Who Has Most Fake Followers On Instagram? (How To Find)

We know you're working hard to build a real community, connect with your audience, and land amazing brand deals. But lurking in the background are bots and inactive accounts that can mess things up.

It might seem like a bigger follower count is always better, but trust us, authenticity wins every single time. Brands are getting smarter, audiences value real connection, and platforms like Instagram are cracking down.

So, grab your chai ☕, get comfy, and let's dive into the world of fake followers. We'll look at who has them, why they're a problem, how you can spot them, and most importantly, how you can build and maintain a real, engaged audience that brands (and your genuine followers!) will absolutely love. We're here to guide you, support you, and help you build a thriving, sustainable career as a creator. You've got this! ✨

Who Has the Most Fake Followers on Instagram?

1) Kourtney Kardashian: Some audits suggested a high percentage, with figures sometimes floating around 46% or even higher in specific analyses.

2) Kylie Jenner: Often cited in reports, estimates have ranged, sometimes hitting around the 40% mark.

3) Kim Kardashian: Similarly, Kim K has appeared in audits with estimates sometimes hovering around 34-35%.

4) Khloé Kardashian: Reports have occasionally estimated her fake follower count at nearly 29%.

5) Katy Perry: This global pop star has also been mentioned, with some estimates around the 29% mark.

Disclaimer: These percentages are estimates based on available audit tool reports and may vary.

Why So High for Celebs?

Think about it: these are massive global stars. Their accounts attract everyone – genuine fans, curious onlookers, and yes, tons of bots and spam accounts. It's almost impossible to manage millions of followers manually. Plus, sometimes people buy followers early in their careers (a big no-no!), or they become targets for bot farms trying to look legitimate. So, while the percentages might seem high, it's often a side effect of massive fame.

Brands with High Estimated Fake Follower Percentages:

It's not just personal accounts; brands can have this issue too!

• Fox Sports Brasil: Some reports highlighted this account with a very high estimated percentage, sometimes over 50% (like the 56% mentioned). This could be due to various factors, including past marketing strategies or attracting spam accounts.
• Pretty Little Thing: This fast-fashion giant has also been flagged in some analyses, with estimates sometimes reaching up to 46%.

Why Brands?

Sometimes brands run huge giveaways or campaigns that attract bot entries. Other times, they might have experimented with follower-buying tactics in the past (again, not recommended!). Like celebrities, large brands are also natural targets for spam accounts.

How Are These Figures Determined?

Companies and tools specializing in social media analytics (like some we'll discuss later) run audits. They use algorithms to analyze a sample of an account's followers, looking for red flags:

• Profile Incompleteness: No profile picture, no bio, zero posts.
• Activity Patterns: No posts or stories ever, or only posting spam.
• Follower/Following Ratio: Following thousands of accounts but having very few followers.
• Username: Gibberish usernames (e.g., "user128$) or strings of numbers.
• Engagement Quality: Leaving generic comments like "Nice pic!" across many accounts, suggesting automation.
• Account Age & History: Suspiciously new accounts with bot-like behaviour.

These tools then extrapolate from the sample to estimate the overall percentage of questionable followers for the entire account.

What Are the Implications?

Okay, so some big accounts have lots of fake followers. Why should you care?

• It Normalizes the Problem (But Shouldn't): Seeing huge accounts with high fake percentages might make you think it's okay or unavoidable. It's not! Brands are increasingly savvy and look for genuine engagement, not just big numbers.
• It Highlights the Need for Audits: If even the biggest stars and brands have this issue, it shows how important it is for everyone (including you!) to be aware of their audience quality.
• It Sets a Benchmark (for what not to do): These examples show the potential scale of the problem. 

Your goal should be to keep your fake follower percentage as low as possible through organic growth and community building.

Seeing these numbers isn't about shaming; it's about understanding the reality of the platform and reinforcing the importance of building something real. Your authentic connection with 10,000 real followers is far more valuable than 100,000 followers filled with ghosts and bots. 👻

Why Do Fake Instagram Followers Matter?

