Amazon's social media storm doesn't seem to be weathering anytime soon, as new reports suggest that "fake" Amazon employee Twitter accounts are springing up. The technology giant had already recently drawn Twitter attention due to some heated back-and-forths between one of its social media accounts and a few prominent politicians. However, if these new reports are true, that may just be the tip of Amazon's Twitter iceberg.
Using its Amazon News account, Amazon recently fired off a series of Tweets aimed at politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren, both of whom have been critical of the company's working conditions and tax exemptions over the past few years. The tone was viewed as somewhat combative, accusing Senders of being more interested in "talk in Alabama than (action) in Vermont," then following up by calling out Mark Pocan after the Wisconsin Democrat raised concerns over the company's working conditions. At the same time, allegedly fake Amazon accounts have been sprouting up and adding their support for the company.
According to reports by the BBC and others, Twitter has suspended several accounts that posed as Amazon warehouse workers and took to the platform to push back against those in favor of forming unions while also promoting the current working environment at Amazon's fulfillment centers. Amazon confirmed to the BBC that at least one of these suspended accounts was a fake, though it remains unclear who is actually behind the account. According to Twitter, the accounts were removed for violating the platform's rules on spam and platform manipulation.
There are a few things that these suspended and potentially fake accounts have in common. Many have had the phrase "AmazonFC" included in their handles alongside their names, and several have stated the fact that they are an Amazon employee in their Twitter bio. For context, the BBC reports that the company had used the "AmazonFC" handle in the past for real employees hired to defend Amazon on Twitter. Amazon also told the BBC that at least one of these accounts was not an official ambassador for the company, but did not comment on the others. A number of these seemingly fake accounts also have little to no followers or accounts that they are following, which is likely to be another telltale sign.
Another warning sign might be the images. Whether it is the profile or images in general, many of these accounts appear to have very generic, stock-like images, or a lack of varied images in general. While the image alone won't be enough to identify an account, when noted along with the other warning signs, it could be a good indication that the account might be fake or a bot. To be clear, it has not yet been determined whether these accounts are fake or legitimate - they've only been suspended by Twitter for not following its guidelines, but it is certainly interesting that nearly three-year-old reports by publications including TechCrunch found several accounts on Twitter promoting Amazon with bios and handles that are very similar to the accounts that have been recently suspended.
Overall, if a Twitter account has the phrase "AmazonFC" in its handle, doesn't have much of a following, and predominantly praises Amazon in its Tweets, that does not necessarily mean that it is a fake account, but there are enough recently suspended accounts with these exact characteristics to at least approach those Twitter handles with a baseline of skepticism.
Source: BBC, TechCrunch
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