Clones of the Facebook Kind

Let's talk about clones. Really. Facebook clones.

Facebook clone accounts are NOT a hack or an exploit. It isn't a security risk. They haven't hacked your account. It doesn't take great skill to copy and paste information from a Facebook account. Clone accounts are a simple scam that uses trust to fool people rather than technical expertise.

Here's what to do if your account has been cloned:

Search for your name. If you come up with your name, personal information, picture(s) that it isn't you, report it. Here's how to report it:

• Click the “…” icon in the upper right of the cloned profile page
  
• Select “Find Support or report this profile”
• Follow the instructions from there. Facebook generally responds to these requests within 24-hours.

You can also let your friends know that they shouldn't accept requests from the other account.

Here are some tips if you want to avoid being cloned:

Hide your Facebook Friend list. That's where the scammers get their information. They use your public information to get everything. Your friends are their targets. If your friends are private, they've got nothing to use. It's much harder for them to scam people they can't see.

• Click on the upside down triangle at the far end of the blue top bar. Select Settings.
  
• In the left hand menu, select Privacy
• In the right hand box next to "Who can see your Friends List" and select Edit.
• Select the privacy settings. (I have mine set to "Only Me" because I'm paranoid and grumpy.)

Keep personal posts visible to friends only. The only pictures that have to be public are your avatar photo and your cover pic. They can both be hidden from your timeline.

It's always good to check your privacy settings anyway. Make personal photos, contact information available to friends only. I know that a lot of people have their information available because it's connected with their business, but it's easy to make a separate page for a business.