Technically, only public figures, celebrities, and brands can be verified on Instagram. You can’t request that little blue check mark that means you’re the real deal, and they don’t give them out to just anyone.
Unless you know a guy.
Mashable has uncovered an actual black market for Instagram verification, where desperate social media users with cash to burn spend up to $15,000 to get a tiny badge on their profiles.
Exclusive: Getting verified on Instagram is not easy, and only some celebrities, public figures, and brands are invited
Coveted: Not just anyone get apply, which is why a black market has popped up for those check marks
On Twitter, any user can request to be verified. That isn’t to say everyone will be approved, but the site has a portal open to all users who want to let ‘people know that an account of public interest is authentic’.
Over on Instagram, though, those check marks can be harder to come by. The social media’s application isn’t publicly available, and is offered only to big names that those who work at Instagram deem worthy.
‘Currently, only Instagram accounts that have a high likelihood of being impersonated have verified badges,’ the site’s Help Center explains.
If Instagram’s verification team singles someone out, that person must submit the application with some documentation of his or her identity, like a passport.
According to Mashable, those who are selected must also list their contact at Instagram or Facebook (its parent company), so none of the employees there abuse their verification privileges.
Sneaky: People are paying thousands of dollars to get verified through back channels
Applicants may also use press clippings to verify their importance and influence.
But what about people who aren’t well enough known to grab the attention of Instagram’s employees? If they want to become verified, there’s a back alley they can take — a very expensive back alley.
Reportedly, some Instagram employees take bribes. Coordinating with friends outside the company — a middleman who also takes a cut — they will occasionally grant verified status to someone who is willing to pay for it.
One black market seller named James, explained it like this: He has a contact at Instagram who will charge $1,200 to verify someone. If James connects someone with him, he’ll charge that someone an additional fee. The total cost can be $1,500 to $7,000.
In-the-know: People like Kim Kardashian were offered applications by Instagram
Special: Checks go for up to $15,000 on the black market, but even then not just anyone can get one
Tough: Typically on the black market, a middleman connects ‘grammers with an employee at Instagram and charges a fee
Another entrepreneur named Alejandro Rioja charges $6,000 to help someone get verified, providing they can send him evidence of press around their pages.
Still, there are hoops to jump through. Only three of the five accounts James has tried to get verified have actually gotten a check mark, because someone at Instagram still needs to approve it — meaning the applicant needs to have some sort of buzz surrounding him or her.
So what, exactly, do those newly-verified Instagrammers get, besides a status symbol?
Mostly, that’s it. Sometimes, influencers are able to parlay that check mark and the legitimacy that comes with it into sponsorship deals and earn some money.
‘It’s more bragging about how they can get anything, I guess,’ a verified YouTuber told Mashable.