Cloned Accounts And Facebook Request Scam
You might have seen warnings in your Facebook news feeds from your panicked friends' accounts that their accounts are hacked. Or else maybe you receive a private message in your inbox warning that your account is hacked.
Some of you have must receive friend requests from your friends' account who actually is already in your friend list. But, a friend request from an identical profile creates doubt in you regarding the authenticity of the account.
We are talking about fake facebook friend request and cloned accounts which are spreading a suspicious message.
As per the message, the sender receives a suspicious friend request from you, and the best way to address this news is to immediately share the message which they sent to you along with your other friends.
Facebook Friend Request Scam Message
“Hi....I actually got one more friend request from you which I ignored, but you may want to check your account. Hold your finger on the message on the screen (mobile) until the forward button appears.
Now hit forward and all the other people you want to forward. I did this to the people individually. PLEASE DON’T ACCEPT ANY NEW FRIENDSHIP FROM ME AT THIS TIME.”
Should You Worry?
Well, we have a mix of good news and bad news!
The good news is, if you didn’t receive this message then your account isn’t hacked yet. Also, no fraud friend request was sent. The whole Facebook friend request is a viral hoax.
But, the bad news is, people are falling for this hoax on Facebook. The hoax also appears to refer cloned Facebook accounts. Such accounts where scammers copy the name, facebook profile picture, and the necessary basic information from a real account.
With all these information they create a nearly identical account on Facebook. Then to use such accounts, scammers start sending friend requests to the original account’s friend.
After that, they cam the person’s unsuspecting friends to access their personal information by accepting that fake request.
A Facebook spokesperson said in an interview that the company heard of some people seeing posts and messages about their accounts being cloned on Facebook.
Although account cloning is a real, the volume at which messages are spreading across Facebook doesn’t reflect any actual spike in cloned accounts.
How to Protect My Account From Facebook Request Scam?
If you have got one of those facebook hoax messages, then there are a couple of things you must do:
First, check your friend’s account to make sure that it’s not a clone of any real account. Moreover, if you find two completely identical accounts sharing the same information, then it is a sign that one of them is a clone.
Second, if you were messaged from a clone account of your friend, then you must report that account to Facebook’s Community Standards.
Otherwise, if nothing suspicious is found then, the simply ignore the hoax and messages.
Similarly, if you’ve been hacked hoax spread in some real news about Facebook security, then tens of millions of accounts would have been compromised by a massive hacking.
Final Words
A range of similar hoax and messages have spread across Facebook in recent months and keeps on appearing in your news feed. Though it's not clear Who did it? Why do such hoax messages begin?
The one encouraging thing about such message is that they are little creepy and annoying but actually doesn't threaten people's safety.
As with the other social networks, Facebook’s account cloning problem is real!
Tips to Prevent virus and malware from Infecting Your System:
- Enable your popup blocker: Pop-ups and ads on the websites are the most adoptable tactic used by cybercriminals or developers with the core intention to spread malicious programs.
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- Third-party installation: Try to avoid freeware download websites as they usually install bundled of software with any installer or stub file.
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