Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter
Question from Kristin: A Facebook friend got a fake friend request from me and simply deleted it.
Do these fake requests always involve a duplicate account?
I searched my name and only found my legitimate account. How can I find the fake one?
Thanks,
Kristin
Rick’s answer: Kristin, that duplicate friend request either came from a fake clone account (which is what happens in 99.5% of these cases) or someone hacked into your real account and sent the request from there.
Here’s how to quickly rule out the possibility that the friend request came from your real account…
Check to see if the person that received the friend request is still on your Facebook “Friends List”.
If so, that means the friend request couldn’t have possibly been sent from your real account because Facebook won’t send a friend request to someone who is already on your Friends list.
In fact, there won’t even be an “Add Friend” button available to click on.
Here’s the most likely explanation for why you couldn’t find the fake clone account via a search…
You said you typed your name into the Facebook search box and only found your real account.
In that case the most likely explanation is one (or more) of your other friends also received fraudulent friend requests from the clone account and reported it to Facebook, who then removed the fake account before you did your search.
The time it takes for a reported account to be removed varies greatly depending on several factors (and some accounts are never removed). Although they are rarely that prompt, some fake accounts are actually removed within minutes of Facebook receiving the report. I’m thinking that’s what happened here.