So, we've seen that fake followers are out there, even on huge accounts. But you might be thinking, "Okay, but does it really affect me? A bigger number looks good, right?" 🤔

Wrong! Think of your follower count like guests at a party. Would you rather have 50 friends who are laughing, chatting, and having a great time, or 500 mannequins standing silently in the corners? Fake followers are like those mannequins – they inflate the numbers but add zero value. In fact, they actively cause problems. Let's break it down.

1) Impact on Engagement Metrics:

This is the big one. Your engagement rate (likes, comments, shares, saves divided by your follower count) is a key metric brands look at. Fake followers kill this rate.

Lower Engagement Rates: Bots and inactive accounts don't like, comment genuinely, share your amazing content, or buy products you recommend. They just sit there. So, if you have 10,000 followers, but 3,000 are fake, your engagement is only coming from the 7,000 real ones. 

When you calculate your engagement rate (e.g., (Likes + Comments) / 10,000), it looks much lower than it would if calculated based on your actual active audience ((Likes + Comments) / 7,000). A low engagement rate screams "fake followers" or "uninterested audience" to brands. 🚩

Distorted Analytics: Instagram Insights and other analytics tools track your audience demographics, reach, and impressions. Fake followers mess this data up. You might think your content isn't performing well because your reach seems low relative to your follower count, or your engagement rate is tanking. 

This can lead you to make bad decisions about your content strategy, thinking your real audience isn't responding when, in reality, the fakes are just dragging down the numbers. It's like trying to drive with a foggy windshield – you can't see where you're really going.

2) Consequences for Brand Partnerships:

This is where fake followers can seriously hurt your wallet and reputation. Brands aren't just looking at follower counts anymore; they're digging deeper.

Brands Will Avoid You: Brands use influencer marketing platforms and analytics tools (like the ones we mentioned, and others!) to vet influencers. These tools often include fake follower audits. If you pop up with a high percentage of fake followers (often anything above 15-20% raises eyebrows), brands will likely pass you over. 

They want to pay for access to a real, engaged audience that might actually buy their products, not bots. Paying ₹20,000 for a campaign only to reach mostly fake accounts is a terrible investment for them.

Damage to Your Reputation: If a brand does partner with you and then discovers you have a lot of fake followers (either through their own audit or because the campaign flops with zero real engagement or sales), it damages your credibility. 

Word can get around in the industry, making it harder to land future deals. It suggests you might be dishonest or trying to game the system. Trust, once broken, is incredibly hard to rebuild. 💔

3) Long-Term Effects:

The impact isn't just immediate; it affects your long-term growth and sustainability as an influencer.

Erosion of Trust: It's not just about brands. Your real followers can often sniff out when things aren't authentic. If your comment section is full of spam or your follower count jumps suspiciously overnight, genuine followers might lose trust and disengage. Building a loyal community relies on transparency and authenticity. Fake followers undermine that foundation.

Sustainability Challenges: Building an influencer career is a marathon, not a sprint. Relying on inflated numbers and fake engagement isn't sustainable. You won't build genuine influence, you won't foster a loyal community, and you'll constantly struggle to prove your value to brands. Focusing on authentic growth and real connections is the only way to build a career with longevity.

Think about Riya, a fashion creator. She was tempted to buy followers to hit the 10k mark faster. Luckily, she resisted. Instead, she focused on creating amazing Reels showcasing affordable style hacks, replied to every genuine comment, and hosted weekly Q&A sessions about styling. It took her six months, but she hit 10k real, engaged followers who loved her content. 

Brands noticed her high engagement rate (around 8%!) and started reaching out for paid collaborations. Her friend, who bought followers, hit 15k quickly but struggled to get any brand deals because her engagement was less than 1%, and brands could see the fakes. Riya built a sustainable path; her friend hit a dead end.

Your follower count should reflect a real community, not just an empty number. Fake followers are like junk food – they might give you a quick, artificial boost, but they're harmful in the long run. Nourish your account with real connections instead! 🌱

How to Identify Fake Followers on Instagram

Okay, so we know fake followers are bad news. But how do you actually spot them, lurking amongst your genuine fans? It takes a bit of detective work 🕵️‍♀️, but it's totally doable! You can combine some manual checks with helpful tools.

