DR. FIAZ MAQBOOL FAZILI
Why It Is a Bad Idea to Add Strangers as Friends on social networks like facebook, X(twitter) Whatsap etc ?The problem of fake profiles on these sites is gradually revealing the dark side of social networking .Accepted a facebook friend request recently from someone you don’t actually know? Did you do it because you have a ton of mutual friends (or because he or she’s a celebrity….)? It might look something like thiS.You just fell victim to the recent wave of digital spam – a fake profile. –——-says Fiaz Fazili
A few days ago I got a facebook friend request with greetings message, Mubarik “ Add as a friend—Hina Khan (real name obscured) .’’Respond to friend requests –Confirm it”. I did not know HK . It’s not the first time anyone has tried to friend me on FB from what appears to be a fake profile.? The moment you receive a friend request from a celebrity of fame like “Ms.HK”, definitely for a moment you can’t totally escape some sort of jitters. Decades back…. “ Add as a Friend”- a candid request like this from any high profile-celebrity to me,it would be crazy not to be a friend with types of famous people such as artists like Sharukh , tennis star Ms.Mirza or a charismatic Ms HK..,who recentlyattracted unprecedented media attention about her looks and sense of style to top the digital media as well Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus – everything was abuzz with Ms.HK .Then you remember the last friend request from Mr. RUM ( the charismatic leader now a days in news of controversy , that you never accepted because of fear was another fake profile. Declining -a friendship request message from a personality like Mrs.HK, who has a prominent profile in the media and is easily recognized — Why not? Apart from your religious motivations realizing that every form of communication, from regular post- office mail to e-mail, chat and others, is subject to fraud and scams .Working with checklists in my profession have taught me to follow the routines of “ABC..,..if you want to avoid gross errors. Checking the FB profile of this request, I found exactly what I expected to find . This profile was almost certainly set up by someone out to steal something, and who has probably set up dozens of such scam profiles all over socailnetwork.Backtracking, checking on myself my own displayed FB profile, a nicely tailored one for socio-religious blogging displaying nothing impressive which could have been an irresistible attraction for any high profile celebrity like Ms.HK. Even my old “Techfit ,” -style college photographs compared to conventional sportswear tagged onto me by my naughty friends were missing .Taking this “Add as a friend ,”request a Satanic Devil Trap –could be a FB “hacker.”Result- a convincing fake identity to trick you into accepting their friend request., who is trying to add(trick) you as a friend. I said,”Excuse me- Thanks for the friend request-yeh rishta phir kabhi…”
Social networking sites are being targeted by spammers at an alarming rate. Various virus writers as well as cybercriminals are using the creation of these particular ghost accounts of high profile celebrities or fake identity of an attractive face to their advantage.Moments like this reveal that we can be too trusting of a simple profile with a high pretty face or we get readily swayed by requests from imposters of high profile celebrity.FB is the one site on the internet that is probably the most used. It has recently been discovered that over forty percent of new social networking profiles are actually fake.We all want more friends, but actual people who are legitimate net users… and it’s also nice to have met them in person before. That’s my general rule of thumb also when accepting any friend request: have you met this person in “real-life” before? If yes, accept. If not, then forget it. They are most likely scammers, phishers, or some other form of identity thieves.Using a fake name or operating under a false identity is a violation of social networking policy. The site also has systems in place to flag or block potential fake accounts.The fake profiles are generally set up by a combination of either spammers or various malware and virus writers. One of the many tactics which are used is to persuade users to visit the fake profile page. This is achieved either by sending a friend request or sending a personal message.Conclusion—next time before adding any celebrity or unknown sender as a friend ,remember the new spam of fake profiles posing as friends so choose your friends carefully on social networks. ….
Author is a Surgeon at Mubarak hospital, Healthcare policy analyst, Certified Professional in Quality improvement in Hospitals can be reached at drfiazfazili@gmail.com
