Should you be afraid if an imposter duplicates a friend’s Facebook account and connects with you on the social network?
/@gcluley A facebook friend had her account duplicated and I accepted the imposter's friend request (since unfriended). Should I be worried?
— Michael Grayer (@michaelgrayer) February 20, 2011
That’s the question I was asked on Twitter this weekend, and I thought rather than try to squeeze my response to Michael into 140 characters it probably warranted a few more bytes worth of attention.
The short answer as to whether you should be afraid or not, even if you have since unfriended the bogus user, is “possibly”.
First things first, why might someone have created an account in the name of somebody you know and attempted to trick you into accepting them as a friend? Here are some possibilities:
- Stalker. We don’t know who it is who is trying to enter your circle of friends on Facebook, but it could be someone who wants to track your activity without you know. Possibilities include a jealous partner you’ve fallen out with, a rival in love or…
Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.
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