How to spot and report a fake Facebook account - Android

An alarming report surfaced yesterday claiming of fraudulent accounts popping up on Facebook, imitating real-life people and causing a concern to those affected by the ploy. Originally a case suspected to be endemic only in Cebu and Central Visayas, particularly the students, activists, and political advocates, new information shed light as to the magnitude of […] More

This article, How to spot and report a fake Facebook account, was originally published at NoypiGeeks | Philippines Technology News, Reviews and How to's.

An alarming report surfaced yesterday claiming of fraudulent accounts popping up on Facebook, imitating real-life people and causing a concern to those affected by the ploy.

Originally a case suspected to be endemic only in Cebu and Central Visayas, particularly the students, activists, and political advocates, new information shed light as to the magnitude of the issue. 

The occurrence and proliferation of fake accounts, also seems to affect other people from across the Philippines as well.

How to spot a Fake account

One of the telling signs that an account is fake is when it mimics the name of an actual person. Another telltale sign is that the account neither has a profile picture nor has it a friend.

All dummy accounts were also observed to follow a common format when it comes to naming: first name + dot + surname + a random number.

For example — “juan.delacruz1”.

As of writing, there had been several hundreds of accounts reported for being fraudulent after meeting the aforementioned criteria. However, suspicion is strong that the overall number could be in the thousands.

Facebook responded to the case by deleting the accounts involved. But reports also claim that new fake accounts appear to be generated whenever the social media employ its means in rectifying the issue.

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How to report a dummy account

Did you find yourself a victim of this event, too, and would like to exercise your power in helping address the issue?

You can do so by having an active participation in reporting the account that you think fits the description of a fraudulent account via the following:

Step 1: Visit the profile of the suspected fake account.

Step 2: Click on the ellipsis icon beside the “Message” button.

Step 3: Choose “Find Support” or “Report Profile”.

Step 4: When selecting a reason for the report, choose “Pretending to be Someone” or “Fake account”.

This article, How to spot and report a fake Facebook account, was originally published at NoypiGeeks | Philippines Technology News, Reviews and How to's.