The biggest fake influencers on social media

From the biggest musicians and movie stars to makeup gurus, the modern internet is full of influencers living their best lives, showing off their latest brand collab, or flashing a discount code. But how many of these influencers are actually legit? And whose sponsors should have invested in a new domain name instead? We took a look at the top 25 biggest influencers with the highest percentage of fake followers.

Rank Influencer & Instagram Handle Category No Instagram Followers Engagement rate % % of suspicious accounts % of fake followers
1 Kylie Jenner @kyliejenner Fashion, Beauty, Modeling 223.5M 3.5% 28.50% 40%
2 Kendall Jenner@kendalljenner Modelling, Fashion, Lifestyle 157.6M 3.58% 27.20% 37%
3 Blake Lively @blakelively Film 28.3M 7.55% 27% 37%
4 Justin Bieber @justinbieber Music 168.7M 0.37% 26.90% 37%
5 Rihanna @badgirlriri Music, Beauty 92.8M 1.75% 26.20% 36%
6 Zayn Malik@zayn Music 39.8M 6.56% 26.10% 35%
7 Kim Kardashian West @kimkardashian Family, Fashion, Lifestyle 212.3M 1.32% 25.60% 34%
8 LeBron James @kingjames Sport 81.7M 1.70% 25.20% 34%
9 Kourtney Kardashian @kourtneykardash Lifestyle 115M 1.14% 25.10% 34%
10 Bad Bunny @badbunnypr Music 31.7M 8.90% 25% 33%
11 Champagne Papi @champagnepapi Music 77.6M 1.77% 24.80% 33%
12 Addison Rae @addisonraee Beauty, Lifestyle 37.1M 7.28% 24.50% 32%
13 Gigi Hadid @gigihadid Modelling, Lifestyle 65M 5.53% 23.90% 31%
14 Tom Holland @tomholland2013 Film 43M 13.64% 23.90% 31%
15 Ursula Corbero @ursololita Film, Modelling 20.9M 13.21% 23.50% 31%
16 Neymar Jr @neymarjr Sport 148.1M 1.19% 23.40% 31%
17 Kylian Mbappe @k.mbappe Sport 48.9M 3.92% 23.40% 31%
18 Travis Scott @travisscott Music 38.4M 6.97% 23.30% 30%
19 Zlatan Ibrahimovic@iamzlatanibrahimovic Sport 47M 1.99% 22.60% 29%
20 Paulo Dybala@paulodybala Sport 41.3M 3.36% 22.50% 29%
21 Cardi B@iamcardib Music 86.8M 1.95% 21.60% 28%
22 Madelaine Petsch@madelame Film 23.8M 11.27% 21.40% 27%
23 Beyonce@beyonce Music, Fashion 170.5M 1.50% 21.30% 27%
24 Conor McGregor@thenotoriousmma Fitness 39.6M 2.50% 21.20% 27%
25 Ariana Grande@arianagrande Music 228.9M 2.47% 21% 27%

Methodology

We ran social audits using Hype Auditor and weighted the results against the number of their Instagram followers to reveal the percentage of fake followers.

Full data on the top 50 fake influencers can be available upon request.