Getting Rid of the Other You on Facebook

There are a lot of people on social media these days, but not everyone is comfortable enough with it to know how to do even the simplest things, let alone survive a hack attack by someone who pretends to be them.

I have now been cloned at least 3 times on Facebook.  While I had seen it happen to others, and knew enough to report the fake friend requests when I saw them, I do remember freaking out a bit the first time it happened to me.

Recently, I was happily sitting at the computer, taking a webinar, and keeping an eye on the goings on on Facebook at the same time.  I left the house for about half an hour, and when I came back there were numerous notifications from my Facebook friends who wanted me to know they had received friend requests from me,  and since they were already on my friend list, they were sure I was being impersonated. My immediate response was to ask them to report the fake.  Of course, some had no idea how to do that, and others had already deleted the request, so I'm going to walk you through how to handle this problem if you ever see it, or if it happens to you.  You might want to bookmark this particular blog.

If you are the person who's account is being duplicated, first ask your friends to report the fake account rather than just deleting the friend request.  They can do that by clicking on the name of the person requesting friendship, and then, once on their page, they simply click the three little dots  up next to Message, on the right hand side of the Cover Photo,and that will produce a drop down box.  The report button is there.

Also, get someone to send you a link to the fake person's page.  It will look like your page, but won't have as many friends yet. Click on those same three dots, and report the creep yourself.  What both you and your friend want to do, is Report Profile.

After clicking the Continue button, you will be given a range of choices.  The second choice, "They're pretending to be me or someone else I know," works best if the perpetrator is pretending to be you.  Others might be better off clicking on the "This is a fake account," since the previously mentioned choice tends to ask who they are pretending to be.  It's much easier to say "Me" than to name the person being cloned, as both the real and the fake account have the same name attached and you don't want the real account to be eliminated accidentally.

Once the reports go in, especially if you are reporting that it is you, yourself who is being duplicated, the Facebook staff will quickly pull the plug on the imposter.  They take these things seriously and act very quickly.

I hope I've been able to help some of you, as I'm seeing this happening more and more often lately. Another friend just sent out a warning today to ignore any strange friend requests.  Once these people get your friend to accept them, they start sending private messages, and sooner or later, they try to pull a scam.  Pulling their plugs as quickly as possible is the safest way to proceed.

Good luck, and play safe.

It Happens Everyday

Valentines Day was a bit different this year. While went to a new local restaurant for a treat, someone else decided to do a bit of splurging, using my VISA card.  They apparently purchased a piece of jewelry for over $700.  They also paid for a credit check through Trans Union.

When I noticed these strange charges on our account I called my hubby right away. I didn't want him to try to get gas on the way home from work only to discover his credit card was refused. He is the primary card holder, so I figured he was the one who would have to call VISA.  He did that, and was told that it was actually my card that had been used for these fraudulent purchases, and so I would have to call in too.

When I called I found out that whoever was using my card had also tried for something worth over $2000. The VISA people knew these charges were not mine, and had already locked down the card. This particular card was originally obtained to make online purchases with. It has a very low limit, so when thing like this happen they don't go through and we don't have to worry much.  I hardly ever use the credit card myself.  I can count on the fingers of one hand how many businesses I used it for this past year...or ever, for that matter.  It was really easy for the VISA people to spot this fraud and put an end to it. They cancelled my card that day, and my new one has just now arrived.

In the meantime, I didn't like the idea of someone getting their hands on my personal information through Trans Union, so I placed a call to them to let them know what had happened.  Firstly off, let me say that their phone system is extremely confusing. It's an automated system but the recording does not give you a chance to have the options repeated. I dialed several times while trying to figure out what button to push next.

When I finally reached humans, they were heavily accented, spoke quickly and were hard to understand. They asked a lot of personal questions to verify my identity. I actually started to wonder how I could verify theirs! Anyway, I was told that there was no activity under my name but urged to put a warning on my account ($5 for 6 years). That would require them to contact me before giving out a credit report to anyone asking for it. For this service I would have to come up with another credit card number, since my VISA was cancelled.  Though I didn't feel comfortable with that idea, I was forwarded to that department.

