In the world of the Internet, where electronic media have dominated communication and direct contact is becoming increasingly indirect, things are undergoing radical changes and fraud is becoming a dominant phenomenon. People of all ages have personal accounts on social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) and participate in public blogs and forums, while daily encountering new individuals through these platforms, engaging in conversations and exchanging personal information such as photos, residential details, age, and more.
But what if the bill is fake? What steps should be taken when we receive friend requests and how can we tell if they are 'fishing' profiles with the intention of extracting personal data from us?
Calm down! A fake profile has all those elements that can reveal it! What are they?
Below we have written down the 6 signs that indicate whether a profile is a scam. Let's look at them in detail.
1) Search for profile name in Google: the user we are investigating may be registered on other pages or profiles, so a search will show us the relevant results. Similarly, on a public profile or blog, the search will have to do with further information about the content.
2) Update updates: if there are few or no publications and even infrequent updates, then this is suspicious. The parameter here is particularly applicable to blogs that are constantly updated on topics of varied subject matter.
3) Mutual Friends: The question of why we have a new request can be answered by whether there are common friends among us. But in a fake account those are usually zero or sometimes very few for the so called ¨exploitation¨.
4) Photos: The number of photos play a very important role. When there are very few photos in a profile and the same person is not always depicted, then the conclusion is self-evident. Also, we can search on Google if the photo of the suspect profile is depicted somewhere and where it is stolen from.
5) Friends' Comments: most of the time those who create fake accounts keep it hidden even from their close ones. Therefore, interaction in comments and posts is minimal.
6) Publications: We look for his/her publications and interests through previous notifications. If most of them are articles from another page, then it is definitely a negative indicator.
You don't need to be a hacker or a detective to uncover a fake profile. It simply requires a bit of observation and self-control before clicking the accept button on a profile. By adding someone as a friend on Facebook, you automatically allow them into your personal life, and it wouldn't be right or safe to do so with someone you don't know.