Manual Detection Methods:

Put on your investigator hat! Regularly scrolling through your follower list can reveal some obvious signs. It might seem tedious, especially if you have thousands of followers, but even spot-checking can help. Look for patterns:

• The Profile Picture: Or lack thereof! Default profile pictures are a common sign of inactive or bot accounts.
• The Username: Does it look like someone keyboard-smashed (e.g., hgf873jkn)? Or is it a generic name followed by a string of numbers (e.g., johnsmith847593)? These are often red flags.
• Bio & Posts: Empty bios and zero posts (or maybe just 1-2 random, low-quality posts) are highly suspicious. Real people usually share something.
• Follower/Following Ratio: This is a big one. Accounts following thousands (like 5000+) but only having a handful of followers (like 50) are often bots designed to inflate follower counts or engagement pods. Real people tend to have more balanced ratios.
• Activity Level: Have they ever liked or commented on your posts? If you check your notifications or post insights, are these suspicious accounts engaging at all? Probably not.
• Generic Comments: Be wary of comments that are super generic ("Nice pic!", "Great!", "Cool! 👍") and could apply to any post. Bots often leave these types of comments automatically across many accounts.

Analyzing Engagement Patterns:

Look at your overall analytics (Instagram Insights is your friend here!).

• Sudden Spikes/Dips: Did your follower count jump massively overnight for no apparent reason (like a viral post or major press)? That could indicate a bot attack or purchased followers. Conversely, sudden drops can happen when Instagram purges fake accounts.
• Engagement Doesn't Match Follower Count: As we discussed, if you have 50k followers but only get 100 likes per post, something's fishy. Your engagement rate should ideally be consistent (though it naturally varies).
• Low Story Views vs. Follower Count: Story views often give a good sense of your active audience. If your follower count is high but your story views are disproportionately low, it could indicate a large number of inactive or fake followers.

Utilizing Analytical Tools:

Manual checks are great, but they can be time-consuming. Thankfully, technology can help! Several tools can audit your audience and flag suspicious accounts automatically.

• ryme.ai: While primarily known as an influencer marketing platform connecting creators and brands, ryme.ai emphasizes authenticity. It includes tools and insights that help analyze audience quality, ensuring brands connect with creators who have genuine influence. They focus on matching based on real engagement and audience demographics.
• Upfluence: Offers various influencer marketing tools, including a free Chrome extension that can provide quick checks on profile authenticity, including an estimated fake follower percentage.
• Modash: This platform uses AI and machine learning to analyze influencer audiences in detail. It checks for fake followers, audience demographics, credibility, and engagement rates, providing comprehensive reports.
• InsightIQ (or similar tools): Many platforms offer similar auditing capabilities, often looking at follower growth patterns, engagement authenticity, and follower profile characteristics to determine an overall audience credibility score.

Best Practices:

Okay, you've done some digging, maybe used a tool. Now what?

• Regular Audits: Don't just check once. Make it a habit (maybe quarterly?) to manually spot-check your followers and perhaps run an audit using a tool. This helps you track changes and catch issues early.
• Monitor Engagement Metrics: Keep a close eye on your engagement rate, story views, and comment quality over time. Are they healthy and consistent relative to your follower growth? Sudden, unexplained drops might warrant investigation.
• Engage Actively: Respond to comments and DMs. Run polls and Q&As in your stories. The more you interact, the better you'll get at recognizing your real, engaged followers versus the silent, inactive, or bot-like accounts. Plus, engagement encourages more engagement!

Identifying fake followers isn't about obsessively purging every single suspicious account (Instagram does some of this automatically anyway). It's about being aware of your audience quality, understanding its impact, and focusing your energy on connecting with the real people who support you. 💪

The Role of ryme.ai in Promoting Authentic Influencer Marketing

Okay, so we've talked a lot about the problem of fake followers and the importance of being real. But how do you navigate this as a creator looking for genuine brand partnerships? This is where platforms dedicated to authenticity, like ryme.ai, come into play. Think of it as your partner in building a successful and ethical influencer career.

