You’ve Been Cloned

Have you had the misfortune of finding an account that has duplicated your life and details and set up as if they are you – if not I’m going to suggest it’s just a matter of time.
I have, multiple times and it’s not pleasant and hard to stop – there is a variable response from the various social media networks in getting these accounts taken down and actually talking to a real person or connecting with an individual to take responsibility is challenging. I have yet to find any individual actually respond in Twitter with an automated system that is unforgiving and frustrating to deal with

What does a Clone Account Look Like

Take a look at the pictures of accounts that stole my identity and used my information, images, and pictures of me to make themselves appear to be accounts of “Dr Nick”. I have obscured the precise details of the account names as I don’t want to further amplify these accounts or ideas. Although all these accounts have been shut down as you will see below this is a process very similar to the old whack-a-mole game.

The first two are almost identical copies of my twitter account with one of them even making a vague statement about “Follow the official account @drnic1” but basically using my photograph and my current twitter header background to mimic or clone my account.
The third was more unpleasant with the account using my likeness and details to promote their own version of politics and sowing seeds of distrust and dislike. You will note that the account in question blocks me from following – one of the many techniques used to stop the real individual from discovering these accounts. In the case of this account, I was alerted by a lady who had been communicating with this account and was developing a relationship with whoever was behind this account but had fallen out with them and subsequently searched finding my real account. Which brings us to

Who is Behind These Accounts Get Created

Another way of asking the same question is why do these accounts get created which like so many things in life boils down to money.
In the most recent instance of a clone account hat had borrowed from my public profile on Facebook and created an account using Google’s features (Gmail and Google Hangouts mainly) this account had cloned much of my personal family life and business world and created a persona that for all intense and purposes was another version of me.
How did I find out about this one – a phone call from a retired lady who called and left Voicemail telling me

…regarding someone I’ve been online talking with somebody who claims that he’s you and gives all kinds of information about you. ….He you know your whole profile and everything so he claims he’s in Afghanistan doing work with the military

I called back, suspicious but sufficiently concerned to want to at least determine if this call was an attempt at fraud. Turns out this was a genuine notification by a kind soul whose life had been turned upside down by someone using my details and profile to perpetrate a fraud, which in this case amounted to close to $100,000 loss to an unknown individual.
Which leads me to the answer of why these accounts are created – in almost all cases its about money and committing fraud oftentimes some variant of the Nigerian 419 scam that I wrote about in this post and continue to show an increasing impact on individuals
Scammers continue to prey on the vulnerable and poorly informed – they know how to pull at our humanity to persuade you that they really are good and just down on their luck, or in need or some help or have money but just can’t get to it but will pay you back. The sad truth is that even if you are approached by someone you know – it may not be them and you really must do some decent due diligence to confirm their identity. And if you don’t know them (are friends, have met them in real life (IRL) then even more caution and diligence is warranted

Incremental Steps to Prevent being Swindled

There were some learning points from the ultimate fraud – some of which are old and well known but bear repeating

• If it sounds implausible – it probably is
• If your bank wants you not to wire the money and tries to stop you, done’t this is likely a fraud and you should not send it – they are trying to help, listen to their advice
• Anytime anyone asks or needs money, no matter for what and especially if it is sent electronically to be collected by an individual for cash – its probably fraud

From a clone account standpoint, there is no one single piece of advice but I share the following insights in the hope that it can help others who end up being cloned and find their identity stolen in one form or another

Incremental Steps to Dealing with Your Accounts/Life Being Clones Online

• You can’t stop it these completely – you are playing wack-a-mole so accept that and stay alert to new clone accounts being created
• Its *always* Follow the Money (FTM) if you are looking for a reason
• I’ve not found any clever or useful tool for seeking and finding these accounts and rely on friends to identify them or sometimes the poor soul who gets defrauded (if anyone has any suggestions I am all ears but before you reach out and tell me to set up a google search agent I have plenty of those but that’s not going to help)
• Shutting/closing your access/view to the public information in you accounts is “closing the gate after the horse has bolted”
• Getting the accounts shut down is a friend and family affair – numbers appear to count so multiple reports can bring closure faster at least in my experience
• The “bigger” you are the more of this there is (bigger can mean anything from followers to fame etc) but *everyone* is at risk as my read of the underlying motivators is bone idleness of the perpetrators who can’t make up a story – so much easier to copy someone else’s
• If there’s one, there are more and whacking that one is almost like a see-saw guaranteeing another similar will pop up elsewhere
• Email is everything – secure your account especially email with a minimum of 2FA and preferably with an Authenticator app on your phone over text message to your phone but either is better than a single factor. I own your email I own your life

Tagged as Clone Accounts, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Security