Cloned Facebook Accounts and Why This Matters

First, this rule should apply to everything you do on Facebook or anywhere else: 

If the message tells you what to do, the person who created it thinks you are stupid and gullible. Don't prove them right. Do not press here, find 'share with all your friends' and share with all your friends. Do not 'type amen'. Do not be intimidated by 'only 2% of my friends have the heart to do this and I think I know who you are'. Do not see a name or brand and automatically share because you've see all of your friends sharing stuff from that name or brand and you want to be like or impress all of those friends because, believe me (and I'll explain below) your friends might very well be doing more damage than good. 

MOST IMPORTANTLY, accounts are being cloned. And it matters. This problem was widespread last election cycle and here we are, nearing another election, and it's happening again. This time, the people who do this are aware that some people (like ME) spent many hours of our time last election cycle warning people. We're on to them. So, we know they are observant enough to see how many people are more willing to FOLLOW THEM than they are to LISTEN TO US and created this scam to keep people who might have listened to us when we alert them that someone has cloned their account, or that the second friend request they just received from someone who is already their friend is a clone.

And it appears to be working. I see friends posting a status saying, "If you get a second friend request from me, accept it because I'm so great I need to be duplicated," or "What's the big deal?" or, "I'm too cool to be interested in this stuff." Fortunately, most of the people I've seen doing that are not politically involved. However, their decision to not be involved could hurt them in the long run, same as not bothering to care about politics or to vote is hurting them, and everyone else, in the long run. 

Hopefully, when your real friends do receive a second friend request from what appears to be you, they will contact you - by phone, text, or message - and, in their own words instead of what is obviously a form-letter type communication that tells you to alert all of your friends that they too have been cloned, and ask if you sent that request. When I reported the at least a hundred cloned accounts to Facebook in the past, they asked me to provide a link to the real friend's account and to notify that friend. Facebook, responsibly, would not remove the duplicate account until the real friend verified to them that they had not created a second account for some reason. 

The cloners are trying to get your friends list. What I was experiencing, since I am politically active and was moderating a number of election connected groups, was people from the opposition trying to get into closed political groups. Once in, they gradually start posting negative things about the candidate/group - planting negative seeds and/or posting misinformation or links to dishonest articles. This is one of the slier, less obvious components of the "fake news" problem. But it probably isn't always political. People who want your friends list for any reason can see how easily this works and do the same.

Sometimes -- enough times to scare anyone who studies gullibility and thoughtless sharing -- they managed to worm their way into moderating groups and then stole the groups. They blocked the person who created/owned the group, removed moderator status from the real moderators, and had complete control. So, there's a group with the name Democrat/Democratic (or a candidate)  in the title, taken over by people who only mean to destroy it/them. 

THIS MATTERS. Even if you think you don't care that your account has been cloned, someone might be doing this in your name and image.
The irony here is that I started warning people about cloned accounts during the last election cycle. I explained what was happening, why it was happening, and the danger of not paying attention. And I reported, on my Facebook page and in my groups, that I had reported to Facebook as well as personally to each of my friends when I received friend requests from the accounts cloned to look like them. That happened at least a hundred times. And notifying my friends, going back and forth to explain to each what was happening if they didn't already know because they don't read what I post, as well as reporting to Facebook one hundred times - takes some time. I warned, on my page and in multiple groups, at least 600 friends and tens of thousands of people. Again, this time, as soon as the scam message started hitting my inbox,I warned more than 600 people on my page. And, again, very few people read or cared if they did read, my message. So, I've had to type messages on dozens of their statuses that show incomplete or no understanding of the problem even though I spent my time explaining. 

This disregard for warnings is exactly why we have scammers and fake news and misinformation  - and the end result is that our country is dying. 

This is not a Facebook cloning problem. This is a rote sharing/following problem. Brands are doing the same. MoveOn, Other 98%, Occupy Democrats (this one makes my brain and heart hurt more than any other because the occupy movement was not a group of people who loved Wall Street - it was about destroying Wall Street, so it couldn't be more obvious) . . . They flood the internet with things that everyone will agree with - kitties are cute, sunshine is nice, we hate when toilets overflow, etc. Share if you agree. And everyone mindlessly shares, because, well, it's important for all of their friends to know that they, too, like kitties and sunshine but hate feces on their floors. Then, as elections approach, the messages get more political. And in the final, important time, they get subliminally more controlling. The biggest, most damaging example, was the 'vote blue no matter who' meme that some of these groups started circulating during the Democratic Party primary for the 2016 race. Knowing that the Sanders camp had signed a Bernie or Bust pledge that stated they would hand the election to Republicans to, their words, teach the Democratic Party a lesson, this meme subliminally made many people believe that a vote for Sanders might be safer. This is disgustingly manipulative and dangerous. And many people who should have known better continued to share that meme instead of sharing the - VOTE HILLARY because she's more qualified. (Obviously, I'm using this example because it's the one that means most to me. Insert anything you care about and imagine this happening.) Every time you share their brands, you are helping them reach more people, and their brand get into the 'rote sharing' rotation, which could hurt your cause in the end. 

