“Hi….I actually got another friend request from you which I ignored so you may want to check your account. Hold your finger on the message until the forward button appears…then hit forward and all the people you want to forward too….I had to do the people individually. PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT A NEW friendship FROM ME AT THIS TIME.”

So goes the statement which you might have received from a friend or two. This message started going viral this week and for a good reason. Those who started this chain of message are taking advantage of the recent Facebook blunder when users who used the “view as” tab were exposed to hacking. That event created a paranoia effect from people and were easily duped to this kind of message, not to mention the fact that when it started spreading friends and relatives who believed it started sharing, thus, people would think it came from a reliable source.

It is Another Facebook Hoax

However, such message is just a hoax and it is called Facebook cloning. Although there is no direct effect to your Facebook account it is causing widespread fear and paranoia. Especially so that the message hints that your account was cloned.

What to do when you receive this message?

When you receive this message you don’t have to do anything! Just delete it and go on with your day. First of all if your photo was uploaded somewhere else, Facebook would alert you, thanks to their face recognition technology. That alone would warn you if your photo was used to create another account or if it was uploaded by someone else even if they aren’t your friends on Facebook.

Piece of Advice

With the proliferation of chain messages, hoaxes and hacks, it is best to follow the adage “think before you click” or research before you share, take everything you see online with a grain of salt lest you want to be an accomplice to the spreading of such.