Yesterday KMOV News 4 here is St. Louis contacted me about a
local women who’s profile had been hijacked on Facebook. Her estranged husband had created a fake
Facebook account in her name and began posting inappropriate photos of her and
posting inappropriate messages on others walls.
She did not know what to do nor could the police assist. So she contacted News 4 for help. And, they in turn, contacted me about her
options.
Figure 1: Perry Interviewed on News 4
As I reveal in my interview (Link: http://bit.ly/16w31Ix) there are a
few things you can do if you find yourself in a similar situation in full or in
part.
First of all you can report any photo others are posting as
spam by simply clicking on the photo and then in the options, click “Mark as
Spam” as Figure 2 below shows.
Figure 2:
Reporting a picture as Spam.
Secondly you can mark any Facebook account as spam
also. Simply go to the Facebook page and
in the drop down click on “Report/Block.” Facebook will ask you a few other questions as
to why you are reporting the account as spam.
See Figure 3.
Figure 3:
Reporting an account as Spam.
If you find yourself being tagged in a photo that you rather
not be tagged in, you can remove that tag.
It is quite simple. All you do is
click on the picture and then click on
”Report/Remove Tag” as shown in Figure 4 below. After all, Facebook realizes that you may not
want to be tagged in that old high school picture that your best friend just
posted.
So Facebook gives you that option.
Figure 4: Untagging
yourself in a picture you were tagged in..
And do not forget that you can also remove posts others make
on your wall. After all it is your
wall. So you can remove whatever you
deem appropriate to remove. Guard your
Facebook page carefully. It is a
representation of who you are what you stand for. If someone posts something on your wall that
might be viewed by others as offensive or politically incorrect, remove
it. I monitor my Facebook wall very
carefully and do occasionally remove posts.
I take no chances. As Figure 5
below shows, if I did not like one of the posts one of my friends made
regarding a picture I posted, all I do is move my mouse over the upper right
hand corner of the post I wish to remove and click “Remove.” Not to worry, your friend will not be
notified.
Figure 5: Removing
a post made by others on your wall.
On Twitter you can also report spammers. If someone is following you that is spammy or
sending you spammy tweets I recommend you report them. Just go to their account page and click on
the drop down and select “Report for Spam.”
See Figure 6 below for how to do this.
Figure 6: Reporting
a Twitter account as spam.
To view my YouTube video of me demonstrating these features
click on the link below associated with Figure 7.
Figure 7: Facebook
Security Settings Youtube Video
Believe it or not, approximately 9% of the 1 billion
Facebook accounts are fake according to documents filed by Facebook themselves
with the Security Exchange Commission not that long ago:
- 4.8% are duplicate accounts we make for our professional and personal personas
- 2.4% are accounts we make for our dog or cat or some other non human entity
- 1.5% are created to be spammy or do malicious things
Be proactive and monitor your name usage regularly with the
help of Google Alerts. To receive
notifications anytime Google notices your name being used, set up a Google
Alert by inputting your name in quotes (see Figure 8 below).
When it shows up anywhere on the web, Google will send you an
email. This is a nice and easy way to
keep an eye on your “brand” and how it is being used
Figure 8: Using
Google Alerts to monitor your name or brand.
If you find yourself dealing with a stalker or a cyber
bully, follow these steps:
- Never engage with them online.
- Document everything they are doing by saving emails and taking screen shots of the posts they are making on Facebook
- Report them immediately to Facebook or Twitter as discussed above
- Block them from seeing your posts going forward and writing on your wall (using the Facebook Privacy Setting) or as last resort “unfriend” them.
Bottom line, be proactive.
In this new digital world we are very vulnerable to others hijacking our
personal data and personas. But we can minimize
that risk by checking our virtual presence regularly and being careful who we
friend.
I hope you find this article helpful.
