Why is it a bad idea to accept friend requests from strangers?

Accepting friend requests from strangers can increase the risk of scammers spoofing YOUR profile, collecting personal information to gain access to online accounts (like your mother’s maiden name, a common verification question used for resetting passwords), etc.

Why so many fake Facebook friend requests?

The influx of friend requests for verified users is “likely due to recent search changes” on the platform, Facebook says, which were intended to more prominently surface search results for verified accounts over unverified ones.

What is the risk of accepting a fake friend request?

When you accept an unknown friend request, you may unwittingly place your professional contacts at risk. If your Facebook friends have their account security set to show information to “Friends of Friends,” a hacker then has access to their personal data.

Are friend requests on Facebook genuine?

Requests from acquaintances of your other Facebook friends can seem perfectly legitimate, even if they’re not. All it takes is for one of your friends to accept a fake request.

What happens when I accept a friend request on Facebook?

Accepting a Friend Request means you’ll add another number to your friend count, but be cautious about who you accept, as more harm than benefit can come from doing so. The next time you receive a Friend Request, take a few minutes and do a little sleuthing before clicking on that “Accept” button.

What happens if you don’t accept a friend request on Facebook?

You can click on your Friend Requests icon. If they declined your friend request, you will see it there. If they didn’t confirm or decline your request — and your request is still out there — they didn’t accept it nor did they reject it. They’ve done nothing.

Why do I get friend requests from friends?

In short, the “duplicate” friend requests your friends are receiving aren’t duplicates at all. They are being sent from an entirely different account. What’s happening is some scammers on Facebook are cloning (i.e. making fraudulent copies) of accounts, NOT hacking the original accounts.

What happens if I accept a friend request on Facebook?

Facebook is a treasure chest of personal information. If you have a private account, when you accept a Friend Request, the information and pictures that were once restricted from public view become visible to your new “friend”.

Why did I get a friend request from someone I’m already friends with?

What does a Facebook friend request mean?

When you find someone on Facebook you’d like to add as a friend, doing so is a pretty simple task. After you send your request, a friend request is posted to the recipient’s Facebook notifications. Your prospective new friend also receives an e-mail notice with an easy link that he or she can click to respond.

How do Facebook friend requests work?

When you receive a Facebook friend request from someone and you either ignore it or delete it, the person sending it automatically becomes a ‘follower’, meaning, they see when you post something new, a photograph, comments and updated bio provided those updates are posted publicly.

Can you see rejected friend requests Facebook?

Facebook does not offer a way for you to see friend-requests that you previously rejected explicitly or deleted. If you have “following” activated, and if the person who you declined didn’t unfollow you (manually), you should find that person in your followers, from where you can send a friend request.

What happens when you accept a friend request on Facebook?

Some requests come from attackers sharing malicious links that lead to malware or phishing sites. These can end up in your Facebook News Feed after you accept their friend request. Catfishers create extremely detailed fake profiles to trick people for romantic or financial gain.

Can you spot the phonies on Facebook friends requests?

Here’s how you can spot the phonies. Fake Facebook friends requests can come for a variety of reasons — some harmless, some malicious. These are some of the types of bad actors you’re likely to encounter in your request notifications: Some requests come from attackers sharing malicious links that lead to malware or phishing sites.

Why do I keep getting friend request notifications from bad actors?

These are some of the types of bad actors you’re likely to encounter in your request notifications: Some requests come from attackers sharing malicious links that lead to malware or phishing sites. These can end up in your Facebook News Feed after you accept their friend request.