Bengaluru woman gets offer for 'renting' her LinkedIn account, netizens call it 'ethical hacking'

A Bengaluru-based Senior Brand Marketing Manager has shared her story where she was approached with an offer to rent her LinkedIn account in exchange of money.

Nikhita Anil took to her LinkedIn account and shared about the experience and attached screenshots of the conversation between her and the individual with the offer.

"Most of y’all urban working corporate slaves like me must be living in rented apartments. And some of you lucky ones with generational wealth are probably renting out your apartments. BUT, have you ever heard of RENTING OUT your LINKEDIN account?(sic)" Nikhita wrote.

Credit: LinkedIn/Nikhita AnilNikhita Anil

Credit: LinkedIn/Nikhita AnilNikhita Anil

Further, she explained that there are certain individuals who are reaching out to people and offering money to rent their LinkedIn account for a "stipulated time in exchange for monetary gains''.

The screenshot of the chat shows the individual saying that their company needs to develop the LinkedIn market, hence they want to rent a large number of accounts to expand their business network.

They further said that they will be paying $20 (Rs 1,734) per week and a $10 deposit, however, during this period they are not allowed to change any security information.

Once the account is rented, the user cannot change the password, and the personal information will be updated but no change would be made to existing contacts, the individual further wrote.

"You will only need to help lift the restriction if your LinkedIn account gets restricted," they wrote.

Nikhita however dismissed the offer and, in the caption, questioned what these people will actually do after renting the accounts.

"So, is LinkedIn renting a common practice now, like those digital arrest scams I’ve just started hearing about? Or is this the next wave of scams in the professional world?" she wrote.

The post has garnered attention online and a flurry of comments, some calling it a "scam" and "ethical hacking".