Yesterday, thousands of Filipino Facebook users were stunned. All across the Philippines, a lot of Facebook accounts have been cloned into blank dummy/duplicate accounts by an unknown source. I myself has been a victim of it and my account was cloned 15 times yesterday. It was a very big news on the headline around the country. Mass reporting happened until my cousin messaged me something that shocked and bothered me at the same time. A cloned account did not just have my name on it but it even stole an old photo of me as the profile picture, added flags as cover banner photo, an account that that very much would look like one that I own, but is not mine. My friends and students helped me report the account but it took more than 24 hours before it thankfully got turned down (as far as we know). I was not able to see it using my profile because the perpetrator even blocked me so I wont be able to see him/her. Scary!
With this, with a heavy heart, I had to take down my personal blog for the meantime for security. It's a very scary situation I would never wanna be in, especially with the newly made law in our country that you can be tagged as a person or terror and be arrested right away even without a warrant if you speak against or critic the government via social media.
The world is getting more and more crazy. Please secure your Facebook accounts and all your social media accounts. Sorry for the late responses on my end and I feel sad to not be able to visit your blogs yesterday! Will do a lot of catching up.
Oh dear ~ sorry to hear of your FB situation ~ there are some vicious people out there ~ ~ will need to check mine ~ world has gone mad ~
ReplyDeletelots of Xox from me and Zoe ^_^
Be Safe, Be Well,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Thank you so much dear Carol and yes please, secure your Facebook accounts especially some personal info which can be viewed as public, make sure you make them "friends only". Love the hugs dear Carol! Happy New Week!
DeleteThat sucks :-( I did wonder what happened to your other blog. There are so many cruel people in the world and I think the internet makes things easier for them :-(
ReplyDeleteI don't have any social media. Just my 2 blogs and my own site that is linked to my blogs and has basic html *blushes*.
Take care and lots of hugs from Scotland.
You said it Ananka! With the internet especially Facebook which is so popular in the Philippines, it's get more easier for them to infiltrate people and spread fake news. and now fake accounts! Its so sad to take down my blog from the domain as of now but when all gets more stable, I'll bring it back :)
DeleteNow I envy you not having social media :( I will shift to that soon too my friend. Just need to sort some things out until it gets stable and ill start deactivating my accounts too. Blogging is best :)
Big hugs from the Philippines Ananka!
I think I am one of the few that don't have a FB account! Managed to live my life happily without it ;-)
DeleteYeah so much fake news these days for sure :-(
Blogging is best for sure. I know with my type of blogs, Instagram would be ideal but I really don't want to join it and I enjoy blogging and have a lot of different people I follow - not just nail polish or makeup! I don't think I will ever have social media.
Thanks :-D
Steve, that is scary. I do wonder what those weirdos do it for.
ReplyDelete"Back then" people hacked to proof they can do it, like, "hey, hire me, I can use my powers for you!
Not nice but made sense..... a bit.
Now I had this one stupid guy who kept posting/programming to post the same text of "baby boomers" on so many blogs over and over again. "Hello dumb-brain, I see that and delete it. And I say nothing to you!" Well, now he/she got some "attention" after all.
What for? Are people that bored? That dumb? That aggressive? Mean?
You can get arrested for not being aware your hacked account is online, help!!!!
These are weird times.
I hope all is OK for you again... "Boy-oh-boy"! Or, as my Grandma would´ve said, "achoi, achoi". We should feel sorry for such dumb people and be thankful we know what to do with our brain.
Dear Iris! A big yes yes yes to all that you have said! I do agree on how hackers before can only display how good they are but now, they do it for a living infiltrating systems and people the like! But that 'boomers' person oh my Iris! I got posted by that guy like 4-5 times! It's just so surprising that most of us in our circle are aware of it, I saw that Margaret of Life in NZ also had them based on her comment's welcome message.
DeleteUghhhh here has been a very crazy place to live in dear Iris. So we here have to be extra careful even on social media because it gets too scary.
yes! gladly we know how to use our time and efforts and as you said it our brains! Happy New Week dear!
