Mistaken Identities: Apple VPs were following fake Tim Cook profile on Insta, account now taken down

In an incident that can only be described as an egg of face moment for many of Apple’s top executives, several Apple VPs were found to be following a fake Instagram profile of Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

Upon realising that the account was fake and seemed so legitimate that it fooled even Apple employees, Instagram had to delete the account.

Earlier this week, an Instagram profile using the name of Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, was spotted on the platform, which garnered some serious attention. This is so because Tim Cook is a very private person, and has a reserved take on social media. However, despite that, key figures from Apple’s leadership began following it, without knowing that it was an impersonator, a fraudulent account.

The impersonator actually took some significant steps and efforts to set the account up. First, he used the username @tim.d.cook. Second, the account’s inaugural post skillfully emulated Cook’s style of writing, as well as how he speaks in public. The account made this post on August 20 which coincided with World Photography Day.

The post showcased two captivating images captured using an iPhone, which, people assumed to be the upcoming iPhone 15 Ultra.

Furthermore, on August 23, the account shared a 30-second advertisement that aligned with a collaborative campaign involving 3DPets, a project that Apple has been pushing across their social media channels and through certain influencers.

People started believing that the account was credible, mainly because the account was able to attract some prominent people as followers, including some notable Vice Presidents of the Cupertino-based tech giant.

However, the people soon realised that the account was a fake one, being run by an impersonator which led to Instagram taking down the account they had verified the facts.

How did Instagram find out that it was a fake account? By its lack of a verified badge, or blue tick.

It should be noted that Tim Cook isn’t exactly a fan of social media and has very sparingly used the new medium. Cook has exclusively maintained a presence on Twitter since 2013. He has also established a presence on Weibo, a significant microblogging platform in China, mainly because that’s the most widely used social media platform in the country.

However, he seldom posts across both these accounts