I said somewhere way up there that I'd bring this back to friends doing more damage than good. Today, two days AFTER Kavanaugh was confirmed, some of my friends are sharing 'this is how we think certain Senators might vote' articles. Because their friends shared it today, or because the headline didn't clue them in that this is what the article was about and they didn't even read the article. 

Lessons Learned From Nixon, Kucinich, and Occupy

I learned the dangers of single-issue and uninformed votes with my first vote. Richard Nixon said he would get us out of Viet Nam and that was all I needed to hear. My boyfriend’s knee injury would save him from the draft but my brother, my cousins, and other friends weren’t lucky enough to have bad knees and they weren’t foolish enough to shit their drawers like Cat Scratch loser. I was naïve, uninformed, hard-headed, defiant, and more interested in all the wrong things so I was going to take what pitifully little information I had and make a huge mistake no matter what anyone said. Not only did I regret disappointing my intelligent, liberal parents, I’m in my sixties now and still haven’t completely forgiven myself for being that naïve.

I wish I could say that was the end of my naiveté but it wasn’t. Not even close. It was, however, the end of my single-issue, uninformed voting. My lingering gullibility exhibited itself in the error of thinking that everyone else learned what I did, when I did. (It’s okay to laugh.)

Skip ahead to the 2004 primary race, when I was a huge fan of Dennis Kucinich and still in deep mourning over the 2000 disaster. Finally, I was surrounded by people who I assumed disliked Bush for all the legitimate reasons that I disliked him, and who I was certain could recite every word of Kucinich’s platform as easily as I could. It was refreshing to be around laid-back people who worked toward positive change, got involved, and were hopeful. I turned my home into a campaign hangout, made and stocked posters for every position, occasion and event, spent every waking minute on the phone, writing letters, organizing events and fund raisers, and talking to anyone who would listen – even some who didn’t. I believed the people I met and worked with on that campaign were kindred spirits who shared my ideals and willingness to absorb and deliver facts.

It was years before I admitted the whole truth about how wrong I was, maybe because in order to come to that conclusion I had to think negatively about people with whom I had bonded. A few were everything I believed them to be and are still friends even if we don’t agree on everything political. The others fell into several categories: single-issue voters (legalizing marijuana or absolute pacifism), people who wanted to hang out and eat free food, and, most disappointing of all, people who thought Kucinich could help them force old people out of the Democratic Party so they could turn it into what they wanted it to be. The last group caused me a great deal of embarrassment and actually caused me to be the somewhat abrasive, outspoken person I am today. Even though I was probably as progressive at heart as most of them, I also knew that it was not only wrong – it was impossible to force people to be where they weren’t ready to be.

To me, people who try to force instead of lead, and who insist that everything must be their way or no way are bullies. They are also regressive because they do more harm than good. Some of those people left the Democratic Party when things didn’t go their way. Yet, they still believe they are justified in representing themselves as Democrats so they can infiltrate meetings, groups, and discussions where they do nothing but criticize the party, spread ridiculous notions like “both parties are the same”, and even share right-wing, dishonest talking points about Democratic candidates. One puts his name on ballots as a Democratic candidate, thinking that gives him credibility when he joins every liberal or progressive group he can find and tries to damage Democratic candidates in almost every race.

The real wake-up came when some of them treated President Obama with the same disdain they had for his predecessor. Soon, I noticed they hated all politicians except for brief moments when one is championing their single issue. That might not have been totally bad if they hadn’t given those people credit for lip-service without action.

Then came Occupy – the lesson of a lifetime for me. I was thrilled to see young people take to the street regarding a problem that affects so many. I (have no life) watched from the first day via live cam on the internet, paying close attention to their organization – NO groups, NO political parties, NO religion, NO main stream media, NO leaders, NO violence, NO staging, NO defiance of law and order. Perfect! A movement of individuals willing to take on a cause.

I watched for days, wishing I was young and healthy enough to make the trip and join them. Instead, I contacted them to ask if I could start a group in my city. We don’t have Wall Street (the part that so many forgot quickly) but we do have financial institutions and people who had lost homes to foreclosure. They responded quickly to say they were worried that the purpose would be diluted, but would consider my request. While I awaited their decision, I investigated permits and locations, and continued to watch and learn all they were doing. Especially pleased that they continued to avoid main stream media and were respectful to law enforcement, even when arrests started, I liked this movement more every day.

