[toss1]

>>The FTC's 2024 rule banning fake social influence metrics carries penalties of $53,088 per violation - and the SEC has already charged startup founders for inflating traction metrics during fundraising

Six million fake stars is just what this small crew found, likely in a matter of hours.

A fine of $53,088 times six million is 318.528 billion.

Just going hard after a small portion of that should both put an end to it and a slight dent in the deficit.

This kind of fraud is rampant because everyone concludes the way to win is not to make a real advance, but to simply game the system. Seems they are not wrong because the lack of enforcement makes the rules meaningless.