The Problem of Phantom Employees
For years, companies have dealt with the persistent issue of individuals incorrectly or maliciously listing them as an employer. This can happen for several reasons, from innocent mistakes where a user selects a similarly named company, to ex-employees
who simply forget to update their profiles. More concerning, however, are deliberate attempts by scammers and bad actors to impersonate employees. These fake associations are used to lend credibility to phishing schemes, spread misinformation, or commit identity theft, all while using a company's good name. Until recently, businesses had limited direct recourse, often facing a lengthy process to report and remove these phantom employees, which left their brand vulnerable.
LinkedIn's New Verification and Removal Tools
In response to the growing ease of faking credibility online, partly fuelled by AI, LinkedIn has rolled out new features to enhance trust and authenticity. The most significant change empowers administrators of verified Company Pages to directly remove people who falsely claim to work there. This action removes the imposter's account from the company's employee list and associated search results. While it does not alter the user's personal profile, it breaks the official link to the company page, and the work experience will no longer appear as verified. This manual removal tool is now live for verified pages.
A Proactive Approach to Brand Safety
Beyond manual removal, LinkedIn is also piloting a more proactive measure. A selection of companies is testing a feature that allows them to require workplace verification before a member can be associated with their Page. This would typically involve a user verifying their employment through a work-issued email address. While this is currently being tested and focused on full-time employees, it signals a move toward preventing false associations before they happen, rather than just cleaning them up after the fact. According to LinkedIn, these measures are part of a larger investment in verification, which has already been used by over 115 million members and 700,000 companies.
How Page Admins Can Use These Tools
For administrators of verified LinkedIn Pages, taking action is straightforward. You can now visit the profile of the person falsely claiming employment and manually remove the association. This instantly cleans up your employee list in public search results. The first crucial step for any brand is to ensure its own Company Page is verified, as this is a prerequisite for accessing the new removal tool. Page admins should conduct regular audits of their employee lists. By searching your company name in the 'People' results, you can identify and remove any accounts you know are not legitimate staff members, helping to safeguard your brand's reputation from scammers and bogus recruiters.
