How to Avoid the Cloning Scam That's Popping Up on Facebook

Scams on the internet are nothing new, but they do become more sophisticated every now and then. One rising scam on Facebook uses your profile photo and identity to steal money from your friends and family.

The scam works like this: Someone steals your profile picture, name, and anything else on your profile that describes who you are. They use that information to create an entirely new profile and send friend requests to anyone who was previously your friend. Once your friends accept, the scammer will then chat them up on Messenger and ask for money. An example of what it can look like (but not always) is below.

Of course, you can take several steps to stop this from happening. First, you can review your privacy settings on Facebook using the website's "privacy checkup" feature. You can also start to think more carefully about what you post on Facebook (and social media) to prevent any of this from happening.

The lesson here: always be careful of what you post and who you agree to send money to on the internet.