Ask HN: Why all these GitHub fake accounts starring my project

[micheda]

Many of the stargazers of my MLtraq GitHub repository https://github.com/elehcimd/mltraq look weird.

There is no verifiable information, seemingly from China; they have a massive count of stars/forks. My attempts to contact a few of them failed, so I tend to think these are bots.

What's their purpose?

[MartijnHols]

There are site where you can buy stars on GitHub. [1] By starring more than just customer repositories, these sites reduce the risk their customers are caught and reprimanded.

Stars are often used as quick indicator of project popularity, maturity and trustworthiness.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36151140