What is ryme.ai?

ryme.ai is an AI-powered influencer marketing platform designed specifically to connect creators like you with brands. But it's not just another marketplace. Its core mission is to foster authentic collaborations built on trust, transparency, and real results. They understand the challenges influencers face – finding the right brands, getting paid fairly and on time, and proving your value beyond just follower counts.

Focus on Authenticity:

The platform actively works against the noise of fake followers and inflated metrics. How?

Smart Matching: Their AI doesn't just look at follower numbers. It analyzes your content, engagement quality, audience demographics, and authenticity signals to match you with brands whose goals and values align with yours and whose products genuinely resonate with your real audience.

Transparency: ryme.ai aims to make the whole collaboration process clear and straightforward – from campaign briefs to payment schedules. This builds trust between you and the brands you work with. No shady deals here!

Features Beneficial for Influencers (You!):

ryme.ai isn't just good for brands; it's built with creators' needs in mind. Check out these perks:

1) Zero Commission: This is HUGE! Unlike many agencies or platforms that take a cut of your earnings, ryme.ai lets you keep 100% of what the brand pays you. If a brand offers ₹15,000 for a campaign, you get the full ₹15,000. More money in your pocket for your hard work! 💰

2) Instant Payments: Tired of chasing payments or waiting 30-60-90 days? ryme.ai understands that cash flow is crucial for creators. They facilitate instant payments upon successful completion and approval of your campaign deliverables. Get paid faster, stress less. ✅

3) Fast Content Approval: No more endless back-and-forth or waiting weeks for feedback. The platform streamlines the content approval process, making collaborations smoother and quicker. This means you can create, get approved, post, and get paid more efficiently. 🚀

4) Performance Insights: Remember how important analytics are? ryme.ai provides you with clear insights into how your campaigns perform. This helps you understand what's working, demonstrate your value to brands with concrete data (beyond just likes!), and improve your strategy for future collaborations. 

Knowledge is power! 📊

How ryme.ai Addresses Industry Pain Points:

The influencer marketing space has its challenges – fake followers, lack of transparency, payment delays, difficulty finding the right partnerships. ryme.ai tackles these head-on:

• Combating Fake Followers: By focusing on genuine engagement and audience quality in their matching process, ryme.ai encourages influencers (like you!) to prioritize building real communities. Brands using the platform are looking for authenticity, so having a clean, engaged audience makes you more attractive within the ryme.ai ecosystem.
• Facilitating Long-Term Partnerships: Quick, one-off campaigns are fine, but long-term relationships with brands are often more rewarding (and lucrative!). Because ryme.ai focuses on good matchmaking based on authenticity and performance, it helps foster stronger, more sustainable partnerships between creators and brands.
• Promoting Transparency and Trust: Features like clear briefs, streamlined approvals, instant payments, and zero commission build a foundation of trust. When both creators and brands feel secure and respected, the entire process works better, leading to more successful and enjoyable collaborations. It’s a win-win! 😊

Think of platforms like ryme.ai as allies in your quest for authentic influence. They provide the tools, connections, and framework to help you monetize your creativity ethically and effectively, rewarding you for the genuine connection you build with your audience, not just an inflated number. They help level the playing field, ensuring that creators focused on quality and authenticity can thrive.

Tips for Influencers to Maintain Authentic Audiences

Building a real, engaged audience is the heart and soul of being a successful influencer. It’s not just about avoiding fakes; it’s about actively cultivating a community that trusts you and values your content. Here are some down-to-earth tips to help you keep it real and grow authentically:

1) Absolutely, Positively Do NOT Buy Fake Followers (Seriously!)

Okay, tough love time. ❤️ Buying followers might seem like a shortcut, a quick way to look more established or hit that coveted 10k swipe-up threshold. But it is the fastest way to sabotage your own career.

