Shafaq News- Baghdad

Riam Fadhil, 25, wanted her cake and pastry business to launch with a ready-made audience. Rather than spend months building one on social media, she bought an existing account with hundreds of thousands of followers, hoping it would lend her venture credibility and faster reach.

Fadhil told Shafaq News she paid one million Iraqi dinars (about $760) for an account with roughly 300,000 followers, but the purchase did not deliver. "After I started posting, I noticed that most of the followers were men, and their numbers began dropping rapidly," she recalled. Real engagement never materialized, and the comments that did appear were mostly negative or mocking.

When she returned to the seller and demanded a refund, he refused, telling her the account had previously been used to sell motorcycles and that payments cannot be returned once a sale is complete.

Trade in social media pages has become noticeably more common in recent months, she observed. Some belong to well-known activists or influencers who sell them, while others are stolen accounts with large followings that are resold for profit.

Legal Gray Area

Specialists interviewed by Shafaq News warn that the practice carries security and social risks as the Iraqi law contains no direct provision punishing it as a standalone crime. Only indirect provisions apply, tied to the nature of the transaction and its consequences.

Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube prohibit selling, buying, or transferring accounts without their approval, and can permanently close an account once a sale is detected. Legal experts said buyers may face difficulty seeking compensation through the courts when a transaction violates a platform’s terms of service, though the outcome would depend on the circumstances of each case.

Legal expert Mohammed Jumaa said that no law prevents the sale or purchase of accounts on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or similar platforms, “making the act permissible in the absence of a prohibiting provision.”

“Such sales fall under the general rules governing sales and privacy,” he explained, adding that the law doesn’t bar the sale of an account unless it violates privacy, as when the account holds personal photos, messages, or other private material. 

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Jumaa said both seller and buyer could face legal liability if private photos or confidential information from a sold account were published.

A sale can also become a criminal matter, Jumaa warned, particularly when the account is used for electronic extortion or to lure victims for human trafficking. In such cases, Jumaa said both parties could face criminal liability if the account were used for offenses such as electronic extortion or human trafficking, “depending on their knowledge and involvement.”

Because many account sales are not carried out under written contracts, he added, a seller can easily deny involvement.

Scams on Telegram

Jamil Rashid, 20, wanted to share his daily life online and speed up his reach, so he turned to a Telegram page that specializes in selling accounts. After agreeing on a deal with a seller and transferring the payment, he lost all contact: the seller vanished and closed the account. Rashid never received what he paid for.

Shafaq News identified account markets on Telegram and Facebook, in groups with more than 600 members each, listing accounts with varying follower counts and prices set by audience size and other details.

Inside the Trade

One seller active in one of these groups, Hamed Ali, described to Shafaq News how the accounts are built. The process begins with videos on subjects that draw wide attention and high view counts: accidents, fires, brawls, and murder cases, which pull in viewers and followers. "Once the account reaches a suitable number, I put it up for sale."

Building an account takes months of consistent posting, so Ali creates and manages several at once. Some owners of failed or abandoned projects also sell their accounts instead of closing them for good, he added.

Buyers receive guarantees, according to Ali, who described an account as reliable and safe from shutdown when the buyer deals with trustworthy people, but he didn’t specify any formal or legal form of guarantee.

For young people and teenagers, he pointed out, the trade offers moderate but quick profit with no effort beyond a phone. “Prices only go up, and an account is ready for sale at a minimum of 10,000 followers, selling for $25 to $30. Accounts at that price point are the fastest to sell.”

Technical Risks

Firas Faqouri, a technology specialist, told Shafaq News that buying and selling accounts is a losing proposition in many cases. TikTok and Instagram bar account sales and ownership transfers, he noted, because each account is tied to its own data and algorithms.

Once an account passes to a new owner, a change in content style can alter posting patterns and the target audience, he explained, affecting engagement and reach and potentially leading to weaker performance or action by the platform, depending on its policies.

Security is another concern, Faqouri cautioned. A buyer may lose the account if the seller cannot be trusted, since in some cases the previous owner can recover it through recovery details linked to them, even after the email address and password have been changed. “The buyer can end up losing both the account and the money paid.” 

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