Cloning refers to producing identical copies of an original.
Recently facebook profile cloning has come into the spotlight. Facebook profile
cloning is a type of identity theft where dodgy characters literally make a
second profile that looks exactly like your current one. They then send request
to your friends fooling everyone in thinking that it is you. You may be
wondering how they did it. Well there is no special skills involved and anyone
with internet access to your complete fb profile can do it.
First they gain access to your complete facebook profile by
sending you a facebook request, this wouldn’t be in your name. once this
friends request is accepted, they start copying your information. Using a fake
email account setup with a free email provider like Gmail or Hotmail they
register for a new Facebook account. They use your exact names to create this
account and upload your saved profile and cover pics to give this new account
the exact same look as your real profile. This is only the start of the
cloning process. Once they have a basic copy of your profile they start cloning
everything on your real profile by simply copying and pasting it. Your contact
information, education, work history and everything else get copied onto the
new profile. With this cloned profile they then join and like all the Fan pages and
groups you belong to. They even go as far as copying your latest posts or
comments. They do all of this to give this cloned profile the exact same look
and feel as the real one making it very difficult to spot it as a fake.
Now this is the annoying part! They actually go and Block your real profile
with the cloned one. They do this by viewing your real profile with the fake
account and simply clicking on Report/block. Once this is done you will never
be able to see this new profile and won’t even know of its existence!
They can now do anything they want on Facebook as you without you knowing
that they even exist! With this blocking feature they can comment after you (as you) on a post and you will not see it. They can now manipulate, extort, beg
for money and do whatever they want right under your nose and you won’t know a
thing. They will even ‘block’ your wife and close friends and family from
seeing this new profile making it even more difficult for you to detect.
They will then send friend request to all your friends. Once a few accept
the rest follows and you have a major problem. This intruder can now
literally also control your real profile using the cloned one. Example: You
comment (with your real profile)on a friends profile that your car broke down
and that the day can only get better... your friend replies “Ag shame man...
hope it all works out”. The cloned profile then replies on the same post with
“Please can you send me some money?” Because your real profile is blocked by
the cloned one you will not see this message. The cloned profile can now
extort money from all your friends right under your nose. They can also message
all your friends (as you) asking for money. They can post on their walls and
comment on anything your friend post without you seeing a thing.
Now that we know how they do it we can do a few things to try and prevent
it.
1. Do
not accept friend request from people you do not know.
2. Delete all people you do not know from your
friends list.
3. Edit your Facebook privacy setting by clicking
on the Gear icon.
4· Select “Privacy settings”
5· Next to “Who can see my
stuff” and “Who can see your future posts” select “Friends”.
6· Select “Limit past posts”
and confirm.
· Select “Timeline and
Tagging” and change all the settings to “Friends”.
7 Change your photo albums privacy settings. Set
the privacy settings of each album on your profile so that only your friends
can see your photo albums.
8. Change your Profile and Cover pictures on
a regular basis.
9. Post a comment on your home page
informing all your friends not to accept a second friend request from you and
to inform you in case they do get one.
Should you know that your profile have been cloned visit the facebook help
centre and immediately report it.
Or if better still if you can, delete your facebook profile completely and
communicate with your friends in the old fashioned way by phoning, writing a
letter, sending an email or visiting them.
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