Fake accounts posing as GOP leaders on Parler are selling Trump hats and CBD oil: report

BuzzFeed News reported on Wednesday that it had discovered around 50 accounts on the social network site Parler posing as fake GOP leaders and claiming to sell CBD oil endorsed by first lady Melania Trump.

An account posing as one run by Vice President Pence shared a link to buy a “Commemorative Medallion” on Dec. 5. The same account later shared a message from a “Team Trump” account that promoted CBD oil.

The account’s posts received hundreds of thousands of likes within a few days.

A surge of new users on Parler made the free speech social network a target for scams and fake accounts. We caught a network of roughly 50 fake accounts for ppl like Mike Pence, Don Trump Jr., Sidney Powell hawking CBD oil, Trump coins, and Trump hats: https://t.co/WVsVyWbaPN

— Craig Silverman (@CraigSilverman) December 16, 2020

Pence’s office confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the account was fake. After the news outlet contacted Parler, the website banned the fake account. About 50 other accounts posing as high-ranking GOP officials like chief of staff Mark Meadows, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Donald Trump Jr. were also discovered selling products to Trump supporters on Parler.

John Matze, Parler’s CEO, said, “I believe most of those fraudulent accounts were a sad attempt to circumvent our advertising network.”

These fake accounts were able to trick people by gaining verification and then changing their names afterwards. Users can receive a red “Parler citizen” badge by uploading a government ID. However, only accounts with gold “verified influencer” are confirmed to be run by the same person in the account.

BuzzFeed notes that these fake accounts are indicative of Parler’s growing popularity. The site has become the favorite of many in the right-wing community who disagree with Twitter’s rules and guidelines that limit misinformation and abusive content.

Parler conversely places almost no limits on what can be said on its site. The website currently bans criminal activity, child pornography, terrorism, copyright violations, fraud and spam.

However, many prominent GOP leaders like Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Ky.) who said they would be leaving Twitter for Parler never actually left the social media giant. Shannon McGregor who studies social media at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told NPR in November that Parler is unlikely to steal enough members from Twitter to make a difference.

“All these people have accounts on Twitter because that’s where journalists are and that’s where the press is,” McGregor said to NPR. “If they actually left Twitter, they would be less newsworthy.”

McGregor noted that other social media sites have attempted to cater to right-wing individuals in the past, most notably Gab. The alternative site soon became notorious for becoming rife with anti-Semitic, white nationalist content. NPR noted that the accused Pittsburgh synagogue shooter was a user on Gab.