Being present on social networks, such as Instagram, Facebook and X, also involves the risk of seeing copies of your profile appear, sometimes indistinguishable from the original. These cloned accounts are not a marginal discomfort but a potential vehicle of IT scams made to the detriment of other users using our image. And be careful: the growing phenomenon of Social Clicon account It is not just a problem of influencers and public characters. Even “common” users more and more often have to deal with cloned accounts, in full or, much more often, in part. The goal of those who set up these fakes can be of various kinds: trick our contacts, collect Personal information, spread manipulatory messages or exploit our identity For not very transparent activities.
Just think that according to some statistics more than 1 in 10 Italians came across at least once in a fake account that used their name or images. Therefore, these are not isolated cases: cybersiculia experts, like Riccardo Meggiato, say they receive dozens of reports every week. Given the diffusion of the phenomenon, we therefore see How to defend yourself from the phenomenon of social clones account.
How the cloning of social media is and how widespread it is
Before seeing some defense strategy, it is essential to understand the Below of the problem and the Methods with which accounts are cloned. Regarding the first point, already in 2022 a Censis – Deepcyber report, supported the following:
At 10.7% (of Italian users, editor’s note) it happened to discover on social account fakes with their name, identity or photos, at 20.8% of receiving requests for money from people known on the web, 17.1% of entertaining online relationships with people proposed with false identity.
These statistical data find full reflected in the words of Riccardo Meggiatofounder of the Meggioggiolab, a company known in the sector of security and digital forensic science. The cybersicacy expert, in an interview with the Corriere della Seraadmitted that every week plus 30 reports from as many users concerned about the cloning of their account come to his company. In explaining how the cloning is perpetrated, Meggiato said:
There are two types of attacks: the -like el ‘intrusion. In the first case the accounts are almost similar to the original profile: the username remains the same, the nickname changes, even just a character. Intrusion, on the other hand, is the complete possession of the Instagram profile: this occurs less often because it is a more expensive practice for scammers. It can cost up to 5,000 euros. The favorite targets are those of users who have not activated double factor authentication and who can earn more than what is spent on the practice (such as, for example, the sex-workers and trader online).
How to protect yourself from the phenomenon of the cloning of the account
It is possible defend themselves from the phenomenon of the cloning of their social accounts? Yes, even if adopting the precautions we are about to list does not mean eliminating any risk. The good practices you should adopt are the following:
- Activate two factors authentication: This system requires not only the password but also a second temporary code to access. And speaking of the latter, make sure that the code is delivered to you through authentication app (such as Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator), given that SMS are generally less sure.
- Use safe passwords: It is better that they are long, variable and difficult to associate with common words. So, no “123456”, Which is still the most popular password in the world today. Incredible, but true!
- Share less private information: The more public you will make public, the more information may be used by computer criminals to clone your account and impersonate your identity.
- Do not underestimate the phenomenon: Remember that whoever It can become a target of cloning. Including you. There is no need to have thousands of followers to attract attention: what matters for scammers is the possibility of using your identity to achieve their shady goals.
How to recognize a cloned account
The phenomenon of cloned accounts does not affect only the owners of the profiles that are actually targeted by the IT criminals, but also all those who “orbit” around them. Just to say: if they clon the account of your friend and you start interacting with this, you could run a not indifferent danger. Here Recognize a cloned account It is fundamental. To do this, pay attention to some possible alarm bells.
Just to say: an inconsistent biography, which does not reflect the personality of the person for whom the account is passed off should make you suspicious. Direct messages (DM) are also an important indicator: cloned profiles tend to contact you with easy earnings, unlikely collaborations or the request to fill in strange polls. Another signal is the presence of random comments, often out of context, which fill the suspected account posts only to make it look active. And, last but not least, observe the relationship between followers and followed: accounts that follow thousands of people but have very few real followers always deserve a certain distrust. Ah … and if you notice an account that is clearly fake, do not hesitate to report it: The more reports will reach the social network that manages the account, the more likely there will be that the cloned profile is closed.
