Account-buying

Account-buying refers to the practice of acquiring pre-existing online accounts, typically on social media platforms, gaming services, or other digital spaces, rather than creating one's own. This can be done to gain access to established followings, built-up reputations, or pre-existing content. The motivations for account-buying can range from marketing and brand promotion to malicious activities such as spamming or spreading disinformation. Such actions are often in violation of platform terms of service and may lead to account suspension or legal repercussions, and are almost always unethical.

Account-buying meaning with examples

• A small business looking to quickly build a social media presence might resort to account-buying. They purchase an account with a large number of followers, hoping to leverage the existing audience for their marketing campaigns. While seemingly efficient, this practice can backfire if the followers are bots or inactive users, failing to provide authentic engagement or positive return on investment, potentially leading to suspension from the platform.
• During an election cycle, a political campaign might consider account-buying to disseminate their message. They acquire accounts to spread propaganda and promote their candidate, circumventing regulations around paid advertising. This method poses a risk of being identified by platform algorithms and removed. This would render the purchased accounts useless and potentially damage the campaign's credibility, especially if news of their actions become public.
• Online scammers frequently employ account-buying to carry out fraudulent activities. They purchase compromised accounts, then use them to phish for personal information, spread malware, or impersonate legitimate users to trick others into sending money or revealing sensitive data. This enables them to work with a larger existing network and evade detection, causing serious financial and reputational damage to victims.
• A gamer might consider account-buying to gain an unfair advantage. They purchase an account with a high character level or valuable in-game items. They want to bypass the time and effort required to build up their own character or acquire rare equipment legitimately. This allows them to compete at a higher level immediately. Such actions undermine fair play, violate game rules, and may result in permanent bans from the game.