Throw scammers a curve ball: hide your Facebook friends list!

Read time: one and a half minutes

Here's a simple way to avoid a widespread Facebook scam.

"Cloned accounts" are common on Facebook. A scammer creates a new account as an exact copy of your existing profile: same name, photos, bio, etc. Then the scammer, pretending to be you, sends scam messages to your Facebook friends. The scammer hopes your friends will mistakenly believe they're talking to the "real you".

This scam is so common because Facebook's setting for "who can see my friends list?" defaults to "Public". Scammers can easily locate and send messages to all your friends.

Here's good news. You can quickly and easily prevent your profile from being cloned. Simply change the setting "Who can see my friends list?" from "Public" to "Only Me". 

Here are two ways to get to that setting's page:

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Easy: https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=how_people_find_and_contact_you

Harder: (if you're leery about clicking links):

1. Click or tap your Facebook profile photo (top right corner of screen).
2. Then "Settings and Privacy".
3. Then "Settings".
4. Scroll down (on a desktop or laptop it's on the left) to find and select "Audience and Visibility".
5. Select "How people find and contact you". 

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Now that you're on the proper page:
    6. Look for "Who can see your friends list?". 

    7. Change that setting to "Only me".

After you hide your friends list, a scammer loses all interest in cloning your account. You took away the prize they seek: the ability to message all your friends and pretend to be you. Therefore the scammer leaves you alone and seeks greener pastures elsewhere.

Bottom line: hide your friends list from public view, to stop scammers from cloning your account.

If you want to confirm whether your friends list is properly hidden, simply message us and ask "is my friends list hidden?". We will let you know, fast and free. Instant peace of mind!

The world is full of scammers! Let's make their lives more difficult by making their scams harder to pull off!