Here’s a new twist on the fake Facebook friend request. We’ve talked before about cloning. That’s when someone steals the name and photo from a Facebook account and uses it to create a new one.
The scammer then sends friend requests. This is not the same as being hacked. The person has doesn’t have access to the account of the person they’re impersonating. But they are using their name. Normally to go after people who area already on that person’s friends list.
They hope you’ll see a name you recognize and just click on Accept. Remember, no one can send a friend request to someone they’re already friends with on Facebook. So, if you get one from a friend, that’s a pretty good indication it is a fake.
This time, however, the crook didn’t send a friend request to me. Instead, he or she commented on a post pretending to be my friend, Jim. This fake Jim said he was unable to reach me on Facebook and could I please send a friend request.
Kind of clever. Probably the reason Fake Jim went about it this way is that I would have to send the friend request. Why should he do all the work? Here’s what Fake Jim’s profile looks like. All nice and blank.
To report this scammer, I clicked on Message at the top right. Then I chose Report Profile from the menu that popped up.
Then I selected the problem. In this case, Pretending to Be Someone.
Specifically, A Friend.
I told Facebook which friend and hit Next.
I also told Real Jim about it so he could warn his friends. And I left a little comment for Fake Jim.
