Popular social media network Facebook has admitted that about 270 million of accounts on its platform are fake.
The social network which has been under pressure over Russia using the platform to meddle with the recently concluded US presidential election, estimated that fake accounts had increased from 2 to 3 percent while the number of duplicate accounts rose from 6 to 10 percent of its 2.1 billion monthly users.
The 3 percent of fake accounts and 10 percent of duplicate accounts sum up to 13 percent. Now this 13 percent from the 2.1 billion monthly users gives about 270 million accounts -- erm fake accounts.
Facebook made the disclosure in the small print of its earnings presentation during which it revealed a 79 percent increase in profits to $4.7 billion made quarterly.
Facebook explained that improvements to the data helped in identifying those illegal accounts, rather than a sudden increase in fake users registration. However, the company warned that there may have been some moments of high spikes in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam.
Facebook also admitted that 126 million users on its platform in the US saw adverts funded by Russia, and another 20 million on Instagram.
Sophisticated phishing scam and hoaxes are becoming a common scene on the social media platform. However, Facebook users can still use the platform without falling prey to hackers when they apply simple security tips as shown on technophilesblog.com
Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook has said that Facebooks profit might be affected in the future due to the company's efforts in halting fake ads, accounts and others.