Fake talent managers cost influencers Rs 350 crore in brand deals last year: Survey

Influencers losing money due to fake managers.

Fake or unverified talent managers cost content creators in India as much as Rs 350 crore last year, due to misrepresentation and limited direct access, according to a survey by HashFame, a networking platform for creators and marketers.

The survey, conducted among over 32,000 creators across India, found consistent patterns of missed opportunities and inflated brand quotes due to indirect or false representation.

Viraj Sheth, chief executive officer and co-founder of Monk Entertainment, one of the biggest influencer talent management agencies, said that every time a brand picks the wrong contact, a creator loses money and an agency loses trust. "Fake managers are a dime a dozen now. They are circling deals they didn’t build and hijacking relationships they’ve done nothing to earn."

More than 55 percent of creators surveyed said they lost brand deals because there was no clear or verified way for brands to contact them. Around 62 percent said they were unaware that a brand had even tried to reach out, while 45 percent reported that unverified managers had quoted inflated rates without their knowledge.

In many cases, when a brand identifies a creator for a campaign, it is forced to navigate multiple layers, the study added. Agencies reach out to third-party managers, who then pass the opportunity along to someone else. Eventually, the creator remains unaware of the brand’s interest. What begins as a straightforward Rs 5 lakh collaboration often turns into a Rs 10 lakh quote, discouraging the brand and ultimately leading to the deal falling through.

“This has happened to me more times than I can count,” said Anunay Sood, a travel content creator with over 1.1 million followers on Instagram. "There have been people in the industry claiming to be my manager and quoting inflated prices to brands without my knowledge. I ended up losing deals I didn’t even know existed. In some cases, multiple people were involved in the same brand brief, and a few even claimed to be my exclusive managers, which is completely untrue. I have never associated myself exclusively with any agency. It not only confused the brand but also hurt my reputation. The worst part is I had no idea any of this was happening until much later.”

Missed opportunities

The survey also found that a majority of creators are unaware of how many opportunities they may have missed. Brands, on the other hand, report an increasing lack of confidence in knowing whether they are dealing with the real point of contact. This confusion not only slows down execution but also leads to inflated perceptions of creator pricing and reliability.

“In this industry, it’s not always the loudest creator who wins the deal, it’s the one brands can actually reach. What we’re seeing isn’t a lack of talent, it’s a lack of access. Somewhere between a brand’s intent and a creator’s inbox, the opportunity gets lost. That’s not just bad business, it’s disheartening. Creators are building careers, not just content. And if they’re missing out on deals they never knew existed, we have a deeper problem to solve than just campaign logistics,” said Anirudh Sridharan, co-founder and head of product at HashFame.

As India’s creator economy matures, there is an urgent need to bring order, transparency, and verified access into the system, the study said.

Mallika Dua, actor and content creator, said that over the years she has heard false about agencies claiming to manage her portfolio exclusively.

“I’ve been part of this industry for nearly a decade, having worked with multiple agencies. Today, I’m self-managed, not because it’s easier, but because I reached a point where I wanted to fully own my story,” said Dua. “I didn’t want to be reduced to a name on a list of a hundred others being pitched at once.”

“Unfortunately, creators like me are often used as marketing tools by agencies that falsely claim to represent us,” she added. “Our names help them attract more creators and more business, but delivering actual value to the creator is never the priority. Even now, I regularly hear about big agencies claiming to exclusively represent me, which is simply not true. Over the years, I’ve lost out on work because of this, people quoting the wrong prices on my behalf, or positioning me in ways I never agreed to. Misrepresentation isn’t just unethical, it’s damaging.”