How to Tell if a Facebook Profile is Fake

Social Media Profile Search

Find someone’s secret social media profiles and much more!

Have you ever received a friend request from an unfamiliar Facebook user? When clicking his profile, you may find it weird. You doubt it but you can’t tell if the Facebook profile is fake, let alone deal with it. In this article, you can learn some methods to identify fake Facebook profiles. 

Method 1: Check Profile Details

The profile detail is an important clue to distinguishing between genuine and fake Facebook accounts. Before accepting a friend request from an unknown account, you can check their profile to get the account information.
Here are some signs you need to be suspicious of.

1. Check the photo

• Keep the default avatar as the profile photo.
• A perfect model image that doesn’t look like a normal person.
  Too good to be true.
• No photos or only one photo.

2. Check the About section

• There is no information displayed in the About section. 

3. Check the friends and followers

• No friends on the list. Or many weird accounts in the friend list.
• Followed by others but there are no friends on the list.

4. Check posts.

• It shows nothing or shares low-quality and ad-heavy websites in the posts. 
• There are frequent posts but few likes and interactions below posts.
• The latest post is years ago.

If you find some signs in one profile, it’s likely a fake Facebook account.

But some fake accounts may use tricks to disguise themselves, you can not tell them only by simple checks. Instead, you have to do some searches to verify their information. 

Method 2: Search the profile photo with Social Catfish

Some fake accounts choose online tools to generate ultra-realistic photos. You can’t tell by simple checking. Instead, you have to do some searches. To quickly spot the fake profile photo, you can use the reverse image search tool. I will recommend you to use Social Catfish. 

Social Catfish is an online dating investigation service featuring image search. It is fast, easy-to-use and affordable. This powerful tool can scan millions of social profiles including Facebook and Twitter in seconds. By using the tool, you can get the most accurate and publicly available results that help you verify a person’s online identity.

1. Go to the Social Catfish image search page.
2. Upload an image and click Search.
   
3. It will take a few minutes to search for the image. Once it finds a match, you will see associated search results. Click View Report.
   
4. In this report, you can find social profiles including Facebook, Instagram about that person. 
   

Method 3: Search profile name with people search tools

Facebook has maintained the real-name system policy for user profiles. This policy is designed to ensure that every account on Facebook represents a real person. So if you doubt a Facebook profile, you can search the name. You can search for it on Google. But you may find nothing in the end with mixed results. I will recommend you to use the paid search tools below.

1. BeenVerified

BeenVerified is one of the best all-around people search tools. It is legal, reliable, easy to use, and affordable. This powerful tool can also provide a one-stop service. By just entering the name, you can acquire important details about that person. 

1. Go to BeenVerified’s search page.
2. Click People Search and type the Name. Then click SEARCH.
   
3. Wait for a few minutes and then you can get search results associated with the name. Then click View person report.
   
4. In this report, you can view phone numbers, email addresses, social media, and so on. By clicking View details, you can see the social profile of that person. 
   

2. Truthfinder

TruthFinder is one of the most popular people search engines. It can search the databases to uncover the information that normal search engines usually can’t find. Through TruthFinder’s people search service, you can quickly access the contact info of that person, and get more details about that person. 

1. Go to Truthfinder’s search page.
2. Type the Name and select State. Then click SEARCH.
   
3. Wait for a minute and then you can get search results associated with that name. Then click OPEN REPORT. To view the report, you have to sign in. If you do not have an account, you can follow the on-screen prompts to sign up.
   
4. Then you can access the detailed report. In this background report, you can know the person’s contact info, social profile, criminal and financial-related records, and so on.
   

3. Spokeo

Spokeo is another intelligent and fast search tool that you can turn to when you need to find someone’s social profile.  It collects a wide range of industry-leading data sources. What’s more, it can combine all the data into an easy-to-understand report in seconds.

1. Visit Spokeo’s search page.
2. Type a Name and click SEARCH NOW.
   
3. Wait for a few minutes and then you can get a list of associated results. If there are too many search results, you can click All Filters to narrow the search range. Then click SEE RESULTS.
   
4. Then you can access the detailed report. In this report, you can get phone numbers, email addresses, social profiles, and so on.
   

Method 4: Test if it responds

If you have tried the above steps, you still can not tell if it is a fake profile. You can just send a message to it. If it is a robot or fake account, it will easily accept your friend request but not respond to anything. Or it may send low-quality messages to you. Then you can tell if it is a fake profile. 

In short, I hope the above methods can help you to identify a fake profile. Once you judge it as a fake profile, you can report it directly. If you have suggestions or questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

The methods in this article provide you with easy access to public record information, but without a guarantee for accuracy and may include links to websites not listed as a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA). Information acquired from these bodies is illegal to be used for employment, housing, credit, and other purposes alike, according to laws such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If you’re not sure whether your use of our methods is appropriate, click here for details.

By Abby Cheng

Abby is a writer in the Super Easy. She loves writing and have great passion for finding tricks on all aspects. She hopes readers can benefit from her articles.

Contributor(s):

View all of Abby Cheng's posts.