I contacted the many people and organizations that I had worked with when organizing events in the past and explained the Occupy movement, which was still so new that most people had heard nothing about it yet. I invited all of them to participate--as individuals, not organizations or groups-- for a united cause. I shared the list of NOs with everyone. They seemed to understand and even to share my excitement about the format. I asked everyone to tune in to the live streaming on the internet and watch what these young people were doing.

Finally, the Occupy Wall Street people contacted me and said to go ahead since others had without asking, and thanked me for asking and focusing on duplicating exactly what they were doing. I created an event page on Facebook, talked with the city and local law enforcement, got permits for camp areas as well as sanctioned marching routes, obtained legal counsel for the group, posted flyers around town . . . The response was overwhelming – and exciting.

Until (self-described) anarchists flooded the event site with their own agenda and to let me (and anyone watching the public event page) know they would come armed, no matter what I, or anyone else, said about it. Their leader (also, self-described) contacted me to explain that he was teaching this group how to force the police to arrest them to “make a statement”. I reviewed the list of NOs (see above) with him and said I thought his group seemed to have an agenda of their own that was not consistent with the movement. He said I was wrong to get permits and his people didn’t like it.

Eventually, the leader of the anarchists called to tell me I was correct and that the anarchist group had gotten out of hand, scaring him, even. He agreed that we should have permits and do things peacefully. Because of the NO leaders request, I actually had permits for two locations so there could be – according to Occupy Wall Street’s protocol - a group vote to decide which we would stick with. I gave the leader of the anarchist group, and posted on the event page, a location between the two for a meet-up spot at which we could vote and proceed to the location most people wanted.

The night before, self-proclaimed leader of the anarchists also proclaimed himself leader of Occupy My City. Not only did he not like permits and the NO leaders aspects, he also didn’t like the NO main stream media part so he managed to get himself on local television for an interview as the self-appointed leader.

I had lunch with activist friends the morning of the kick-off and expressed my concerns. I am a middle-aged, disabled woman. Sleeping on the street for however-long-it-takes was not feasible. My goal was to organize, procure a safe location, and let the young people take this event where it needed to go. My friends nodded where appropriate, wrinkled their brows when I spoke of anarchists with guns, nodded again when I reviewed the list of Nos, and smiled when I said drummers would be there to add the peaceful tone to marches, etc. We left the restaurant and went to the bigger, more accommodating, longer-term accessible location that we felt certain the group would choose, to drop off the things we had brought with us and meet other friends. Then, we were to walk over to the meet-up location to join everyone there.

I was doing a live interview with public radio when the leader of the anarchists came and led my friends over to the meet-up location. After my interview, I waited for my friends to return but they didn’t. One of them called to tell me I should come join them because, “They have music and food and politicians giving speeches (another NO),” and this group and that group were there handing out literature and signing people up, and . . .

Shortly before going to the police station to relinquish my permits, I admitted, finally, for sure, that many of the people I had been associated with were not at all who or what I thought they were. Food and music were all it took for them to abandon the hard-working people at Occupy Wall Street. The movement was infiltrated everywhere, by self-serving people with agendas of their own.

A couple of weeks later, I passed the lingering few occupiers in my city. A young man stopped me to ask if I knew about Occupy. I smiled and asked him to tell me about it. He explained that first, they keep the police so busy they have to use overtime, and then they force them to start arresting people . . . I stopped him there and introduced myself. He did know who I was, despite the many articles and rumors stating that I was a nobody who had never organized anything and was only trying to ruin what the anarchists planned (which resulted in me receiving threats). I told him that, as much as I wanted to avoid main stream media as requested, I would stand in front of every camera I could find and repeat what he told me the first time anyone tried to implicate the police department, who had graciously tried to accommodate the movement.

My organizing days ended with Occupy, not because of the threats but because I saw how easily my activist friends had been manipulated into doing everything that they had been asked not to do, some for self-serving purposes. Their perspection of this is that I was angry because I wanted everything ‘my’ way when there was no ‘my’ way. I wanted to respect and honor the group of young people who started the Occupy movement on Wall Street by not allowing others to use and damage their name for self-serving purposes.

Today, I am aware enough to spot the people who haven’t done their homework and who are preying on followers. Memes make that possible (the preying and identifying) without even leaving the house.

In conclusion, I learned not to trust:

• ·   followers
• ·   self-serving people, organizations, and groups
• ·   people who are more interested in being cool, accepted, or popular than they are in finding and sharing truth
• ·   meme and petition pushers, especially memes without links or ownership
• ·   petitions based on false information

I hope everyone will pay attention and spend more time questioning.