Beware of spoof/fake Facebook accounts

Malevolent forces are busy at work in Facebook.

I was informed by my niece yesterday about a fake “Ellen Tordesillas” Facebook account.

I checked it out and there it was: just my name. No photo, no post.

I have reported it to Facebook and they said they are investigating it because my account is just one of the victims. I learned that FB accounts of Al Jazeera reporter Jamela Alindogan and CGTN reporter Barnaby Lo, Maria Ressa and other Rappler reporters have also been targeted.

Fake accounts have also been created under the name of Mom Blogger Noemi L. Dado and her husband, as well as for activist Marian Roces.

Multiple fake FB accounts under the name of some members of VERA Files’ staff have also been created.

The University of the Philippines has come out with the following public advisory:

Here’s how to report an account for impersonation:

https://www.facebook.com/help/1216349518398524?helpref=hc_global_nav

A friend, whom I consider an expert on social media , said thisis called “spoofing.”

I checked out Wikipedia’s entry on Spoof.Here’s what I got:

“Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to:Forgery of goods or documents; Semen, in Australian slang; Spoof (game), a guessing game; Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets.”

It has been observed that owners of most of those spoofed are known to be critical of the Duterte administration.

In this state of emergency environment and with the spectre of the Anti-Terror law looming large, the danger that these fake accounts present is staggering.

Let’s be alert!