he ought to.  Your mutual follow will probably be your only interaction; he's off writing, somewhere.  

'Author and daydreamer'
Half way through writing a fantasy novel.  Will post tweets asking how to motivate oneself.

'Fuelled by coffee'
Either a) wants to give impression that he/she spends long hours tearing hair out over manuscript/other creative endeavour or b) is busy mum/office worker.

Expresses liking for wine and/or chocolate
Often a chick lit/romcom author and/or reader. Friendly, welcoming and supportive, and will be keen to interact on girly/domestic matters. Wishes to appeal to other chick lit/romance readers/authors/busy mums.

Bio is over-used 'profound' quote ('dance as though no-one is watching', 'be the change you want to see in the world', etc)
Doesn't actually live by any of these quotes, and otherwise has very little to say.  Possibly a spam profile.

Divides up | very important | sounding interests and | qualifications with | vertical lines
Will not interact, but will just post links to own and other posts about whatever very | important and | impressive things | are stated in bio.

'All round nice guy'
The ones I've come across who say this usually are, oddly!

'Eclectic Tastes'
Read a vampire book once and quite liked it. Watches the odd 'quirky' film as well as dramas featuring John Hannah/Bill Nighy.  Has tried Greek food. Subconsciously, hopes use of word 'eclectic' will impress.

'Be popular on Twitter!  Buy 10,000 followers for $5!'
...followed by user name of a jumble of letters.  Block. Now. They'll just keep sending you spam.  They're not people, they're just profiles set up by spammers and possible hackers.

'Aspiring author'
May request you read their stuff on Wattpad.  

'Debut author'
Usually friendly and keen to share stuff.

'Bestselling author'
Don't feel intimidated.  The 'bestselling' bit may not be absolutely true. In fact it might be a downright lie.  Those who truly are (ie the ones you've heard of) play themselves down on their bios (nothing to prove). May be too important to interact with you. Will tweet #writetips and blog posts about marketing.  You may experience an urge to be extremely rude to him/her.

'Critically acclaimed author'
Writes novels with lots of clever words in them and has some corking reviews from other critically acclaimed authors/literary sites.  Will post links to articles about state of publishing industry.  Tweets usually amusing/clever, sometimes self-consciously so.

'Award-winning author'
Again, don't be intimidated.  I've won an award for one of my books, too.  In fact I've won two.  But they weren't the Booker prize, they were online things set up by groups of avid readers/reviewers, as are many of those mentioned.  Nice to win, and I guess it shows you can write a bit, but all they really mean is a few people nominating then a bunch of others voting, not international acclaim.

'Avid reader.  Book Blogger'
If you're a writer, you want to follow these chaps. And treat them with respect!

'Please donate to my GoFundMe/Kickstart/GiveMeYourMoneyNow project to save my son/car/business/book that won't sell'
Well, it's up to you, but I know what I'd do...

Bio is articulate but includes swear words
Has not grown out of need to shock parents.  May challenge you to justify your lighthearted quips or be rude to you/unfollow you if you seem too mainstream

'Book Marketing Expert'
Will say hello/retweet you almost immediately, but once they realise you do not want to buy their services, you will never hear from them again.

'Oenophile'
If they even have to find a clever word for knocking back the Blossom Hill, imagine what their tweets are going to be like.... even if this is written with humour, proceed cautiously.

'#Follow back  #Retweeter #TeamWhatever'
Do not follow back.  Block if necessary; will send you spam.  Despite avatar of wholesome all American blonde girl, is probably male teenager from under-developed country, tweeting from internet cafe.

Bio invites you to check out website/buy product, thus: 'you can buy my book here (link)' or requests that you 'like' their Facebook page
Will send auto DM with annoying message, and auto 'thanks for follow, buy stuff from me now' tweets.  Will never interact or be interested in anything you have to say.  Thinks Twitter is free advertising site.

'Just here to have fun!'
Will comment in 'wacky' fashion on your tweets... 

'Thought Leader'
Bit of a twat

'Mediapreneur'
See 'thought leader'

'Mompreneur'
Stay at home mum who flogs things on ebay/makes own jewellery.  Worryingly perky.

'Photographer/Artist'
You should always follow these back because they post nice pictures

A claim to be any sort of 'guru', unless obviously being funny
Avoid like the plague (thank you, Paula!)

'SEO. Founder & CEO of (initials). Award Winning HRA Syndicated Educator. CNN. Speaker. Motivational Learning Consultant. SEOCNN'
No, I don't haven't got a clue what they do, either

Bio in different language from the one you speak
And the point is?

Expresses liking for vodka/whisky
Probably quite good fun

Bio is the description of a book/film
Person running profile will be interested only in selling you this book/promoting the film.  Only interaction will be to tag you in tweets suggesting you buy/watch/retweet it/try to get all your friends to buy/watch/retweet it.

'Following God's plan'
Will unfollow you as soon as you mention anything to do with knickers, vampires or alcohol, anyway.

'Single, honest and trustworthy guy, just want to be friends'
...or similar.  If accompanied by badly taken selfie (the sort that makes their neck and chin look huge, with the bathroom as a background), will probably just tweet 'hello' or 'how are you' once a week. You can actually feel them sitting there at their computer waiting for you to reply.  Usually harmless, sometimes pleasant, but be careful just in case. 

'I am lovely girls'
Porn site from a third world country


No bio at all
...can mean one of the following:
a) Spam profile
b) Person who has only registered half-heartedly and will never use site
c) Person who just doesn't know what to put on bio yet - what the hell, if they look nice, follow them back anyway!

***Take care...***
A new one I've noticed a lot lately.  A picture of an attractive woman that looks real enough.  The 'header pic' is a lovely scenery shot.  The bio is just a profound saying.  I tend to get clumps of these, four or five at a time.  I think they're potential hackers/spammers.  These people are getting more clever; they set up profiles that look real, then turn them into what they're really to be used for once they have many followers.



I'm sure you can think of more...did I once describe myself as 'award-winning' because someone said, what the hell, even a small award is good for promotion???  Yes, but I changed it after half a day as it made me feel silly!