Why It's Tempting (We Get It!): Seeing slow growth can be discouraging. Services promising thousands of followers for a few hundred or thousand rupees might seem like an easy fix.

The Reality Check & Risks:

• Instagram Knows: Instagram's algorithms are designed to detect and purge fake accounts and artificial engagement. Buying followers puts your account at risk of being flagged, shadowbanned (your content visibility gets secretly reduced), or even suspended. Ouch.
• Brands Know (or Will Find Out): As we've covered, brands use audit tools. If you buy followers, your engagement rate will plummet, and your fake follower percentage will skyrocket. Brands will see this and run the other way. You'll destroy your credibility.
• It Ruins Your Analytics: Your insights become meaningless, making it impossible to understand your real audience or measure campaign success accurately.
• It Offers Zero Real Value: These fake accounts will never engage meaningfully, buy products you recommend, or become loyal fans. They are empty numbers.
• Long-Term Consequences: Buying followers signals that you value vanity metrics over genuine connection. It erodes trust with potential brand partners and your real audience (if they notice). It's a dead-end strategy that prevents sustainable growth. Just don't do it. Please! 🙏

2) Engage, Engage, Engage with Your REAL Audience!

This is where the magic happens! ✨ Building a community isn't a one-way street. You need to actively participate and show your followers you care.

Be Responsive: Answer comments (even the simple ones!), reply to DMs (set aside time each day!), and acknowledge mentions. When people feel seen and heard, they're more likely to stick around and engage more.

Ask Questions & Create Conversations: Don't just post and ghost. Ask questions in your captions ("Which outfit do you prefer?", "What do you want to see next?"). Use interactive story features like:

Polls: "Tea or Coffee?", "Work from home or office?" - Simple, fun, and easy engagement.

Quizzes: Test your audience's knowledge about your niche (or just for fun!).

Q&A Sessions: Use the question sticker or go Live to answer follower questions directly. This builds immense connection!

"Add Yours" Sticker: Start a trend related to your niche and encourage followers to participate.

Go Live: Live video is unfiltered and authentic. Chat with your followers, answer questions in real-time, show behind-the-scenes stuff. It's a powerful way to connect on a personal level.

Show Appreciation: Shout out loyal followers, feature user-generated content (with permission!), or simply thank your community regularly for their support.

Example: Let's say you're a food blogger. Instead of just posting a recipe, ask: "What's one secret ingredient you add to your dal makhani? Let me know below! 👇 I'll share my favourite responses in stories tomorrow!" This invites interaction and makes your followers feel involved.

3) Collaborate with Authentic Brands and Creators

The company you keep matters, both online and off.

Partner with Brands That Value Authenticity: Look for brands that focus on engagement rates, audience demographics, and content quality, not just follower count. Platforms like ryme.ai can help connect you with these types of brands. Working with brands that respect genuine influence reinforces your own authentic approach.

Align Your Values: Choose brand collaborations that genuinely align with your niche and values. Your audience can tell when a partnership feels forced or inauthentic. Promoting products you don't believe in erodes trust.

Collaborate with Other Authentic Creators: Connect and collaborate with fellow influencers who also prioritize authenticity. Cross-promote each other, create joint content, or simply support each other's work. 

This can help you reach new, engaged audiences who appreciate genuine content.

Building slowly and authentically might feel harder initially, but it creates a rock-solid foundation for a long-lasting and rewarding career. Focus on providing value, building relationships, and being yourself. Your real audience will find you and stick with you. 💖

Conclusion: Your Authenticity is Your Superpower 💪

So, we've journeyed through the slightly murky waters of fake followers on Instagram. We've seen that even mega-celebrities deal with them, but also why those inflated numbers are ultimately meaningless – and even harmful – for creators like you who are building something real.

Remember, those fake followers are like empty calories; they might puff up your numbers temporarily, but they offer zero nourishment for genuine growth. They tank your engagement rates, scare away savvy brands, distort your analytics, and damage the trust you've worked so hard to build with your real community.

The good news? You are totally in control of building an authentic presence! 🤩

• You can spot the fakes: By doing manual checks and using smart tools, you can get a clearer picture of your audience quality.
• You can focus on what matters: Engaging deeply with your genuine followers, responding to comments, creating interactive content, and showing up as your authentic self.
• You can choose authenticity: By firmly rejecting the temptation to buy followers and instead focusing on organic growth strategies.
• You can partner smart: By collaborating with brands and platforms (like ryme.ai!) that value real influence and transparent practices, ensuring you get rewarded fairly for your hard work and genuine connection.

Building an authentic audience takes time, effort, and consistency – there are no real shortcuts. But the rewards are immense: a loyal community that trusts you, better engagement, more meaningful (and often more lucrative) brand partnerships, and a sustainable career built on a solid foundation.

Your unique voice, your passion, and your genuine connection with your audience – that's your superpower in this influencer journey. Don't dilute it with fake numbers. Own your authenticity, nurture your community, and watch your influence grow in the ways that truly matter. You've got this! ✨

FAQs Related To Most Fake Followers On Instagram

Got more questions? Here are answers to some common queries floating around:

1) Who has the most fake followers on Instagram?

This is tricky because numbers change constantly, and different audit tools give different results. However, reports over the years (including around 2022-2023) often mention major global celebrities and large brand accounts as having high percentages of fake or inactive followers. 

Names like the Kardashians/Jenners, Katy Perry, and certain large brand accounts sometimes appear in these reports with estimated fake percentages ranging from roughly 25% to occasionally even 40-50% or more in specific audits. It's less about a single "most" and more about the fact that massive accounts naturally attract more bots and inactive followers, making audience quality a challenge at scale. 

Remember: These are estimates!

2) Which cricketer has the most fake followers on Instagram?

Finding reliable, up-to-date data specifically on cricketers' fake followers is challenging, as audits aren't always publicly released or consistently performed across all athletes. Like other celebrities with huge followings, popular cricketers are also likely targets for bots and may have varying percentages of inactive followers. 

Some past analyses (often pre-2023) have occasionally looked into major sporting figures globally, but pinpointing one specific cricketer with the "most" verified fake followers right now (in 2025) is difficult without a recent, comprehensive audit report across top players. 

Generally, players with the largest followings (like Virat Kohli) might also have a higher number (not necessarily percentage) of inactive or bot followers simply due to the sheer scale of their audience. Brands vetting cricketers for endorsements would typically run their own specific audits.

3) Who has 1 billion followers on Instagram?

As of right now (May 2025), no single person has reached 1 billion followers on Instagram. The title of the most followed individual typically belongs to footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who has a massive following well over 600 million. Instagram's own official account (@instagram) is the only account that surpasses this, with over 670 million followers, but that's a brand account, not an individual. Reaching 1 billion followers for an individual remains a milestone yet to be achieved.

4) Who is India's #1 on Instagram?

Currently (May 2025), the most followed Indian individual on Instagram is typically Virat Kohli. The cricket superstar boasts a huge following, often cited as being well over 260 million, making him not only the most followed Indian but also one of the most followed athletes and personalities globally. He significantly outpaces other popular Indian celebrities like Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Shraddha Kapoor in terms of follower count.

Actionable Checklist / Key Takeaways:

✅ Resist the Urge: NEVER buy fake followers. Period.

✅ Spot Check Regularly: Manually review your follower list occasionally for obvious fakes.

✅ Use Tools Wisely: Consider using an audit tool (quarterly?) to understand your audience quality %.

✅ Monitor Your Metrics: Keep an eye on your engagement rate and story views – are they healthy?

✅ Engage Daily: Reply to comments & DMs. Show your real followers you see them!

✅ Use Interactive Features: Leverage Polls, Q&As, Quizzes, and "Add Yours" stickers.

✅ Prioritize Authentic Partnerships: Work with brands (potentially via platforms like ryme.ai) that value real engagement over vanity metrics.

✅ Be Yourself: Authenticity attracts authenticity. Keep creating valuable content you love!