I hate to hear about this too. I hope you alright and can figure out how to stay safe! I hope you'll keep us updated too! Take care!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Diane, that is so nice of you to say. I sure will and i really hope that now it seems that my impersonator has been taken down that it will stop making new accounts again. have a great week ahead Diane!
DeleteOh nooo, Stevenson, that's happened a few times to family members on FB. It happened to a FB account I keep for my mother too and complaining to Facebook didn't seem to do anything.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a massive scale, what's wrong with these people, this is what they do with their time? Someone messed with Chrome and I can't use it anymore and haven't been able to totally root it out of my computer to reinstall.
Hang in there, my friend.
I wouldn't even know how to take down my blog without deleting it.
Oh Jeanna it sucks that your family members have also been thruogh such despair. It might just be an empty profile with just my photo and name but still it's nerve-wracking to think that it might be used to post bad things on pages or used to exploit other people with my face and name on it.
DeleteThank you so much dear Jeanna and now I am in the process of leaving facebook. I'm taking it step by step because it sure is unsecured now with their reporting systems being very unreliable on top of unreliable account creation requirements.
Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Regine!
DeleteTimes are crazy online. I left FB behind 2 years ago and haven't missed it one bit. I have my blog and website and they have been fine. Occasional spam but that's it. I saw that you could be arrested without a warrant. I'm sure some innocent person will caught in that web. How terrible! Add this problem to the virus and you must be careful. Stay safe and keep us informed.
ReplyDeleteOh my friend Bill, I might be following you anytime soon away from FB. I really think my blog and website is also enough for me to express my 'socials' and thoughts. My friends would miss my updates though but they can visit my blog or see me in person I guess HAHA
Delete...I'm happy to not be a FB user!!!
ReplyDeleteI very much understand that now Tom :)
DeleteI am so sorry this happened to you...it is kind of scary.
ReplyDeleteIt really is dear Rose. I wasn't able to sleep to be honest, not until it was brought down 36 hours after I found out.
DeleteThe CEO of facebook is enthralled with trump and orange power, I fear. I took my account down entirely, not using messenger or instagram or anything associated with ZUCK.Before i quit, I sent messages to all of my most important connections and relatives with my email address. Facebook is becoming a tool for bots and hackers,I am sorry that that happened to you, take it as fair warning. It is likely to get much worse. It is not the vehicle for friendship that it started out to be.
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much Linda and it really was a big eye-opener for me. I really have to leave it as soon as I can. Had to say goodbye to a lot of memories stored on it but I'd always choose safety. You are so right, even WhatsApp I found out was under facebook. Ughhh it's hard to take that they agree to use such a positive platform into something destructive to society.
DeleteInfelizmente é um dos riscos que corremos.
ReplyDeleteUm abraço e boa semana.
Andarilhar
Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
O prazer dos livros
Isso é verdade, meu amigo. Lição aprendida para mim!
DeleteMuito obrigado e um abraco meu amigo!
So sad to hear!People can be so mean!Uff..
ReplyDeleteHope all will be good for you very soon :)))
You said it dear Anita! It was both scary and made me so angry!
DeleteThank you so much my friend and wishing you a great week ahead!
Wow, that was scary Stevenson. I do hope those crooked people get caught eventually.
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting to go off Facebook for a while, just picking up the courage to do that :)
Keep safe and have a great week.
We are very much the same Sami hahahaha it was hard for me to imagine how life would be without FB but I guess it really is better without it, especially now that it is clearly being used by propagandas and such. Have a great new week Sami!
DeleteDefinitely a scary experience, and I guess none of us are immune - I am still on FB, but don't use my account much, which is under an assumed name, and also don't have my own photo on there, only my cards!
ReplyDeleteStay safe
Blessings
Maxine
Hello dear Maxine! Oh that is a great practice Maxine. I'm thinking if I'm not gonna be on Facebook,, at least I'll make one with an assumed name just to use messenger in getting in touch with my friends and family :)
DeletePlease stay safe too!
I am I hope I am careful about Internet security but I also see that many people think " It can't happen to me".
ReplyDeleteA big yes to that Phil! I myself thought I was extra careful with data and stuff but oh my, there really will be people taking the extra mile to perpetrate. Stay safe my friend!
Delete