A 2012 report from Zdnet indicates that fake Facebook profiles are 97% likely to claim to be women, who average have 726 Facebook friends compared to the legit user average of 130 Facebook friends. 58% of the fake accounts also claim to be interested in men and women vs. 6% of legit account holders.
3 Questions That Arise From This Story
1. Should you be sad that the fake person is able to make more Facebook friends than you? Of course not, because you have no way of knowing if their 726 facebook friends are also fake! Then again, do you really know that your 130 Facebook friends are real people and they’re not all ghosts like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense?
2. “I use my bank PIN number as my Facebook account password. Should I accept this Facebook friend request from this girl who looks like a stripper, who I’ve never met?” We’d say no, but you sound like one of those people who use 6-9-6-9 as your PIN number, which is reportedly one of the 10 most popular PIN numbers, so someone’s probably gonna steal your money no matter what you do. Especially since you started banking at Sixty Ninth Bank (totally unaffiliated with Fifth Third Bank.)
3. “I’m creating a fake Facebook account. Would indicating I’m a man with 130 Facebook friends be a good way to steal people’s identities? P.S. That was rhetorical, I already created a fake identity and stole your 130 friends while you were reading this. Yes, even your friends from grade three are coming to your Nutritional Supplement Pyramid Scheme party at your house that I’m borrowing tonight since you just updated your status to check into your Gullible’s Anonymous meeting tonight.”
