A Laverton woman has become a victim of identify theft after a fraudster set up a Facebook page impersonating her.
Ann Marie Harris, an advocate for people with disabilities, became alarmed when the culprit used her full name and photos, and began contacting her friends in an apparent bid to extort money.
Her correspondence to Facebook administrators went unanswered.
The imposter even used an identical cover shot of Ms Harris and other people with visual impairments and their guide dogs.
Ms Harris said she discovered the fraudulent page through her Facebook friends, more than a quarter of whom accepted a ‘friend’ request from the fake account.
“It’s pretty low, actually,” Ms Harris said. “I think they’re doing it for money … asking people to give over their bank account details.
“I have no idea why they targeted me. I’ve got high security on my account and I don’t let anyone in unless I know of them. I actually feel terrible and scared.
“I sent Facebook notes, saying someone’s hacked in to my account, and I haven’t received anything back.
“I want to warn the public to be careful and urge Facebook to get better at dealing with hacking.
“The person has used photos of me. There were old photos and I don’t know how they got them.”
Star Weekly last week contacted Facebook about the fake account.
On Monday, a Facebook spokeswoman said the imposter account had been disabled for violating standards.
“Facebook is based on a real-name culture and it is a violation of our policies, that everyone agrees to when they sign
up to use Facebook, to hold a fake account or operate under a false identity,” she said.
“We encourage people to report anyone they think is operating under a false identity, either through the report links we provide on the site or through the contact forms in our help centre.”
Facebook urges people to investigate before accepting a ‘friend’ request from someone with whom they are already friends. People should be suspicious if told that they have to submit money to receive a prize. More tips can be found on the Facebook security page: www.facebook.com/security
Goya Dmytryshchak
