Has your Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat been cloned yet? Inside the rise of social media identity theft (and what to do about it).
Cases of social media identity theft have skyrocketed in recent weeks, with victims and their loved ones being scammed — so are any of us really safe online anymore?
Facebook cloning is a scam in which the attacker copies the profile picture of an authorized user, creates a new account using that person’s name and sends friend requests to people on the user’s list. The exploit is often successful because many unsuspecting friends just accept the scammer’s requests, assuming that the actual user has created a new account for some reason or forgetting that they are already friends with that person.
The user’s actual account has not been compromised and their messages and other data are as secure as they had been, depending on their privacy and security settings. The risks involved with Facebook cloning fall on the user’s friends. Once the scammer has accessed enough of the victim’s friends, there are a number of ploys that may be attempted. The scammer may, for example, request emergency funds, pretending to be stranded somewhere while travelling, or try to get advance funds from the targets for some bogus future payoff. In other cases, the scammer may use social engineering tactics to convince targets to provide sensitive information, which can then be used for identity theft.
Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social media platforms have seen a jump in account cloning. Unlike account hacking, where a bad actor takes over your real account, cloning involves a bad actor using your personal information, such as photos, to copy your account, thereby creating a duplicate profile. In this episode, starring Alex Thomas as Tim, we see firsthand how social media account cloning plays out for its unknowing victims. Watch to learn more about social media account cloning and what you can do to protect yourself and your organization from these kinds of attacks. Stay tuned for a special optional segment at the end of the episode with Zack Schuler, NINJIO’s Founder, and his personal story related to this type of scam.
Has your Instagram been cloned yet? Inside the rise of social media identity theft (and what to do about it)
Facebook cloning
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Facebook-cloning
Attack of the clones: the rise of identity theft on social media
Con Watch: The Dangers of Facebook Cloning
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/01/con-watch-the-dangers-of-facebook-cloning/
Safeguarding Your Instagram Friends: Tips to Prevent Account Cloning
https://www.techlicious.com/tip/safguarding-your-instagram-friends-tips-to-prevent-account-cloning/
How to Protect Your Digital Privacy
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/privacy-project/how-to-protect-your-digital-privacy
