Facebook has only grown ever since its emergence. Along with the increase of users, the crimes committed through Facebook have also increased. Cyberbullying, spreading defamatory information & rumors, impersonating someone, etc., are done mostly through fake accounts; because those are harder to trace. To find out how to identify who’s behind a fake account, read on. In this guide, I’ll show you How Can You Find Out Who Is Behind A Fake Facebook Account?
Steps To Identify Who Is Behind A Fake Facebook Account
Owners of fake accounts tend to entertain the thought that they’re smarter than others as they think they can fool anybody. But if you’ve been using Facebook long enough, you’re likely to smell a fake account a mile away. But those who are new, here’s a handful of things you should look out for.
Inconsistent Profile Picture
You’ll notice these accounts hide behind pictures of landscapes, artworks, celebrities, or anime characters, something very vague by which you cannot confirm his identity. If it’s a profile picture of a person, there are rarely any comments from people they know. In that case, do an image search on google and see if the true owner of the image surfaces.
Different names on Profile & Profile Link
This one is a hit or miss since recent Facebook accounts seem to only have numbers in them. But you can check it through the Facebook App for mobile. Click on the profile you have your suspicions on. Then the three dots that you below their name. By tapping that, you’ll be taken to their Profile Settings page, and you can see their profile link at the bottom of the page. If they don’t match, something sure is wrong.
Photos and Posts
In the photos section of a fake profile, you’ll see no original image in which they are tagged. They talk to lots of people, but no one knows them personally; their timeline will mostly have downloaded photos, copied posts, or shared from other pages. You’ll find nothing to tie them with.
Insufficient Information
Their profile “About” will be unhelpful. It’s either gonna be empty or with unclear details that won’t add up. Or copied from a fictional character.
Friends
Having hundreds of friends from all over the world gives it away. This means they spam friend requests to people, and whoever accepts is stuck with them. You might notice that most friends of the fake accounts are also fakes, LOL.
Locked Profile
Profile locking feature was added to protect the information of Facebook users. But ironically, scammers take advantage of this setting and lock their profile, so others cannot recognize at a glance that it’s a scam profile. So, refrain from accepting a friend request from strangers with a locked profile.
How to Figure Out Who’s Behind a Fake Facebook Profile?
If you wish to know How Can You Find Out Who Is Behind A Fake Facebook Account, the process won’t be smooth sailing. Because there aren’t any head-on ways to extract fake profile holders’ real identities.
But we have discussed how you can pin down fake accounts so you can avoid interacting with them. But if you happen to get scammed by a fake Facebook account, you can choose to report the account so the support team can ban the account. Or you can file a complaint to the police; depending on the seriousness of the crime, they might be able to get legal interjections to get the IP address from the server and trace the culprit.
Or luckily, if you could get your hand on the number that the fake ID is linked to, then tracing it to the miscreant is even easier. You may also opt to use spy apps that claim to extract IP addresses just from profile IDs.
How to Report a Profile on Facebook?
Step 1: Go to the Profile that you want to report. Click on the three dots to proceed to that “Profile’s settings.”
Step 2: Select “Report Profile.”
Step 3: You’ll see a series of options, choose the category where this particular account falls, and then submit, i.e., “Fake account.”
In some cases, you may be asked to explain the situation briefly. Providing the necessary information helps the moderator team to get back to you faster. While you’re at it, also block the account to prevent further advances from that account.
FAQs On Fake Facebook Account
Not without legal mediation – you cannot. Law enforcement agencies may approach Facebook with a subpoena or a warrant to hand over that information. There’s no way around it.
When a profile has attractive photos up but cannot provide any other pics except those and avoids facetime and meeting in person, those are termed as catfishes. Designed to trick people by befriending them.
When enough people report a certain account, that account gets reviewed by the moderator team. And if proofs are found against that account, it gets removed without delay. In order for your complaint to be effective sooner, you need to be precise while reporting the violation.
A Fake account indicates a profile that’s created with a fake name, interacts under false pretenses, and is usually engaged in offensive activities, ill intentions, stalking and lurking, etc. Since people can hide their true identity, they tend to feel more confident acting out. Thus, it’s unethical to approach someone using a fake Facebook account.
You can. Download the profile picture and conduct a reverse image search on google. You can see hits on the internet of the image is downloaded and not their real picture. You might even find the actual owner of the photo.
Closing Thoughts
Our final take is that the internet is a utopia where anyone can be anything. But if someone exploits this anonymity and takes things too far, that is punishable by law. Along with reporting suspicious profiles, one should practice caution while interacting with strangers. Hopefully, the post helped you in knowing – “How Can You Find Out Who Is Behind A Fake Facebook Account?“
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