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LinkedIn Rolls Out New Verification Tools As Fake Identities Surge Across The Internet

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 24, 2026

As artificial intelligence makes it easier to fabricate identities, impersonate professionals and spread misinformation online, LinkedIn is moving to strengthen one of the internet’s most important trust layers: identity.

On Wednesday, the Microsoft-owned professional network announced a new set of tools designed to help members prove who they are, allow companies to better manage who is associated with their brand and reduce the risk of fake accounts exploiting the platform’s credibility.

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Verification Becomes A Competitive Advantage

The timing is no accident. Impersonation and synthetic identities have become a broader online problem, but the stakes are particularly high on LinkedIn, where careers are built on claims about employment history, credentials, education and experience. A single false profile can distort hiring decisions, open the door to scams and erode confidence in the network itself.

“The backdrop for all this is that faking credibility has never been cheaper or easier than it is today; and conversely, showcasing credibility has never mattered more,” LinkedIn vice president of product Oscar Rodriguez told TechCrunch.

LinkedIn says its existing verification tools have already been used to verify 115 million users and more than 700,000 companies. Rodriguez said the company sees authenticity as a foundational asset for the platform. “We’ve been invested in [verification] because we believe that authenticity will be the single most valuable currency on the internet,” he said.

Colleague Vouches Add A New Layer Of Trust

One of the most notable additions will let members vouch for the experience of colleagues and classmates, past or present. The feature is not intended to function like an endorsement. Instead, it is designed to confirm that a person actually worked or studied where they say they did.

In practical terms, it is a trust signal that says, “I worked with this person during this period,” rather than “I recommend this person.”

To limit abuse, LinkedIn says the person providing the vouch must already have a verified profile, must have been connected to the member for at least a year and must have a secure account with two-factor authentication enabled. That combination is meant to make it harder for attackers to hijack accounts and manufacture false credibility at scale.

Companies Gain More Control Over Brand Associations

LinkedIn is also expanding tools for company page administrators. In some cases, businesses will be able to remove accounts that falsely claim employment from appearing on their page or in related search results.

That matters because fake associations can create reputational confusion for employers and misleading signals for recruiters, clients and investors. If a profile claims a role at a recognizable company, it can gain visibility and legitimacy it has not earned.

Page admins will be able to visit the profile in question and manually remove the false association. LinkedIn is also testing a setting that would require future users attempting to link themselves to a company page to complete workplace verification, such as confirming a work email address.

Importantly, removing a profile from a company page will not alter the member’s own LinkedIn profile. The user will still control their account, but the profile will no longer show a clickable link to the company page and the experience will no longer appear as verified.

Rodriguez said the feature is designed to give members “signals and context” to make better decisions. He also noted that the tool is focused on full-time employees, not contractors or field workers, though those workers may have other ways to confirm legitimate affiliation.

Identity Verification Beyond LinkedIn

LinkedIn is also broadening partnerships that allow members to display verified identities outside its own platform. The company said Truecaller and PeerSpot will join existing partners including Adobe and UserTesting.

In one example, a Truecaller user can add a LinkedIn-verified identity so the recipient sees that signal when the person places a call. It is part of a broader effort to make verification portable, so trust established on LinkedIn can carry into other digital environments.

Why LinkedIn Is Doubling Down

The company’s push reflects a simple but powerful business reality: in a market flooded with automation, credibility becomes a differentiator. For professionals, verification can improve discoverability and engagement. Rodriguez said verified members, on average, receive 50% more post views and 90% more impressions than non-verified profiles.

For LinkedIn, that is more than a product feature. It is a platform strategy. As fake accounts become easier to create and harder to detect, the network that can best prove authenticity may also be the one that sustains the most trust, engagement and value over time.

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Europe’s Deadly Summer Heat Exposed The Cost Of A Warming Continent

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 23, 2026

Europe experienced its deadliest summer for heat-related deaths on record in 2026, with an estimated 24,400 excess deaths linked to extreme temperatures across 30 countries. Researchers estimate that human-induced climate change was responsible for around 32,000 of the deaths attributed to heat in the study’s broader analysis, accounting for 65% of the total.

The findings highlight the growing public-health consequences of global warming, largely driven by fossil fuel use, as extreme heat becomes more frequent and severe.

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A Summer Of Dangerous Heat

Between June and August, heatwaves pushed temperatures in Western Europe to an average of 2.9°C above the 1991–2020 norm, with some days reaching 12°C above average. Nearly a third of estimated heat-related deaths occurred during a particularly intense heatwave between 17 June and 1 July.

“These numbers are a stark reminder that our hotter, more extreme summers are having an increasingly severe impact on public health,” said Dr Clair Barnes, a researcher at Imperial College London and co-author of the study.

The estimated toll exceeded previous peaks of around 29,000 deaths in summer 2022 and 28,000 in 2003 across the region studied.

How Researchers Estimated The Toll

Researchers modelled the relationship between temperature and mortality across 854 urban areas in the EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland, covering around 40% of the population in the 30 countries studied.

The analysis incorporated temperature records, age, socioeconomic conditions, environmental factors and access to healthcare. By comparing actual temperatures with those expected without human-induced warming, the team estimated the additional deaths attributable to climate change.

Final official mortality figures for summer 2026 are not yet available in many countries, and heat-related deaths are often underreported because their effects can be difficult to identify directly.

Older People Face The Greatest Risk

People aged 85 and over accounted for roughly half of the estimated deaths. However, the impact extended across age groups, with around 800 excess deaths among adults aged 20–44 and approximately 6,000 among people under 65.

Southern Europe experienced the highest mortality burden, reflecting hotter temperatures and other vulnerabilities, including air pollution, limited green space and unequal access to healthcare and heat-alert systems.

Italy, France And Spain Record Highest Toll

Italy recorded an estimated 13,303 heat-related excess deaths, followed by France with 7,268 and Spain with 6,824. Germany recorded around 6,340, while the UK saw an estimated 4,354 deaths.

In the UK, the heat also placed significant pressure on healthcare services. Andrew Hartle, Professor of Practice of Anaesthesia at Imperial College Healthcare, said demand during the summer resembled that of a severe winter virus season.

Cities Urged To Strengthen Heat Protection

Researchers say cities can reduce the risks through climate shelters, external shading and building retrofits, alongside measures to help residents avoid exposure during the hottest hours. Checking on vulnerable people, staying hydrated and following heat alerts are also important.

The researchers stress that adaptation must go hand in hand with reducing fossil fuel use to limit further warming. The findings underline that extreme heat is already a major public-health threat across Europe, with thousands of lives at risk each summer.