Technique

Astroturfing

Also known as: Fake Grassroots, Bot Campaign, Manufactured Consensus, Synthetic Popularity, Pump Group, Coordinated Inauthentic Campaign

MANIPULATION

Creating fake grassroots campaigns using bots, paid accounts, or coordinated networks to simulate organic public support for scams, products, or narratives.

Common attack flows

How it fits in a scam

This technique shows up duringMANIPULATION

Before

Sock Puppet NetworkMANIPULATION

After

Influence OperationDELIVERY

Defense

How to defend against this

How to spot it

Identical or near-identical comments from multiple accounts
Accounts created around the same time with similar naming patterns
Sudden surge of support for unknown product or cause
Accounts with no personal content only promotional posts
Engagement patterns that spike unnaturally then disappear
Bot detection tools flag accounts (Botometer or Bot Sentinel)
Funding sources hidden or obscured
New accounts with no history dominating a discussion
Crypto pump groups with price spikes after signal in Telegram or Discord
Grassroots org with no verifiable individual members