WITH so much of our lives shared online, it’s easier than ever for fraudsters to impersonate you.
All it really takes is some basic details and a single photo, and they can get the trick rolling.
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When a cyber criminal tries it on, it’s not necessarily yourself that’s at risk – it’s your friends and family.
The person can go around adding them as friends, claiming to be you.
Usually they’ll say this is your new account because you forgot your password, and later they’ll try asking people for money.
It happens all too often, so what should you do to keep your contacts safe?
Warn your friends you’ve been impersonated
If you’ve found out that someone is impersonating you on Facebook, the first thing you should do is let everyone know.
The easiest way to do this is by putting a status update on your real account.
Let people know that this is your only Facebook account and that anyone attempting to contact them in your name on another account is fake.
Urge them to report the account as well.
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How to report someone for impersonating your Facebook account
The next thing you need to do is report the account impersonating you so Facebook can take action.
You can do this by going to their profile page and looking for the three dot menu to the right.
Click Find support or report.
Then select Pretending to be someone.
Choose Me from the list.
Finally, hit Submit.
You’ll get a notification to view the outcome in your Support Inbox as soon as a decision is made on it.
How to report an imposter account if you don’t have Facebook
If you don’t have Facebook but someone has set up an account in your name, you can still report it to be taken down.
Visit Facebook’s dedicated help page.
Tick Someone created an account pretending to be me or a friend.
Choose No.
Then select Yes, I am the person being impersonated.
You will have to provide some details, including a link to the imposter profile, contact details so moderators can reach you with information and a copy of some ID to prove you are who you say you are.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
