How To Get Rid of Fake TikTok Followers: Bot Tips and Tricks
A bump in your follower numbers, whether big or small, is always exciting. It’s a good sign that you’re doing TikTok right! However, there are times when you need to whittle down your follower count to maintain your account’s integrity. When you identify fake accounts among your followers, you must immediately give them the axe! Keep reading to learn how to get rid of fake TikTok followers.
![A person in shadow hides half their face behind a white mask.](https://www.highsocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/sander-sammy-q7ZlbWbDnYo-unsplash.jpg)
How To Identify Fake Followers on TikTok
Fake followers are either accounts that use fake/stolen identities or bot accounts. Users usually have them so they can get auto-likes.
Some people use fake accounts for stalking, trolling, or spamming. Or they use bot accounts to try manipulate metrics (i.e., increasing follower count) or spam real users using suspicious links.
How do you check if you or another person has fake followers? With some accounts, you may need to do a thorough check of the follower’s profile and look for telltale signs that it’s fake. Other accounts are obviously fake or bot accounts just based on their profile image, username, and comment/message.
Watch out for these eight signs to weed out the fakes among genuine users:
- The account follows hundreds or thousands of accounts but only has a handful or zero followers.
- The account has almost no TikTok activity.
- The profile has hundreds or thousands of followers but minimal TikTok activity.
- The profile page shows irregular TikTok posts or suspicious behavior patterns.
- TikTok posts on their profile page are vague and don’t show the account holder.
- Posting generic or automated comments, especially those that prompt others to click a link.
- The profile photo doesn’t show who the user is or features a stock or AI-generated image.
- The username contains random letters and numbers.
You can also use a TikTok account checker. This online auditing tool can give you a deeper look into an account’s basic performance metrics. Fake accounts usually show very low and inconsistent engagement rates, follower growth, and account activity.
You can easily spot fake followers by monitoring your videos’ comments section. Kick them out from your community as soon as you identify them before they can do any damage.
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How To Get Rid of Fake TikTok Followers: What Are Your Options?
As your fan base grows, you should always be on the lookout for fake followers. Their presence on your account can cast doubts on your credibility. It may also negatively affect your real followers’ experiences when they engage with your content.
Here’s how to get rid of fake followers on TikTok from your profile page:
- Tap the profile icon in the bottom right to go to your profile page.
- Tap Followers beneath your profile picture.
- Tap the three-dot icon next to the follower you want to remove, then tap Remove this follower.
- Keep doing this to remove followers one by one.
Follow these steps to remove fake followers from their profile page:
- Go to the user’s profile page. You can do this by tapping their profile pic from your comments section or Follower list.
- Tap the Share icon in the top right.
- Scroll to the right on the bottom navigation bar, then tap Remove this follower.
![High Social’s screenshot shows how to remove a follower from the user’s profile page by tapping the Share button.](https://www.highsocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/fake-1-459x1024.jpg)
You can also report accounts you believe are fake/spam/bots or if they engage in behaviors that violate TikTok’s Community Guidelines. You can report an account from the person’s profile page or your comments section.
To report an account from the user’s profile page:
- Go to the user’s profile.
- Tap the Share icon in the top right.
- Tap Report.
- Select a reason: Report account or Report content.
- Follow the steps to complete your report.
To report an account from your comments section:
- Find the user you want to report.
- Long-press on the person’s comment.
- Tap Manage multiple comments.
- Select the comment. You can select up to 100 comments to bulk report fake/spam accounts.
- Tap More, then select Report comments.
- Follow the steps to complete your report.
Reporting suspicious accounts helps TikTok maintain the safety and integrity of the platform.
![High Social’s screenshot shows how to report a suspicious account from the comments section.](https://www.highsocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/fake-2-459x1024.jpg)
![High Social’s screenshots show how to report suspicious accounts to TikTok.](https://www.highsocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/fake-3-459x1024.jpg)
Why Should You Avoid Fake Followers Like the Plague?
You may be tempted to seed your follower numbers with fake accounts from growth services. Before you do so, you should be aware of the risks.
For one, TikTok is very efficient in spotting faked numbers and removing fake accounts. TikTok may impose a shadowban on you, or you may simply suffer from a sudden drop in follower count. Other users are also very well-informed on how to spot fake accounts and inauthentic metrics. If they discover these on your profile, you’ll immediately lose credibility and potential followers.
Having fake followers, whether intentionally or not, can also adversely skew your metrics. Especially if you buy followers, your increase in follower count won’t come with an increase in engagement. The disproportional numbers will distort your overall TikTok performance.
If you’re a creator looking for brand collaborations, you should expect potential brand partners to audit your profile. Brands only want to work with authentic accounts with good to high engagement rates. You’ll lose potential brand deals if you have fake followers in your community.
If you want to work with another creator, you should also do a TikTok audit to analyze their followers and performance.
All the above risks apply even if you do not know that fake or bot profiles are following you. While your fan base is still small, keeping track of each new follower and verifying their authenticity is easier.
As your follower count grows, you can use a social media management tool to help you keep your account as real as possible.
![A fake sword puts cracks on the word “FAKE.”](https://www.highsocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/hartono-ro3n9vP3dcs-unsplash.jpg)
Always Keepin’ It Real on TikTok
Authenticity is a big deal on TikTok. To sustain growth, you need original content that genuinely reflects your creator profile. You must also stay true to your niche to consistently attract loyal and highly engaged followers. Growing real followers is the only way to get rewarding engagement.
When you’re still building a presence on the platform, protecting your account from spam, bots, and fake profiles is even more important. You may pick up some fake followers along the way, but your real fans should always outnumber them.
Make sure you know how to get rid of fake TikTok followers to preserve your authenticity and credibility.
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