Online Threat Alerts (OTA) - Alerting you to scams and frauds.
Spamming - Adware
There is no need to share the "Do Not Accept a New Friendship From Me" messages that are circulating on Facebook. What the messages are referring to is called "Profile Cloning," which is a form of scam used by cybercriminals to clone accounts and then trick the owners' friends into accepting a second or new friend request.
These messages started circulating after the Facebook security breach was announced, which is a perfect time for a prankster or someone who wants to create mischief to send out the messages. After hearing about a security breach, it will be easy for Facebook users to believe any messages regarding security, even if the message is true or not.
Although this Profile Cloning scam is real and it is almost virtually impossible for Facebook to stop, there is no need to spread the "Facebook Do Not Accept a New Friendship From Me" messages because they will only cause panic and confusion. To learn more about Profile Cloning, click here.
Below are samples of the messages that are circulating on the social media website.
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
Please pass it on!!!Hi....I actually got another friend request from you 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. PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT A NEW friendship FROM ME AT THIS TIME.
Please pass it on!!!
Hi....I actually got another friend request from you 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. PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT A NEW friendship FROM ME AT THIS TIME.
Heads-up!! It appears that many account are being cloned. Your picture and your name may be 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
Heads-up!! It appears that many account are being cloned. Your picture and your name may be 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
2
I received notices from a couple of friends that they had gotten “friend requests” from me. I had not sent them. I alerted several other friends that I had been hacked. Now I see that it may all be a hoax. Do I need to take any action or just ignore? Change my password?
Change your password as a precaution. There are also cloned Facebook accounts which you cannot do anything about. The scammers clone your account and send friend request from the cloned account.
