In the digital talent marketplace, where visibility and trust are currency, LinkedIn has become a critical space for job seekers, hiring managers, and mentors to connect. But behind the glossy posts and motivational monologues lies a troubling rise in exploitation — one that senior leaders can no longer afford to ignore.

A new breed of “mentorship influencers” is gaming the platform, leveraging job seekers' desperation to sell hollow advice, false hope, and even bogus referrals — often under the façade of having worked at FAANG companies (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google). These fake mentors are not only monetising credibility they haven’t earned but also undermining genuine efforts by professionals who want to give back to the community.

For leaders, especially those who have invested time and trust into building authentic mentoring cultures, this is more than an online nuisance — it’s a reputational and ethical issue that demands attention.

The Scripted Scam: How Fake Mentors Game the System

A now-viral Reddit post has unpacked a troubling but all-too-familiar pattern used by these so-called mentors. Here's how it works:

1. The Bait: They post daily, often with photos in FAANG hoodies or office spaces, paired with vague motivational lines and a call to action — “Book a free 15-minute call for a referral or CV review.”
   
   

2. The Flattery: On the call, they offer shallow praise, making the job seeker feel seen and supported — but deliver no real value or direction.
   
   

3. The Ask: Before ending, they request a glowing 5-star review on platforms like Topmate or LinkedIn itself.
   
   

4. The Shift: Once enough reviews are collected — usually from free calls — the mentor begins charging hefty fees, often £50–£100 for 30 minutes, advertising themselves as “rated 5 stars by 50+ professionals.”
   
   

5. The Grift: With fake credibility in place, they scale the operation. Referrals become commodities, not endorsements, and mentorship is reduced to a business model based on manipulation.
   
   

Even more concerning, many operate in informal collectives — liking and reposting each other’s content to artificially inflate their reach and legitimacy on LinkedIn.

See the full post here. 

Why Leaders Must Pay Attention

At a glance, these scams might appear harmless — just another example of hustle culture gone awry. But the implications go deeper:

• For companies like FAANG, these influencers are piggybacking on brand equity to legitimise their schemes. This dilutes the credibility of real employees who mentor in good faith.
  
  

• For the talent ecosystem, it normalises pay-for-play mentorship, where authenticity is replaced by algorithmic popularity.
  
  

• For job seekers, especially those navigating international relocations or early-career uncertainty, it leads to financial loss, emotional exhaustion, and growing mistrust in legitimate channels.
  
  

When mentoring becomes a monetised performance, we risk turning the next generation of talent into sceptics rather than builders.

Spot the Red Flags

While not all career coaching is disingenuous, leaders must help their networks distinguish between authentic support and exploitation. Common signs of these scams include:

• Overuse of FAANG branding without clear roles or responsibilities.
  
  

• Daily motivational posts with little substance, often ending with links to book paid sessions.
  
  

• Massive clusters of identical 5-star reviews, all using similar language.
  
  

• Shallow advice and non-specific praise, often devoid of concrete feedback or direction.
  
  

• Sudden price increases once a reputation has been built on free interactions.
  
  

What Leaders Can — and Should — Do

If you’re a senior leader or people manager, here’s how you can help protect your network, your industry, and your reputation:

1. Call It Out Quietly, or Loudly: If you see suspicious behaviour in your feed, don’t look away. Message the person privately to ask for clarity — or, if you’re confident it’s a scam, use your platform to raise awareness. Silence helps these schemes thrive.
   
   

2. Educate Your Teams and Network: Share these patterns with graduate hires, interns, and those entering the workforce. Help them differentiate between genuine mentorship and performance theatre. Host an internal session on “navigating digital mentorship safely.”
   
   

3. Support Authentic Mentorship Models: Encourage real employees to mentor within structured, ethical programmes. When you see someone offering real help online, amplify their voice. Balance out the noise.
   
   

4. Report Misleading Content to LinkedIn: If someone is misrepresenting their experience or charging for fake services, flag it. LinkedIn has policies in place to manage impersonation and deceptive professional claims.
   
   

5. Lead by Example: Offer your insights through transparent channels. Show that genuine mentorship isn’t flashy or transactional. It’s built on trust, credibility, and follow-through.
   
   

The Bottom Line: Mentorship Isn’t a Side Hustle

Mentorship is a responsibility — not an income stream. Leaders must protect the integrity of this vital practice, especially when it’s being weaponised against those just beginning their careers.

If we want to build workforces that are inclusive, resilient, and future-ready, we cannot allow exploitation to masquerade as empowerment.

So next time you scroll past a highly-polished post that screams “Look at me — I work at FAANG!” and ends in a booking link, take a moment to pause. Ask: Is this helping someone grow, or is it simply a business built on borrowed credibility?

Because the real leaders — the ones who shape futures — don’t need five stars to prove their impact.