Again we warn against identity theft on Facebook. Such an incident can cause enormous damage for affected users. The scam would copy Facebook profiles that look confusingly similar to the actual profile. The scammers then send a friend request to all contacts and give “thin’ reasons for the new profile.
If you are liberal with your personal data and profile on Facebook, then this is a fodder for scammers. Anything they find in your public information and status posts, criminals use them to set up a fake profile. This looks deceptively similar to your actual profile. With a so-called “copied profile” scammers can cheat on your behalf and cheat on your friends list.
The current warning on Facebook!
These are status posts on Facebook
The status post in the wording (sic!)
danger
Notice to women on Facebook!
Please be careful, there is someone (a woman) who will take your profile picture and name, create a new account on Facebook and ask your friends to add it.
Your friends accept it because they think it’s you. After they accept, she posts whatever she wants as if it were you.
Copy this to your wall.
I DO NOT HAVE A NEW FACEBOOK ACCOUNT!!!
I haven’t sent any new friend requests
and I also send NO requests for phone number address or anything else via messenger!!
Yes, these warnings should be taken seriously!
But this applies to all profiles on Facebook and not just profiles of women, as mentioned in the chain letter!
This is how the scam works!
What the scammers then do with the copied profile
You get a friend request on Facebook from someone you’re already friends with. Sometimes the name is spelled differently in an inconspicuous place. If you accept the request, you will receive a message from the alleged friend in Facebook chat or Messenger.
It says, for example: “Hello, can you give me your mobile number, I need it urgently.“You should be careful at this point! Because the scammer has copied the profile of your real Facebook friend – with profile picture and cover picture that are public. Anyone who tries a little harder has also copied older public photos into the wrong profile. So if you quickly click on the name and want to see who is behind it, you may not notice any difference to your real friend.
An indication that something is wrong can also be bad German, as the example of such a chat shows:
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Before you give out your number, it’s better to contact your real friend in another way – for example by calling them. Or ask the sender of the Facebook message a specific question that only your real friend can actually answer.
Continue with the scam
If you actually gave away your cell phone number, you will receive an SMS a short time later. This friend also writes this on Facebook in your chat. The SMS contains a numeric code that you should also tell the “friend”. And here the trap snaps shut. The code is used by the fraudster to initiate a payment that will be debited from your mobile phone bill or prepaid card!
It works like this: The fraudster sits at a PC, orders something and needs a cell phone number to pay. He then gives yours, if you gave them to him. In order to make sure that no random sequence of numbers was entered as a cell phone number, the payment service sends an SMS with a code to the number. That’s why the scammer asks you for it. Only when the code is entered when ordering does it cost money – in this case yours if you actually gave the code away. This will then be paid via your mobile phone bill or prepaid card. In this case, the cell phone number alone is not enough to rip you off money.
How can I protect myself? What should I do?
► Optimize your Facebook settings!
1. FIRST LOOK FOR A COPY OF YOUR ACCOUNT
Use Facebook SEARCH and search your name once. Your friends should also support you in your search, because the scammers usually block the ORIGINAL profile, so your profile may exist twice but you can’t find it. If you or one of your friends discovered a copy, then REPORTS the copied profile immediately.
2. HIDE YOUR FRIENDS LIST
Once an account has set the friends list to “Only me”, it is already of no interest to the scammers. To do this, click on “Friends” in your profile (below the cover photo). On the right side you will find these 3 dots in front of “…” and please edit your “Privacy”. Set here: “Who can see your friends list?” to “Only me”
3. NEVER POST “PUBLIC” IF POSSIBLE
Not everyone needs to know everything. It’s enough if your FRIENDS find out something. You can set the setting for this directly in the status post. This concerns pure text contributions, but also photos and videos.
4. PLEASE ALSO MAKE THE FOLLOWING SETTINGS:
Content, Contacts and Search
► Who can see your future posts: “Friends”
► Who can send friend requests: “Everyone” or “Friends of friends”. Our recommendation: “Friends of friends”
► Would you like other search engines to include a link to your timeline: REMOVE tick, restrict visibility
► Who can post on your timeline: “Friends”
► Want to review posts you’ve been tagged in before they appear on your profile? “Enabled”
► Who can see starred posts: Our recommendation: “Friends”
► Who can see what others post on your timeline: Our recommendation: “Friends”
► User Tag Suggestions: “Enabled”
► Combine your actions with ads: “Nobody”
Also Read: Identity Theft on the Internet. Emergency addresses if your profile has been hacked.
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