What's your quick check for fake followers before a call?
I don't have a whole afternoon for every creator on a long list. What's your five-minute check for fake or dead followers, especially on Instagram and TikTok? I've heard every tool under the sun and they don't agree with each other.
12 answers
- Theo J.Sep 15, 2026
Followers who arrived in a straight line. If the account jumped 20k in a week and the posts from that week have the same sad comment pattern, I don't need a tool.
- Sofia M.Sep 15, 2026
Open the follower list on mobile and scroll. Faces, normal bios, a mix of countries that fits the creator. If it's a wall of accounts with no posts and usernames like name482194, close the tab.
- Leo B.Sep 17, 2026
Comment quality beats follower count. I wrote this on another thread and I'll say it again because it's the whole job: a sentence about the actual video, or nothing.
- Maya R.Sep 18, 2026
Watch the ratio of views to followers on the last nine Reels, not the viral one. If they have 100k followers and every reel sits at 800 views, the followers are not in the room.
- Omar A.Sep 18, 2026
TikTok is messier because the app will show a video to strangers. Low followers and high views can be real there. I look at whether the views continue after the first day, and whether anyone local is talking.
- Lina P.Sep 19, 2026
Tools disagree because they're guessing. Use one as a flag, then look with your eyes. I have never cancelled a contract on a tool score alone, and I have cancelled plenty after five minutes on the profile.
- Nadia S.Sep 20, 2026
Ask for a story screenshot from last week with the viewer count. Stories are harder to fake convincingly, and creators who bought followers often don't bother because brands forget to ask.
- Omar A.Sep 21, 2026
Audience country again. A 'Mumbai' creator with a sudden pile of followers from places they never mention is a classic. The tool sometimes catches this. The story replies catch it faster.
- Maya R.Sep 22, 2026
Give-aways inflate followers with people who wanted a phone. Not fake, but they're gone next month. If the last big growth post was a giveaway, judge the posts after it.
- Maya R.Sep 23, 2026
We lost money on a creator whose followers were real and simply bought. The comments were real too. They just weren't our buyer. 'Fake' is not the only way a number lies.
- Lina P.Sep 24, 2026
If you're in a hurry: last 9 posts, median views, read 10 comments, scroll followers for 30 seconds. Anything that fails two of those doesn't get a call.
- Nadia S.Sep 25, 2026
And check the handle wasn't renamed last month onto a fresh pile of followers. Some people buy an old account. The earliest post date tells you.
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What's your quick check for fake followers before a call?
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