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The Black Market of Instagram Verifications

How less notable brands and figures can get the blue tick.

Sebastian Juhola
The Startup
Published in
4 min readNov 29, 2019

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If you’ve ever googled how to get verified, you know that all guides warn you that whoever tries to sell you a verification is scamming you.

I can assure you that’s not the case.

Sure, there are scammers out there, but you can absolutely buy yourself a blue tick on Instagram. I know of several people who’ve done so.

To be clear, I’m not in the business of providing this type of service, nor am I affiliated with anyone doing so. I don’t intend to link publicly to the marketplaces where this is happening either.

I’m just annoyed with “credible” sources denying that this is happening and want to set the record straight.

What You’re Actually Paying For

Technically, you aren’t buying an Instagram verification. You aren’t paying anyone at Instagram to enable your blue checkmark.

What you’re paying for is the service of fast-tracking a comprehensive verification request through to someone guaranteed to process it.

You’re paying someone — or someone who knows someone — with access to the Facebook Media Partner Panel, which usually means a PR or Digital…

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The Startup
The Startup

Published in The Startup

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Sebastian Juhola
Sebastian Juhola

Written by Sebastian Juhola

I oversee the production of +200 monthly short-form videos (Reels, TikToks, Video Ads). Founder of The Minimalist Wardrobe. About: juhola.org

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