Facebook Now Automatically Detects Imposter Accounts
Users will be alerted if an impersonator is using their profile photo or username.
By Tom Brant •
This story originally appeared on PCMag
A feature that will automatically alert you if someone is impersonating your Facebook profile is the latest security enhancement for users of the world's largest social network. Approximately 75 percent of Facebook profiles are now automatically alerted when imposters use their profile photo and user name to create a fake account, Mashable reports.
If an imposter is detected, the system automatically alerts the real user account. That person can then flag the profile as an impersonation, and Facebook's security team is notified to delete the account.
Impersonation is not a widespread security threat for Facebook users, but women in particular are vulnerable to imposters who create fake profiles to harass them.
"[I]t's a real point of concern for some women in certain regions of the world where it [impersonation] may have certain cultural or social ramifications," Facebook's Head of Global Security Antigone Davis told Mashable.
Users don't have to wait for Facebook's algorithm to alert them to a potential imposter. If you think your account is threatened by a copycat, you can visit Facebook's reporting tool to alert the security team yourself.
Facebook is serious about security, but it's still a magnet for many different kinds of attacks, from harassment to phishing to scams. The social network's Security Checkup feature gives users some control over how much information they post is visible to others.
Still, it's not immune to users who can't resist clicking -- or don't recognize -- bad links. So if you haven't checked your Facebook security settings in a while, you should do so right now.
