Someone Is Impersonating Me

July 11, 2014

27,016 total views, 4 views today

For those who don’t know me, I’m the Founder of Growfusely, a digital marketing agency that has recently gained the love of customers and industry peers alike. I write for some acclaimed blogs in digital marketing, such as Search Engine Watch, Unbounce, Jeff Bullas and KISSmetrics.

Yesterday, I was informed that an impostor claiming to be me was going around offering links on these sites to unsuspecting buyers for $200 onwards! Many thanks to Chris Dyson of HitReach, who received one such email and kindly reached out to Rohan Ayyar, my colleague, informing him of this shady offer! Rohan and Chris shared a good laugh at that time, but I thought it better to clarify things with a post, so that my position and that of my company is clear on such matters.

Here’s a snapshot of the email Chris received from the ID [email protected], which I don’t own.

Email Pitch Snapshot

To dig deeper (not much), I went to the fake G+ profile that has been created to represent “me” – complete with a misspelled name – and guess what, the guy who did it hasn’t made any effort to make the profile seem original! Take a look at the snap below:

Fake G+ Snapshot

Here is the full email he’s sending around…

——-

Hello, 

I am Pratik, a leading content marketing strategist and SEO consultant. I have been helping various clients improve branding of their websites and promoting their businesses. I am a permanent author in some of the best sites like the ones mentioned below. 

I have published high quality articles in many high authority sites with the respective client’s references / credentials.

Here I am furnishing some of the top quality guest blog samples done by myself and my team. These are all in the SEO / business / social media niche. But I have some high quality sites in other niches too. 

1) http://www.searchenginejournal.com/wizardry-needed-ultimate-guide-monetizing-blog/73901/

2) http://moz.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-advanced-guest-blogging

3) https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/7-lesser-known-productivity-tools-startups-consider-001558336.html

4) http://inspirationfeed.com/articles/business/8-digital-diet-forms-you-should-adopt-for-marketing-efficiency/

5) http://unbounce.com/social-media/increasing-conversions-on-facebook-conversation/

6) http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2344624/A-5-Step-DIY-Promotion-Guide-for-Startups-to-Generate-Business-Without-Google

7) http://www.copyblogger.com/boring-topic-content-marketing/

8) http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneywisewomen/2012/12/10/ethics-in-seo-your-websites-best-defense-against-google-algorithm-updates/

9) http://blog.crazyegg.com/2013/11/26/ecommerce-future-online-offline/

10) http://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/the-future-of-seo-2014/

11) http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/12/16/so-why-is-your-marketing-failing/

12) http://kikolani.com/how-to-leverage-the-potential-of-blogger-outreach.html

13) http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/925-essential-conversion-optimization-steps.html

14) http://socialmediatoday.com/pratik-dholakiya/1575351/why-your-start-needs-business-dashboard

15) http://blog.bigcommerce.com/7-reasons-why-your-blog-needs-a-well-defined-audience/

16) http://www.semrush.com/blog/publications/smart-world-idiotic-marketers/

17) http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-measurement/3-scientific-studies-with-real-insight-into-social-media/

18) http://blog.memberclicks.com/bid/247729/Friday-Top-Five-All-About-Social-Media

I have done tons of other guest posts, press releases, info graphic articles and other outreach services with natural link-building strategies.

My charges

I am charging from $200 to $250 depending on the blog. For bulk orders, I can offer some deductions. I will be charging 70% of the price before starting the task.

I also have blogger pals who can accomplish articles in sites like examiner.com, mshable.com and  forbes.com. Let me know if you are interested.

Best Regards

Patik Dholakiya

Email : [email protected]

Patik

———-

If you look at the email, the fake guy lays claim to high-quality posts done by myself and my team, which is ridiculous.

I’ve used ‘he’ and ‘guy’ for the person who has done this as I, kind of, have figured out the “mastermind” but because I believe such attempts just don’t work, I’m not going to name him in public for now.

I never have and never will make such claims or offers or send out emails selling links.

If you are reading this and have received such email(s) from the ID [email protected] (or any other similarly fake-sounding ID), please draw my attention to it.

You can reach me out on [email protected] or @DholakiyaPratik on Twitter. I’d deeply appreciate your help.

Again, thanks to Chris for bringing this to my notice. We’re glad to have friends like you!

27,017 total views, 5 views today

About Pratik Dholakiya

Pratik Dholakiya is the founder of Growfusely, an SEO and content marketing agency. Pratik has contributed on sites like Moz, Fast Company, Social Media Examiner, KISSmetrics, and Content Marketing Institute to name a few. He's a "must-follow" SEO expert according to Search Engine Watch and has been named one of the top content marketing influencers by Onalytica. He's passionate about fitness, entrepreneurship, start-ups, and all things digital marketing. Hit him up on Twitter @DholakiyaPratik for a quick chat on any of these topics.

  • Sorry to hear this Pratik, not surprising.

    I had a fake guy impersonate me on Twitter sometime back, whom I reported and got down.

    May be this is why social networks should enable requests for verified profiles. I’m pretty sure if this continues, it’ll do more damage.

    All the best.

  • Pratik Dholakiya

    Hi Mani,

    I agree. I’ve reported the fake profile to Google+ team and hoping that they will take it down soon.

    Thank you!

  • Sorry! to hear about this Pratik and Good you found this at early stage. As, it might damage you social presence and your business.

  • Pingback: OK, Which one of you is selling links pretending to be this guy?()

  • Oh, that’s nothing, I receive mails from movie stars offering SEO services on a weekly basis….Christopher Meloni for example. The best thing is he is writing for some “reputable” magazines using that fake name and stock photo, and regularly publishing articles. So, Chris Meloni from “Law and Order” is doing fucking SEO…