At last I had an English speaking person, or at least one that spoke with no accent, but he seemed to have difficulty understanding that I just wanted to make sure my information had not been sent out to someone else.  I finally discovered that my credit card had been used, to the tune of $19.95,  to order information on someone named Robert Banks.  They asked if I knew him and when I said no.

I was then forwarded to a supervisor in the expedited section. He confirmed that my own info had not been accessed and that Robert Burns was likely a victim of fraud too.  He put locks on both the account that had been created, and though I told him that my credit card had been cancelled, he also cancelled it at his end, so it could never be used again.

One would think this would be the end of the story, but even after my hubby had been able to make a purchase at the drug store last weekend, his card was refused the next time he tried to use it.  The bank could see no reason for that, as there appeared to be plenty of room for the transaction to go through.  Another series of calls to VISA indicated that though the Valentines Day splurge had been stopped, that $700 charge had not yet been cleared from the system and any further purchases would have put him over the limit.  It was frustrating not being able to see when it was cleared and resulted in another embarrassing moment when the card was turned down again, even after being told that it would be okay to use by then. 

I don't know why it took so long to clear that one charge, as the company who made the sale even called me at one point. They asked if I'd bought something from them, and I told them I had not.  I had never heard of this company, but apparently they are down in New York someplace.  I imagine that they lost the item they sold, and are out the money for it.

One thing I'm glad of is that we do have this "little" card, which is used primarily for online purchases and buying gas.  Who knows how much damage could have been done if it had of been one of our other credit cards that had been compromised.  I had asked the VISA people if they could tell where the card number had been stolen from.  The lady said that scammers spend all day finding ways to get these numbers, and sometimes they even just make them up. The person that called about the jewelry purchase knew my name and my phone number, so I don't imagine the card number was picked out of a hat on this occasion.  When looking at the places I've used the card, I've come up with my own idea of where the number was obtained.  I have, several times over the past years, used the Walmart photo centre to order prints.  I place the order online, and pick it up when I go to in that direction.  Last summer there was a data breach that involved Walmart Canada's Photocentre Website. I suspect the crooks have been sitting on a pile of numbers, just waiting to use them.  If you used that service during the period between June 2014 and July 2015, you could also still be at risk. Keep an eye on your credit card statements, and if  you have not changed your password on the Walmart site, I suggest you do so.  They are thinking of opening the site up again soon.

Be Cool about Cold Calls

I often hear people complaining about telemarketers. They don't want the product, but for some reason listen to the spiel.  Then they seem to try to justify why it is that they don't want to buy whatever is being offered at this time. That's two mistakes right off the bat.

In my youth was once a door to door sales person for a short time. Before being put on the street to deal with the public, I was trained in how not to take no for an answer. If you had an excuse for why you didn't want what I was offering you, you were just giving me more to work with.  I was not a scam artist, but apparently the company I was working for at the time was not a legitimate one. They cleaned out their offices and disappeared before I was able to collect my pay.

Telemarketers are today's door to door sales people. They get to call on a lot more people in less time because they never have to leave their chair.

There are a few things I'd like you to remember, when dealing with the telemarketers. Firstly, please remember, these are just people doing a job so they can eat.  I think you have to really need a job to accept one at a call centre. Where else could you work where you would be submitted to such abuse?

Secondly, since they always identify themselves, right off the bat, you know from that moment on whether you are interested in the product or  not. If you are not interested, just say so and hang up. These people are likely paid according to how many calls they complete, and like I said, they need the money. There is no need to be abusive, but there is also no need to listen to what they have to say when you don't want to.  I simply say, "I'm not interested, thanks," and then I hang up. I do not engage them in conversation, or offer any excuse as to why I don't want their product. If the same company calls more than once, ask to be taken off the call list.  By law. they must comply.

Thirdly, just remember that the phone is there for your convenience. If a call isn't convenient to you, don't bother answering it. If you do answer it, to make the darn thing stop ringing, quickly state that you aren't interested, and hang up!  There is no need to frustrate either yourself or the person on the other end. It's much easier to put a receiver down on it's cradle than it is to shut a door, especially if a salesperson has his foot in the doorway.

If  you must amuse yourself, ask a question. It's sometimes fun to throw them off their spiel, just to see if they know anything about the product other than what they are reading.  But really, there is no reason to be rude.  We all need to eat, and at least these people are doing their best to earn a living. For that, you should be grateful.