A settlement reached earlier this week by New York Attorney General Letitia James marks the first time that a law enforcement agency has found that selling fake social media engagement is illegal — and some industry sources hope it marks a turning point in a long-running battle.

“Brands and influencers that use agencies to help boost their social media engagement can no longer turn a blind eye to where their new likes and followers are coming from,” said Jeffrey Greenbaum, an attorney at Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz. “They are going to need to ensure that their likes and followers are real.”

Devumi LLC and offshoot companies, including Disrupt X Inc., Social Bull and Bytion — all owned by German Calas Jr. — were said to be supplying more than 200,000 customers with names that were fraudulent, according to James. They were getting the names from automated bots or so-called sock puppets — single people masquerading as many.

“Bots and other fake accounts have been running rampant on social media platforms, often stealing real people’s identities to carry out fraud,” said James. The bogus posters use Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, SoundCloud, Pinterest and other social media outlets. “Bot and sock puppet accounts do not reflect the genuine opinions of real people,” according to the settlement with the Attorney General.

Devumi and its affiliates all folded in August or September after a rake of negative publicity from reports that the AG was investigating.

“If Devumi is guilty, what about the bloggers who are utilizing that service to deceive people?” asked Steve Sands, a celebrity photographer who blogs under the name NY Newswire. He says he is often barred from events by publicists because he won’t agree to exchange access for favorable postings on social media. “Bloggers are being bribed by publicists,” he said. “The problem is rampant.”

“The whole issue of transparency is a huge problem,” agreed Greenbaum.

“As people and companies like Devumi continue to make a quick buck by lying to honest Americans, my office will continue to find and stop anyone who sells online deception,” said James.

Calas, whose company was grossing $15 million a year, pleaded no contest to the charges and agreed to a $50,000 fine. His companies are barred from engaging in the same business again. His LinkedIn account describes him as a “growth hacker, product architect and business advisor.” He did not return an email seeking comment.