Don’t add these people as friends on Facebook

When you are added as a friend on Facebook
by someone who is already in your contact
list, be careful! It might be a fraud.

The scheme of fraud

First, a copy of a real Facebook profile is

made with the real photos and personal data

added. Then the felons begin to add friends

from the victim’s contact list.

Many people add a new friend seeing a

familiar name and face. By no means should

you do it, unless you make sure it is the real

account of your friend or relative.

Experts warn, that you provide the felons

with your personal information when you add

a fake friend.

 They will be aware of your

posts, location, birth date etc. They also will

be able to send messages to your friends on

your behalf in order to gather more

information about you or to borrow money

from them.

Research shows that fake accounts are

used to con people into borrowing

money which is never returned.

Be careful! When you get a friend application

from someone who is already in your contact

list, make sure that the request is not a fake.

Ignore the requests from perfect strangers!

In addition, it is recommended to use more

strict privacy settings. It is better to give a

friends-only access to your profile, photos,

etc.

Another way to protect your account, is to

limit the access to your friend list. 

To do it,

open Friends tab and choose Friends in the

line Who can see your friend list?

A story of a fraud victim

“One day I got a request from Inna, a distant

relative who I don’t see very often. It

looked strange, as she was in my friend list

by that time. But I thought that her old

account could have been blocked and added

her. A few minutes later, the new friend

texted me, and after a short exchange I got a

very peculiar message:

“I am so happy! Just imagine, I got 200 000

grivnas by National Help Campaign! They

help the retired, the disabled and the poor,

just like us, to improve our lives”.

After this I knew it was a fraud. I

informed my real relative, whose profile was

still active, that her page was copied. 

I also

noticed that a fake Inna had 34 friends added

the same time as me. There was just a few

photos on her page and the ridiculous

spelling mistakes made me think of a fake”.

This story is just one of thousands.

How to protect your account

1. Check your friend requests thoroughly.

Take a closer look at the profiles of your new

aquaintances. Make sure the request is not

sent by someone from your contact list.

2. Remember that your friends can be hacked

too. Do not click the links they send to you

thoughtlessly.

3. Pay attention to the grammar and spelling

of the messages. Misprints and ridiculous

mistakes are characteristic of dodgers.

4. Check your friends’ page. When a friend of

yours unexpectedly begins to post quick

earning schemes, celebrity gossip or requests

for material help, you should inform the

owner of an account directly. When a person

rarely sees their Facebook page, they might

be unaware of being hacked.

Remember! Your safety depends on you!