by Facebook cloning scams that involve a scammer setting up fake Facebook accounts of real people to trick their friends into friending them on Facebook are proving to be extremely successful.
Imagine the scenario…
A scammer sets up a Facebook account under your exact name. They copy your profile picture and cover photo and upload it onto the fake account.
Then they start sending friend requests to all of your friends – claiming to be you – claiming that you had your account deactivated and need to refriend all of your friends. From there the scammer can try and trick your friends – posing as you – in any number of different ways.
How many of your friends would accept the request thinking it was really you? Probably quite a few, right?
That essentially describes Facebook cloning scams. Scammers clone your Facebook account using information that is set to public – i.e. the username, profile picture and cover photo – and using the users friend list, which will probably be public as well – begin sending friend requests.
And if your friends do accept the fake friend request they are potentially leaving themselves open to any number of different scams.
For example the scammer, whilst pretending to be a friend, may share links that – when clicked – lead to malicious websites that could harbour malware or possibly a phishing attack.
The scammer may also play the classic “Facebook friend in crisis” scam that involves pretending to urgently need money because they are stuck abroad.
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Facebook Cloning Scams - Copying Your Profile Picture - ThatsNonsense.com
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