{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "influencer-fraud-costs-1-3-billion",
  "slug": "influencer-fraud-costs-1-3-billion",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/influencer-fraud-costs-1-3-billion/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/influencer-fraud-costs-1-3-billion.json",
  "claim": "Influencer fraud costs brands $1.3 billion a year",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"Fake influencers cost brands $1.3 billion a year\" (as measured)",
  "verdict": "outdated",
  "verdict_definition": "Source found and quoted correctly, but old enough that the market has changed.",
  "confidence": "high",
  "rating": {
    "value": 3,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "CHEQ with University of Baltimore economist Roberto Cavazos",
    "title": "The Economic Cost of Bad Actors on the Internet: Fake Influencer Marketing",
    "year": "2019"
  },
  "quote": "fake influencer marketing will cost advertisers $1.3 billion in 2019",
  "method": "Modeled estimate: an assumed 15% composite fraud rate applied to an estimated $8.5B global influencer spend (Mediakix figure).",
  "drift": [
    "Type: a projection from an assumed rate quoted as a measured loss",
    "Date: 7 years old"
  ],
  "interest": "CHEQ sells ad-fraud prevention.",
  "safe_rephrasing": "A 2019 CHEQ-commissioned model estimated fake-influencer fraud at $1.3B, assuming 15% of $8.5B spend was lost.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "CHEQ report (2019, PDF)",
      "url": "https://info.cheq.ai/hubfs/Research/THE_ECONOMIC_COST_OF_BAD_ACTORS_Influencers.pdf",
      "primary": true
    }
  ],
  "kind": "stat_check",
  "as_of": "2019",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}