imposter Facebook account

[Anonymous]

A young relative of mine (age 11) has been the victim of a prank. Apparently some schoolmate started a Facebook account in her name, and posted a very unflattering picture of her. He or she then friended about 50 of her friends, who all thought it was her.

Nothing more than that, but the relative is very hurt by all this. She isn't even on Facebook (too young) but she found out about it from friends who are and who friended her.

I see Facebook has a way to contact them to report an imposter account -- anyone have any experience with doing this? Will they remove the account? Any way to learn who did this?

[Anonymous]

How cruel. Sorry, I don't have answers. Just sympathy for your niece.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks. Ah, it's getting worse... the imposter is apparently posting all over other kids' (boys') walls, the sort of stuff you'd expect. All the girls are trying to figure out who it is -- I imagine Monday in school will be nuts.

I know kids can be impulsive at this age and can be cruel as well. Apparently this kind of thing happens a lot with Facebook. And keeping your child off won't solve anything -- probably better to let your kid get an account early and establish turf! (or just avoid it altogether)

[Anonymous]

Can she report it to the school? I wonder if this comes under some sort of bullying policy.

[Anonymous]

Seems like Facebook basically doesn't care, and wouldn't report the name of the person who create dthe false facebook account. Might delete the account.

Also sounds like this is VERY common.

http://indigic.com/social-web/how-serious-is-facebook-about-reporting-a-fake-profiles-or-impersonation/

[Anonymous]

OP, report it to Facebook or ask your relative's parents to report it to Facebook. Facebook's Terms of Service require that users be at least 13 years old (not that that stops anyone, but still). Tell them the account in question is 1) an imposter account, and 2) an imposter account for an 11-year-old. They should remove the account within a few days. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks! They don't actually have proof that the person who created the account is under age 13; they don't know who it is. Whoever created the account filled in a birthdate that I assume is fake (person would be 23 years old I think). But we'll see what happens.

[Anonymous]

OP,

Her relatives should tell the school.
The age requirement is not the issue here. You are only supposed to create an account for yourself. If this person is 13, it's still colossally wrong.
School authorities should study the activity before Facebook closes down the account, to identify students and educate them on being good digital citizens.

[Anonymous]

This happened to a friend of mine--and we are in our 30s. It was very creepy. Someone created an account with the photo of her from her office site, began friending her friends and sending strange messages asking for odd details. She contacted FB many times and explained that she was being stalked. They took it down, but it took several months.
So sorry. I agree that it likely comes under school bullying policies, if they can discern who it is.

[Anonymous]

Report the fake profile and TALK TO THE TEACHER and PRINCIPAL first thing in the morning on Monday.

This is unacceptable!

[Anonymous]

Don't you have to file an email address to open a FB account? FB should be able to track this. And yes, yes, yes report to the school. Perhaps the friends who are on there can do some sleuthing to help find out who it is. Kids are notorious for running their mouths and find there's no fun in doing pranks if you can't get credit for it. Someone will say something eventually and get caught. I just hope it's sooner rather than later for your niece's sake.

Larger issue - why are 50 of your niece's friends even on Facebook at age 11 ?!

[Anonymous]

OP, I don't know anything about FB, so sorry if these suggestions are completely stupid and would never work... Is there any way to print a FB page? What I mean is, is it possible to get a copy of what is being sent out before it's deleted so that you can show it to the school if you get the FB people to delete it tonight? It is obviously bullying and I suspect the school will take it very seriously. I agree with PPs that FB can probably trace the 11yo who started it without much trouble, but if it is taken down the school will never see it. You want it down ASAP, but you also want the administration to see what you are talking about. Anyway, maybe someone who knows FB can figure out how to do that. I'm so sorry kids can be so horrible to each other. Hope these kids are punished severely and that your niece feels better soon!

[Anonymous]

just take screen shots and send to the principal by email.

[Anonymous]

After that stuff that happened a few years ago, contact everyone, police(file a report, that other little girl killed herself) Facebook, the school, the school district, the board of education, the Washington post(maybe they would like to do a story and put pressure n FB), SA office, and a lawyer. Tell them you have filed a police report and make them do something. Make a big stink and scare some peole into action. You can also hack into the Facebook account or pay someone to do it. It is not hard.

[Anonymous]

http://www.google.com/search?q=hacking+into+facebook&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari