It has come to our attention that a sinister entity is impersonating TopRank Marketing and soliciting individuals, many of whom are in South Africa, through the WhatsApp and Telegram chat applications. Some of this outreach uses fake names and others use real names of employees working at TopRank in the U.S..
When asked for a website or contact information, the perpetrators often share links to the real TopRank Marketing creating the appearance of legitimacy – so we are providing this announcement and linking it from our website, blog and LinkedIn to ensure anyone checking, can see there is a fake TopRank using Telegram and WhatsApp to impersonate the real company.
The fake TopRank outreach uses freelancer recruiting to invite victims to perform tasks such as engaging with certain YouTube videos to inflate metrics and in some cases require a deposit of money to the fake entity. We are horrified that someone would use our good name to take advantage of people.
The real TopRank Marketing have communicated with numerous victims to collect information on the identity of the perpetrators and have reached out to authorities for assistance in the hopes of stopping the criminal actions of this person or group from taking advantage of individuals and impersonating our legitimate business.
The real TopRank Marketing (TopRankMarketing.com)
- Does not conduct any kind of outreach using WhatsApp or Telegram
- Does not engage in any offers, promotions or solicitations involving cryptocurrency
- Does not work with, engage or communicate with any business, organization or individual in South Africa or other countries in the region
- Does not recruit freelancers or anyone else to engage with target social media accounts to inflate engagement efforts – ever
It is most unfortunate that a number of people have fallen victim to this impersonation of our good brand. We are mutual victims in this case and if you have been in communication with this fake TopRank Marketing through text, WhatsApp or Telegram, do not engage. If you have communicated, we encourage you to report the offenders.
Report Abuse on WhatsApp (Block/Report Contacts)
- Open the chat with the contact you want to report.
- Tap More options > More > Report.
- Check the box if you would like to also block the user and delete messages in the chat.
- Tap Report.
- Note: WhatsApp receives the last five messages sent to you by the reported user or group, and they won’t be notified. WhatsApp also receives the reported group or user ID, information on when the message was sent, and the type of message sent (image, video, text, etc.).
- You can also report an account by long pressing a single message.
- Long press an individual contact name, then release to open the menu.
- Scroll to the bottom of the menu. Tap Block {contact name}.
Report Abuse on Telegram (Report fake accounts)
- Send an email to [email protected] with subject line: “Report user @username”.
- Write a short, factual message explaining why the user is being reported. Be sure to include their Telegram username, chat ID, group or channel name, screenshots or any other relevant information that can help the Telegram team investigate the case.
- We have been informed that the group/individual is using the identity SA-Z54E-8827 on Telegram, but there may be others
The real team of hardworking professionals at TopRank Marketing are hopeful that by reporting the fake “TopRank” accounts on these platforms, we can slow down or stop their efforts. We are also hopeful that by working in collaboration with participating individuals who have supplied us with contact details of the perpetrators impersonating the real TopRank Marketing, we can assist authorities in bringing an end to these most unfortunate activities.
