ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) — There are billions of fake Facebook profiles out there, but Jamey Tucker says there are some things you can do to protect your account.

About 5% of all Facebook profiles are cloned or fakes. In 2024, Facebook, or Meta, removed over two million cloned and fake accounts.

If it’s happened to you, about all you can do is report it to Facebook and warn your friends. But there are things you can do to keep it from happening.

The crooks take someone’s profile photo, posts, and friends list to clone their account. At first glance, it looks legitimate, so someone accepts a new friend request. And when enough friends accept the same request, it snowballs. 

The scammer then has access to all of those friends accounts. Sure, the crook may ask you for money, send scammy messages, but they will also see everything you post and be notified when you post something new. 

But you can protect yourself. Check your privacy settings. If your friends list is public, scammers can see everyone you’re connected with. Change this to “Only Me” or “Friends.” Then, and this is important, go to your followers and remove people you don’t know. If someone sends you a friend request, and you don’t accept it, they’re still following you. And I guarantee you have some followers you don’t know.

Finally, limit who can send you friend requests. The default is “everyone,” but switching it to friends of friends can stop fakes before they start.

If your account is cloned, chances you won’t even know. Scammers often block the person they’re impersonating. And no, changing your password won’t help. It’s identity theft using information that’s already public. 

According to the Federal Trade Commission, social media scams were responsible for nearly $2 billion in losses in 2024.