Trace a Fake Facebook Account (Takes 15 Seconds!) 2024

Last updated on January 31st, 2023 at 06:44 pm

With the vastness of its audience, we cannot boast that all the accounts present on the Facebook platform are authentic.

As a regular user of the Facebook platform, this may not be a problem until you are in a position where you feel threatened by a fellow user of the community, or harassed.

Then go on to discover that the person whom you accepted as a friend is a fraud and owns a fake account.

The bottom line is that knowing and validating the authenticity of a user before either accepting a friend request from the person or sending out a friend request to the person is important.

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Can I Trace a Fake Facebook Account?

Understanding the necessity of knowing how authentic an account is before connecting with the holder of such an account would give rise to the questioning of the possibility of tracing and knowing a fake Facebook account.

Directly on the Facebook platform, there is no fake account discovery tool or button.

This is to ensure that the privacy of the users in the community is protected. Hence, tracing a fake account using a certain feature is yet to be enabled.

But hey, you do not need to worry! This is why this article was created; to show you how to trace a fake Facebook account even with the seeming restraint of not having a fake account discovery tool as part of the features open to a user,

Are you interested in discovering certain ways you can know that an account is Facebook? If yes, let’s get started.

How to Trace a Fake Facebook Account

There are different things you can look out for to confirm the authenticity of an account on Facebook.

It is best to employ more than one of the ways provided in this article before declaring an account fake.

The methods explained below will be of help in pointing out to you that a Facebook account may be potentially fake and harmful.

1. Check the Profile of the Account

You should do a little “detective” work on the profile of an account you are suspecting to be fake.

Start with checking out the profile picture and username of the account. The username of the account may most likely appear fake. A lot of fake accounts are characterized by junky, unauthentic names.

The profile picture is another point of call. Scan through the details on the profile and see if it resonates with the profile picture being used.

An unclear, shady, generic and locked profile picture can be an indicator of a fake account.

Still, on the profile, examine the details present. If the description sounds too unrealistic, it is most likely a lie.

2. Run a Google Background Check on the Account

With the Google search engine, you can find out more details on the account holder.

Run a scan on the profile picture of the account on Google if a personal picture was used.

Check out the username as well. You may find data that confirms your suspicion that the account is fake from the results that the search engine will be providing.

3. Check the Friendship Base of the Account

Fake accounts tend to have either a very large friendship base or a very small number of friends.

You may find the friends in the account having junky and seemingly unrealistic profiles as well.

Sometimes, the larger number of friends of accounts like this may be foreign to the location of the account with very few local friends which should not be so.

4. Look Out for Inconsistencies with the Information in the Account

Check for inconsistencies with the information present in the account. This includes the posts made by the account as well.

If there are pieces of information that do not add up scattered throughout the account, this can be a pointer to the fakeness of the account.

While it is true that some fake accounts may have very consistent data, a lot find it hard to maintain consistency in the information present in the account.

5. The Content Published on the Account

The uniqueness of an account on Facebook and its holder is reflected in the content published in the account.

You can ascertain if an account is fake by checking out the kind of content published by the account, the language of the content etc.

Spammy, low engagements or overly high engagements, and an extremely large or extremely small amount of content generated are features of content produced from a fake account.

How to Manage Fake Facebook Account Issues

Now that you have found out that an account is fake, what do you do? Read further to find out what to do about fake accounts and how to keep them safe from fake accounts.

Accepting Friend Requests

It is best not to send or receive friend requests from people on Facebook that you do not know and they do not share any basis for connection with you such as a mutual friend, similar details like same high school etc.

Even when you share one or two things in common, validate the authenticity of the account before going on to either send or receive friend requests from people.

In a situation where someone you know and have as a friend on Facebook already is sending you a friend request with a different account, it is important to confirm from your friend.

Through this method, you can tell if the new account sending in a friend request is fake or real before accepting (or denying) the friend request.

Blocking a Fake Facebook Account

If you believe a particular account is fake, it will do you good to have the account blocked so that you will not be reachable and your details and posts will not be accessible to the person anymore.

To block a fake account, do the following:

Go to your Facebook Settings.

Navigate to Privacy and launch the Blocking section.
Select the “Add to Block List” feature.
Make use of the search column and enter the username of the account you wish to block.

When the account is displayed, select the Block feature.
Confirm the process by selecting “Block”, again.

Reporting a Fake Facebook Account

While you may have blocked a user, it is important to report an account you have checked out to be fake as this user is still a threat to the larger Facebook community which may include your friends and loved ones.

Make use of the Facebook report feature and have a fake account reported.

How to Trace a Fake Facebook Account FAQs

How can I report a fake Facebook account?

After you have confirmed that an account is fake on Facebook and has decided to report such an account, follow the steps below to have the account reported to Facebook:

Navigate to the presumed fake account. You can do this by entering the username of the account or making use of the link to the account.

Underneath the profile page in the account, you will find a three-dot icon which is the “More” icon. Tap on the icon and select “Find Support or Report Profile” from the options that will pop up.
You will get promptings on the necessary steps to take by Facebook.

What happens when a fake account is reported to Facebook?

Facebook will review any report you submit about the account and decide what to do with the account given their findings.

An account confirmed by Facebook to be a fake account is permanently suspended from Facebook.

Conclusion

It takes a while for Facebook to process a report of a fake account and take action concerning the account. The short period of waiting on Facebook may be harmful.

The best thing to do as a user of the platform is to not throw caution to the wind and be careless about who you connect with.

Check the profile, content, friendship margin and other details of an account and be sure that the account is real before you start relating with the holder of such an account.

In cases like this, your instinct may just be right. Do not go against them.

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