You know that old saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t.”
When it comes to false friends or identities with absent, spurious, or fake credentials, the same proverb applies to social media, notably Facebook. “If the account identity cannot be verified, it probably isn’t for real.”
There are many people who will use various tactics, some deceptive and questionable, often using what is familiar to you, to gain your confidence. Alternatively, there are also those who, by acts of commission or omission (So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17), provide little to no information to verify the authenticity of their identity. Both scenarios can create a danger to your online security.
A profile that is not clearly identified with the user or entity (person, place, company, or organization) is both spurious and suspicious, perhaps even unethical, but also a violation of Facebook’s Community Standards.
This article is about staying safe, protecting yourself from the dangers of false identities on social media. (This article is an expansion of an idea and previous post from 2014, Social Media 101: False Friends, Fake Identities, and Social Media Safety.)
