There are so many fake LinkedIn accounts out there -- this is a very common attack. People should be careful about who they connect with and what information they share.
I don't know if it is relevant, but I receive daily requests on ResearchGate from people with lots of 'following' and zero 'followers', no picture, no papers, no questions, i.e. empty profile.
The names are quite 'inventive' such as Alex Brooks, Julie Sanders, Mark Wellington, some chinese-like names posing as students, and so on.