Heads-up!! Your Facebook account was not cloned

You can stop forwarding messages to your Facebook friends telling them “almost every account is being cloned.”

This is a hoax. Bogus. Not true. It’s like a modern day chain letter.

Facebook says there’s been no sudden surge in cloned accounts.

But viral messages spreading in posts and messages suggest otherwise.

Heads-up!! Almost every account is being cloned. Your picture and your name are used to create a new face book account (they don’t need your password to do this this). They want your friends to add them to their Facebook account. Your friends will think that it’s you and accept your request. From that point on they can write what they want under your name. I have NO plans to open a new account. Please DO NOT accept a 2nd friend request from ‘me’. please forward to all your contacts.

Or perhaps you got this version:

Hi….I actually got another friend request from you yesterday…which I ignored so you may want to check your account. Hold your finger on the message until the forward button appears…then hit forward and all the people you want to forward too….I had to do the people individually. Good Luck!

Chances are you’ve gotten one (or dozens) of these messages from friends trying to be helpful.

Maybe your mom has asked you what she should do.

Don’t forward. Don’t post. Don’t believe it.

Forwarding these messages is actually creating confusion and suggests a widespread, sudden problem that doesn’t exist.

It is possible for scammers to steal your name and picture to make a new account, but Facebook says that doesn’t mean your account has been hacked or breached.

You can easily check to see if your account has been cloned by just searching your name on Facebook.

If more than one account comes up, someone may be impersonating you and you should report the fake account so Facebook can delete it.

Report it here: https://www.facebook.com/help/fakeaccount

Jon Chrisos

About Jon Chrisos

Award-winning journalist Jon Chrisos is the investigative and consumer reporter at CBS 13 in Portland. He also anchors weeknights at 5:30. Chrisos is “On Your Side” investigating the stories that make a difference in your life. He’s passionate about helping those who’ve been wronged, exposing government waste, asking tough questions, and uncovering the truth.