Someone has made a fake Fb account of me and messaging my friends!

[Beeloux]

Hi all.
Looking for some advice. Had a WhatsApp message off a friend today asking if I’d made a new Facebook as she just received a friend request and message off an account using my name and profile picture!

She’s reported it and sent me the link to it so I’ve reported it too and it seems to have been taken down as the link no longer works. Made a Facebook post to warn my friends on there of the fake account and turns out it’s messaged/added many people!

Very worried wondering who the hell has made it. I’ve changed all my passwords and locked down my profile (profile pictures were set to public before). I don’t know why anyone would make one. I don’t have any enemies and live a mundane life.

Has anyone ever experienced this? Wondering if it’s a scam. Any advice appreciated!!

Sadly very common. I believe it's done to steal identity data. Lock down who can send you friend requests as well and keep reporting the fake profile to FB. In my experience they take ages to do anything.

It happens all the time, I'd say a weekly occurrence seeing posts from friends saying they've been hacked and to ignore any messages

I don't think it's any thing personal to you

Thanks both! Feel reassured it’s most likely not a personal attack. Just feel paranoid what the hell they may have messaged people!

Happened to a relative of mine, they did it to try and scam money off people. One of those "oh I'm stuck somewhere and can't use my cards or phone could you send me £500" things.

This is an extremely common scam, I’m surprised you’ve never come across it. The goal is to try and get money off people who know you by pretending to be you. Post on your real Facebook to let people know not to add the other account and report it for being fake

It won't be someone you know; it's part of a huge network of organised scams. They gain access through infected links, or they'll engage you with quizzes like "What kind of celebrity are you?" I've known people to lose their accounts permanently because the scammers take over, and Facebook isn't very helpful.

This happens regularly to a couple of my friends.
The fake person sends messages to anyone who accepts the friend request.
Sometimes it's I'm stuck abroad with no money messages, and other times
"Hi have you heard of xxx It's an organisation that does (something) and you can join them" Then they send a link
I accepted one once for a laugh. When I accused them of being a scammer they denied it and video called me using an ai video generated from my friends profile photo.

It could be someone scamming. However, there have a couple extensive cases in the U.K. of stalkers doing this to harass victims.

If you notice anything else weird make sure you report it to the police. I’d reach out to friends to find out the contents of those messages they got.

It's scammers using your name and photo hoping a friend or family member will accept the 'new' friend request they send, then they'll start messaging them trying to get your full info. Always keep your profiles private so only people you are connected with can see them.