Today my Facebook account was cloned. I wish I had payed more attention when it happened to others, but not a whole lot I can do about that now, however, the least I could do is share with you how to prevent this from happening and what I go through in order to resolve this. I will continue to update this post as I try and sort this mess out, but for now, protect yourself before you are a victim of the clone wars.
You probably won’t know you have been cloned until one of your friends let’s you know. Trying to find the account seems impossible, unless a friend sends you a link, which apparently if the clone account reports you, you won’t be able to see it anyway.
To prevent your friends from getting requests, you need to stop sharing who you are friends with on Facebook.
Prevent access to your friends list as follows (you have to do this from a PC):
1. Go to your own profile on Facebook (click on your name at top left next to your profile pic)
2. Click on “Friends” tab just below your cover pic.
3. On the right-hand side, next to the “+ Find Friends” click on the Pen Icon (Edit)
4. Click on “Edit Privacy”
5. On the selection for “Who can see your friend list?” select “Only Me”
6. You could also select “Only Me” for “Who can see the people and lists you follow?” to make it even more secure
7. Click “Close” and that is it!
Thanks for the tip from News 24: Prevent Facebook profile cloning
If you have been cloned, the polite thing to do is let all your friends know, so that they don’t accept friend requests from you. If anyone has any further tips, please drop me an email at craig[at]digiguru[dot]co[dot]za
Thanks
P.S. There can be only one!