Online scammers have over the past year increasingly been using fake LinkedIn accounts to target members of the business social network, according to a leading IT security company.

In a blog post, Symantec said the aim of those behind the fake accounts is to create a map of the networks of some of the 400 million people using LinkedIn, and build up a sense of credibility among other users.

This information is then used to initiate further contacts with others and to target attacks against particular individuals, it claimed.

The fraudsters are also using the connections they make to gather personal information about the people they are connecting to, like email addresses and phone numbers.

Symantec says this information is then used by attackers to send so-called spear-phishing emails, where the scammer tries to trick the recipient into giving them access to confidential information.

The oil and gas and information security industries have particularly been targeted by the fraudsters.

LinkedIn and Symantec have been working together to take down some fake accounts that have been discovered during the research.

According to Symantec, most of the the fake accounts follow a pattern, with profiles pretending to be recruiters at made up firms or self employed professionals.

Photos of women taken from stock sites, social networks or of real professionals are typically used, with the information copied from the profiles of other genuine accounts.

The security firm is advising people to avoid adding people they have never met before to their network