It is happening with increasing frequency and It has happened to a half dozen of my friends in just the last few weeks. The Facebook profile of a real person is faked and personal information is stolen from their friends. It works like this.
Someone steals a profile photo from the real “Fred Smith” on Facebook and creates an impostor account using Fred Smith’s photo and name (or no photo at all). They grab a little bit of information from the real Fred Smith’s profile and add it to the fake profile. The fake Fred Smith then sends friend requests to the real Fred Smith’s friends, like “Corey Jones” for example. If Corey Jones accepts the friend request from the fake Fred Smith, the fake Fred Smith immediately goes “data mining” in Corey Jones’ Facebook account, looking for useful personal information in the profile and posts.
The Danger of “Friending” Imposter Accounts on Facebook
Best case scenario: Corey might start getting spam notes and odd requests and nuisance messages.
Worst case scenario: Corey’s ID will be stolen. All the fake Fred Smith needs to steal Corey’s ID is Corey’s complete date of birth (month, date, and year) and the city where Corey was born, plus Corey’s first and last name (plus maiden name if Corey is a married woman). That is enough for a skilled identity thief to guess Corey’s Social Security number (see the articles linked below) and start opening fake bank and credit card accounts in Corey’s name. The real Corey Jones may discover one day that most of the money has been withdrawn from his/her own banking, saving, and/or investment accounts.
Can you get your money back? Yes, But the average cost per person in the U.S. (including legal costs) to straighten out your identity and your accounts is $3,000 – $5,000 per person. That does not include several hundred hours of paperwork and leg work you will need to do. Sometimes it takes years to get it all done (see the article below).
Safety On Facebook
So the first lesson is all of this is you should never make the year you were born visible on Facebook. And you should never post the city where you were born.
The second lesson is to be very cautious about accepting a friend request from someone who is already your friend on Facebook. Odds are good it is an imposter account created in your friend’s name.
The third lesson is to report imposter accounts to Facebook ASAP. The steps to take are below. Check with your real friend first to make sure your friend didn’t create a second account for some reason. Some people do that.
Fourth, if your own account has been faked, report it to Facebook immediately. The steps to take are in the next section.
Reporting an Imposter Account to Facebook
Go to the imposter account (make sure you aren’t at the real account).
Click on the three dots next to the right of “Message”. You will get a drop down menu box.
Click “Report”.
A new menu box will open up. Click the radial button in front of “Report this profile” then click “Continue”.
In the new menu box click the radial button in front of “They’re pretending to be me or someone I know”. Then click “Continue”.
In the new menu box click the radial button in front of “Me” (if it is your account that is being impostered) or “Someone I know” (if it is your friend). Then click “Continue”.
If you chose “Someone I know” in the last menu box, you will see this menu box with four options. Click “Submit to Facebook for Review”, then click “Done”. You have done your job. You will see a note from Facebook about them contacting your friend.
If you chose “Me” in the last menu box, you will see this menu box with three options. Click “Submit to Facebook for Review”, then click “Done”. Now it is in Facebook’s hands to check out the imposter and act accordingly. It could take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more for Facebook to remove the fake account. Facebook might contact you for more information,
Links
Top 10 Tips to Stay Safe on Facebook
Social Security Numbers are Easy to Guess
New algorithm guesses SSNs using date and place of birth
Researchers: Social Security Numbers Can Be Guessed
How Much Does Identity Theft Cost?
Identity-theft victims pay a high price when their data get stolen