Crack the Four Signs of Fake LINE Accounts: Two Steps to Avoid Scams

Edited by Helen from Mom’s Journal

With the advancement of internet technology, messaging apps have become an indispensable part of our lives. Nowadays, many scam groups are targeting LINE, using fake accounts, offering group join discounts, stickers, and more. While these may seem ordinary, you could be scammed without even realizing it. LINE officials have outlined four key characteristics of scam accounts—how can you spot and avoid them?

Sign One: The account name is a well-known brand, but the shield icon is gray

LINE officials point out that official [email protected] accounts of recognized brands come with two types of shield icons—one is a gray shield for general accounts, and the other is a colored shield for verified accounts. Any business with proper registration can fill out a form for LINE to review and apply for verification. Therefore, if you see promotional messages from accounts with gray shields, they are unverified—don’t rush to share or join them.

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Sign Two: Asking you to share with friends or groups to get the discount

Many promotional messages will note that you need to share with a certain number of friends or post in groups, claiming that the system will then “automatically” send you a discount code, etc. Usually, such messages are a red flag for fake accounts.

Sign Three: Suspicious free sticker downloads

From time to time, editors receive messages in family groups like “Limited-time free sticker download for XX holiday”—elders in the group often quickly share them, urging everyone to grab the deal. But as the saying goes, the best things in life aren’t free. When you get such promotional messages, first check the Sticker Shop’s event sticker section to confirm whether the free stickers are actually available. If it's legitimate, downloading from official channels is much safer.

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Sign Four: Luring you to join more fake accounts

Some fake accounts operate like pyramid schemes—if you join one, they’ll try to get you to join another. If you come across messages like “Join the account below to get more discounts” or “If you didn’t receive the discount, please join the organizer’s account to inquire,” don’t immediately click to add them. Remember to double-check for the aforementioned signs of fake accounts.

If you’ve already added several fake accounts, remember two actions: “Report” and “Block.”

Report: Tap the menu at the top of the chat → Chat Settings → Report, and report the fake account to LINE officials. The official team will handle it as soon as possible.

Block: Tap the menu at the top of the chat → Block, to stop receiving any more messages from the fake account.

When you receive suspicious promotional information, don’t rush to grab the deal. Stop and review the account info to see if it shows any of the four signs mentioned above. If it does, it’s highly suspicious. Remember not to add the account as a friend or share it with your family and friends—let wisdom stop the scam.

Source: Life Circle