'Got Another Friend Request From You' Warnings Circulate On Facebook. What's The Deal?

Several people have posted on their Facebook News Feeds messages with warnings, such as:

"Please do not accept any new Friend requests from me"

And:

"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!"

Maybe, you've seen one of these warnings. Some of my Facebook friends posted these warnings in their News Feed or in private messages via Messenger. What's happening? The fact-checking site Snopes explained:

"This message played on warnings about the phenomenon of Facebook “pirates” engaging in the “cloning” of Facebook accounts, a real (but much over-hyped) process by which scammers target existing Facebook users accounts by setting up new accounts with identical profile pictures and names, then sending out friend requests which appear to originate from those “cloned” users. Once those friend requests are accepted, the scammers can then spread messages which appear to originate from the targeted account, luring that person’s friends into propagating malware, falling for phishing schemes, or disclosing personal information that can be used for identity theft."

Hacked Versus Cloned Accounts

While everyone wants to warn their friends, it is important to do your homework first. Many Facebook users have confused "hacked" versus "cloned" accounts. A hack is when another person has stolen your password and used it to sign into your account to post fraudulent messages -- pretending to be you.

Snopes described above what a "cloned" account is... basically a second, unauthorized account. Sadly, there are plenty of online sources for scammers to obtain stolen photos and information to create cloned accounts. One source is the multitude of massive corporate data breaches: Equifax, Nationwide, Facebook, the RNC, Uber, and others. Another source are Facebook friends with sloppy security settings on their accounts: the "Public" setting is no security. That allows scammers to access your account via your friends' wide-open accounts lacking security.

It is important to know the differences between "hacked" and "cloned" accounts. Snopes advised:

"... there would be no utility to forwarding [the above] warning to any of your Facebook friends unless you had actually received a second friend request from one of them. Moreover, even if this warning were possibly real, the optimal approach would not be for the recipient to forward it willy-nilly to every single contact on their friends list... If you have reason to believe your Facebook account might have been “cloned,” you should try sending separate private messages to a few of your Facebook friends to check whether any of them had indeed recently received a duplicate friend request from you, as well as searching Facebook for accounts with names and profile pictures identical to yours. Should either method turn up a hit, use Facebook’s "report this profile" link to have the unauthorized account deactivated."

Cloned Accounts

If you received a (second) Friend Request from a person who you are already friends with on Facebook, then that suggests a cloned account. (Cloned accounts are not new. It's one of the disadvantages of social media.) Call your friend on the phone or speak with him/her in-person to: a) tell him/her you received a second Friend Request, and b) determine whether or not he/she really sent that second Friend Request. (Yes, online privacy takes some effort.) If he/she didn't send a second Friend Request, then you know what to do: report the unauthorized profile to Facebook, and then delete the second Friend Request. Don't accept it.

If he/she did send a second Friend Request, ask why. (Let's ignore the practice by some teens to set up multiple accounts; one for parents and a second for peers.) I've had friends -- adults -- forget their online passwords, and set up a second Facebook account -- a clumsy, confusing solution. Not everyone has good online skills. Your friend will tell you which account he/she uses and which account he/she wants you to connect to. Then, un-Friend the other account.

Hacked Accounts

All Facebook users should know how to determine if your Facebook account has been hacked. Online privacy takes effort. How to check:

1. Sign into Facebook
2. Select "Settings."
3. Select "Security and Login."
4. You will see a list of the locations where your account has been accessed. If one or more of the locations weren't you, then it's likely another person has stolen and used your password. Proceed to step #5.
5. For each location that wasn't you, select "Not You" and then "Secure Account." Follow the online instructions displayed and change your password immediately.

I've performed this check after friends have (erroneously) informed me that my account was hacked. It wasn't.

Facebook Search and Privacy Settings

Those wanting to be proactive can search the Facebook site to find other persons using the same name. Simply, enter your name in the search mechanism. The results page lists other accounts with the same name. If you see another account using your identical profile photo (and/or other identical personal information and photos), then use Facebook's "report this profile" link to report the unauthorized account.

You can go one step further and warn your Facebook friends who have the "Public" security setting on their accounts. They may be unaware of the privacy risks, and once informed may change their security setting to "Friends Only." Hopefully, they will listen.

If they don't listen, you can suggest that he/she at a minimum change other privacy settings. Users control who can see their photos and list of friends on Facebook. To change the privacy setting, navigate to your Friends List page and select the edit icon. Then, select the "Edit Privacy" link. Next, change both privacy settings for, "Who can see your friends?" and "Who can see the people, Pages, and lists you follow?" to "Only Me." As a last resort, you can un-Friend the security neophyte, if he/she refuses to make any changes to their security settings.