Facebook has become a fixture in most people’s daily lives.
Teenagers, parents, grandparents and basically the majority of the people on the planet have a Facebook account.
With the social media platform being a great tool to connect with relatives or friends living far away, it can also be a dangerous tool if used unwisely.
There are thousands of fake profiles out there, created by people who do not necessarily harbour the best of intentions towards their fellow human beings.
Accepting friend requests left, right and centre may not be the smartest thing to do.
Many people use Facebook as a means to find romantic interests and invite or accept people they do not know.
Read: WATCH: 15 facts that sound fake but are actually true
Fake profiles can make life difficult in so many ways, from hacking into your account to stalking you.
So, how do you spot a fake Facebook profile?
This can be tricky and would require some investigating skills as well as time, but may just make your life easier or even save your life in the long run.
Note that this is not fool-proof as many people behind fake accounts are getting more inventive and creative, but this may apply to most fake accounts.
Here are some tips and tricks made available by WikiHow:
• Before accepting, view the profile carefully and decide if the person’s claims add up or if it seems over the top.
WikiHow example: If it is a photo of a very young person who claims to be a professor or CEO of a company, some alarm bells should go off.
Trust your gut feeling on this one.
• Look carefully at the profile picture and decide if it looks legit. If not, follow these steps:
Click and drag the profile picture to your desktop, open Google and go to ‘Images’.
Drag and drop the picture into the search field, Google will either return an exact match (with more information) or show pictures similar to the original.
• Search their name online to see what pops up. If it’s a common name, try adding any other information you may be able to find on their profile, such as location or approximate age.
Also check to see if the person has been tagged in any posts, as is the norm with the Facebook sharing experience.
• Have a look at the person’s friends (if any) and try to establish if they are local or global.
Local friends may suggest it’s more likely that the person is real and legit, but the more global the friend list becomes with very few or no local friends, the more suspicious you need to be.
• Take notice of strange remarks or out-of-character statements.
Remember, everyone slips up at some stage so take note of his or her comments.
• If the person asks for out-of-the-ordinary pictures (sexy or nude), immediately be suspicious and do not send these photos.
Fake accounts are easy means for people to get hold of pornographic material to possible distribute on the internet.
• Unfriend them!
If you feel suspicious, unsure or uncomfortable with the person and having them part of your Facebook friends, immediately unfriend, block and report the person.
If you are not sure how to do this, visit Facebook’s Help Centre here on how to unfriend and block profiles.
Important tips:
Be careful of what you put online and what you tell people who you don’t know.
Some people may act caring towards you just to get something out of you and use it in any means they can.
Keep your private details to yourself at all times.
Remember, while a person with a fake account may be after money, property or personal information, they could also be after you.
Always use discretion online.
Warning to parents:
Keep an eye on your teenagers.
Young people are the most vulnerable to building online relationships with people who do not have good intentions.
Teenagers (and some adults) can be very naive and fall for the first story they hear, with emotions running high, they’ll do anything this person asks of them.
Read: Things you should never do on social media
