Sock puppets are fake social media accounts created to conduct open-source intelligence (OSINT) research without revealing one's true identity. They allow investigators, detectives, hackers, journalists and others to impersonate people. Creating a believable sock puppet requires generating a fake name, phone number, address, photos, social media profiles and friends to appear authentic. The accounts should be accessed only through VPNs or public WiFi to avoid being linked to the creator. Perfect sock puppets maintain their fake persona consistently for months with daily use to establish credibility online without risk of being traced back to the original owner.

1. Sock Puppet
Prepared By: Prof. Sweta Dargad

3. What is sock puppets?
● Sock puppets are nothing but detailed created fake social media
accounts to research in OSINT without giving up the true identity.
● Sock Puppets are basically aliases, fictitious persona profiles created by someone
else with specific goals in mind and is part of an OSINT Social Engineering
technique.
● These type of accounts can be used by anyone like investigators, detectives, hackers,
police, journalists, it can be anyone who wants to impersonate someone else.
● Now you will thinks like – yeah that’s an easy job like you just have to create a fake
account.
● Well, it’s not as easy as it sounds, for creating a successful sock puppet it needs to
be credible and consistent with how the real person behaves online. Sock puppets
have a real name, real phone numbers, address, photographs, credit card number,
various social media accounts, friends, etc.

4. Purpose of sock puppets?
1.Investigators can use the sock accounts to
collect information and do research o some
cases.
1.Hackers can use sock accounts to do
social engineering on the target to collect
the information.
1.Detective can use these type of accounts to
collect information and to know the nature of
someone related to their cases.

5. What does it takes to make a perfect sock puppet?
Choosing the right platform to create the account is also important. If
you are creating sock puppets for Indian user’s you have to do
research on what social media is mostly used in India.
Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Signal are one of the most
used social media in India, so make sure you have an account
on these.
To make your account more legit and real try to use it for long
terms.
For example, Create account (which we will discuss how to create in
few seconds) and use it for like 3 to 4 months with daily posting
something, following someone making online friends.

6. What does it takes to make a perfect sock puppet?
A perfect sock puppet will never be connected by any means to its original
owner.
To anonymize the account so that it doesn’t log your original IP address or
location, You have to use VPN or TOR while creating the account.
Another Best way to do it is to connect to any public Wi-Fi to create an
account. Make sure you always log in to that account with the same
network. Never ever use your own IP address to create sock accounts.
According to Trace Labs creating a Sock on Facebook is the most difficult thing
because Facebook uses to flag your account if you use TOR or VPN services.

7. How to Create Sock Account?
Name:
https://www.elfqrin.com/fakeid.php
Email Address: use any mail provider to
create email address make sure not to
use your IP address while doing this.
Face :
https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/

8. What are Burner Phones and Sim Cards?
● Burner means to use and through or a phone that is not connected to you in any
way. A hone or a sim card that you will only use for the sock account and nothing
else.
● Burner Phone and sim cards are only important when you are into Deep OSINT for
Basics a Sock Account is enough for Active or Passive investigation.
● But When a website needs to verify your phone number then it’s good to have
burner sim cards.
● Although you always have options to buy a VoIP number or the cheapest sim card
for mobile verification.
● This is it. Now you can create your own Sock Account.

9. Tips
● Always have a two socks account, so that if one burned you have another.
● Make long terms account. Don’t start researching anyone without making
your account enough legit.
● Don’t use real person’s face, because the first things anyone do is to google
your photo.
● Try to post daily things creating good b on social media.