08/29/2022
PLEASE SHARE.
Everyone seems to be getting hacked or cloned and Facebook is having trouble getting a hold of the issue due to misreporting. People are confused about the difference between hacked and cloned so maybe I can help
HACKED: Someone else has logged into your account. You can tell because messages or posts are coming from your actual account and you did not send these messages or make these posts. It's important to know that you are not hacked if someone has created a new account with your name and pictures. That would be cloned which you can read about below.
HOW I GET HACKED: Someone gained access to your account with your login and password or changed your password by gaining access to a security code from your text messages or email. One common way they gain this is through a malicious link that usually comes in the form of a message from what you believe is a friend, but they have actually been hacked or cloned. This message usually has some vague reference such as "look who died" or " look, it's you in this video!", followed by a link. You click this link and are brought to a site that looks like Facebook, but says you need to log in with your email and password. One check of the web address will show you that it's not actually facebook, but a different site and when you login with your Facebook login information, the hackers now have that information and can login to your Facebook account. A new way this is happening is that a friend, or so it appears, is telling you they are locked out of their account and need you to send them your phone number or email address so they can get back into it. Then they tell you to send them the code from your phone number or email address. Keep in mind that no one can access their own account by using your phone number or email address. If someone is asking for codes from either of those, they are trying to access your account, not theirs, and this person is not your friend because they have already been hacked or cloned.
SOLUTION: If you still have access, change your password immediately before the hacker does! If you no longer have access, it's hard to get it back. Facebook likes to have a hands-off approach in this case to avoid any liability in case they lock out the actual person and grant ownership to the hacker. Your only hope is to have everyone you know report this account as "hacked" which is listed under "other" in the reporting section. It's very important that you select "hacked" and not "pretending to be someone" as that would mean someone was cloned, not hacked.
CLONED: Someone has created a new account using your name and photos. They are now sending friend requests to your friends in attempt to gain their trust by making them think they are you. You know this is the case because your friends are getting messages from this second account that you did not create and not from your current account that you still have access to. Your current account is safe for now, but we have to report the fake account or it will lead to your friend's accounts being hacked as they get a link or a code from this person they trust because they believe it's you. You can reduce the risk of this happening by hiding your friends list in the friends settings, limiting the benefit hackers would gain by cloning your account since they would not have access to your friends list.
SOLUTION: First, immediately warn all of your friends that you did not create a new account and they should not accept friend requests or messages from the new account. Then report the new account and tell all your friends to report the new account rather than block it. This is important because if they just block it then they can no longer report it. The proper way to report a cloned account is by selecting "pretending to be someone" and not "hacked".
Hope this helps someone because I had like five friends hacked yesterday.
