According to statistics, there are over 2.7 billion monthly active users on Facebook, of which fake accounts on its platform account for around 5%. That means, out of 2.7 billion active users, there are approximately 135 million fake profiles.
Someone creating a fake account of yours is not a big deal for Facebook unless you represent a law enforcement agency or an expensive legal firm.
Most fake Facebook accounts are set up by adolescents in relationships seeking to either destroy the reputation of their ex-partner by uploading private pictures or to stalk other people, while there is another group of people who use fake accounts for spamming, spreading promotional content, building fake page likes, etc.
Someone stole my daughter’s picture from her Facebook page and created a fake account. Now that person is sending abusive messages from that account to everyone and trying to ruin her image, as she is a very sincere girl. This profile, which was identified as her, is causing havoc in my neighborhood. Could you please hack this fake profile for me?
I often receive such requests from people who find themselves or their relatives in this situation. Identity theft on Facebook is prevalent, but somebody using your image to harass or play with other people you know, thereby defaming you, is embarrassing and malicious.
While you can always report such imposters on Facebook using their report form, it takes a hell of a lot of time for Facebook to review the account and disable it. Also, Facebook will never disclose to you any details about the fake profile, like when it was created and from which computer or network it was operated.
Facebook is bound to disclose information regarding fake accounts only when there is police intervention, and this is indeed a very long process.
Moreover, the police will not go through the hassle of contacting Facebook and will not behave like loyal dogs to track down the imposter unless the matter is grave.
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Can police track fake Facebook accounts?
If the matter is serious, the police will contact Facebook with all the information about the fake account in question. Facebook will then investigate and get back to police officials with geoinformation about the fake account, like the IP address and devices being used to access the account, basic profiling of the said culprit, and his private messages.
Once they have the IP address of a fake account user, they will then need to get a court order for the ISP to reveal the information and billing address of the person involved to find out who made a fake Facebook account over this network. Remember, if the phoney profile user had used a proxy server to hide his real IP, it would be tough to trace a fake Facebook account holder.
Here in this post, I will show you how exactly you can get someone’s IP address from Facebook and teach you how to trace a fake Facebook account to capture the culprit.
All I will be doing is applying some social engineering skills and using the default “banner grabbing’ technique of a web server.
Banner grabbing is an enumeration technique used to get information about a particular computer system on a network or the internet (the information consists of the OS, browser, IP address, etc.).
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How to trace a fake Facebook account?
The first step in tracing or tracking a fake account on Facebook involves finding the IP address of the person operating the fake account in question.
Once we get the IP address and the associated device details used by the culprit, we can further enumerate the information and try to trace the location or match it with the people you are already friends with.
Steps in finding the IP address of a Facebook account:
Step 1
Collect as much information about the fake account as you can and identify all of the people who are connected to it as friends. Make a list of connected people to this account who are your real-life friends.
Step 2
Select any of your close friends or relatives on that list. The person that you have selected will do all the work for you. If there is nobody in his friend list that you know personally, then you can always create a new account or ask one of your friends to befriend this fake user and make contact.
Step 3
Request that your friend initiate casual conversations with him or her in order to gain their trust.
Step 4
In this step, we are going to create a specially crafted tracking URL that will fetch us all the details of the fake profile user (banner grabbing).
Go to https://grabify.link and enter any URL (the user will be redirected to this URL once he clicks the tracking link) in the text field, then click “Create URL” to generate the tracking URL and code.
TIP! You can find the list of other tracking tools here: List of IP tracking tools
Step 5
On the next page, you will get all the tracking information, as shown below.
- New URL: This is the tracking URL that you need to send to your target user.
- Tracking Code: Note down this code, as you will need it in the future to access your tracking data.
- Other Links: Here, you can create a short link for your “New URL.”
Step 6
Click on “View other link shorteners” and then generate a short URL using the goo.gl service.
You will get something like the above. Make a note of the newly created short tracking URL.
Step 7
Ask your friend to send this tracking URL along with some exciting messages via Messenger to the fake user. Sample message:
Hey, I found this lost girl with a dumb look on her face. Any idea where she belongs?: URL
Step 8
As soon as the phoney user clicks on the tracking link, his IP address gets recorded on Grabify’s server. To check for the recorded IP, go to https://grabify.link and enter your “tracking code” to view your Link Information page. The IP addresses that have been logged will be listed in the RESULTS section.
Steps for tracing a fake Facebook account and guessing the culprit
Now that you have found out the IP address of the fake account user, you can do a lot of things. For now, we will use an IP lookup service to look up more information about the IP and try to guess the phoney user.
Step 9
Go to http://www.iptrackeronline.com and enter the IP address of the fake user, then click “Submit.“
Alternatively, you can also use https://www.ipaddress.com/ip-lookup and paste the IP address in the box that says “lookup this IP or website” and hit enter.
Step 10
On the new page, scroll down a bit, and you will get to see all the details like ISP, area code, postal code, etc. associated with his IP address, along with an approximate location of the user in the MAP.
Step 11
Relate these details to the suspect. If you are not able to suspect anyone, then approach your attorney or lawyer, who will file the necessary documents with the ISP to disclose the subscriber details for the IP address.
Step 12
If you are suspecting someone but are not sure if it’s him, then repeat steps 3–8 for this suspect. You can enlist the assistance of the same friend and request that he create a new message for this suspect, complete with an IP tracking link.
Step 13
As soon as your suspect clicks this link, you will have his IP address. Now match his IP address with the IP address of the fake user. If there is a match, well, congrats! You have successfully captured the culprit.
How to identify fake Facebook account?
At first glance, a fake Facebook profile may seem indistinguishable from a genuine one. But the true test lies in the intricate details. Uncovering these subtleties is crucial in exposing the facade of a fake Facebook accounts. Here are a few strategies to spot these fake profiles.
1. Forged or stolen photographs
Fake profiles are often characterized by their lack of personal anecdotes or insights into their daily lives. Instead, they rely heavily on visual content to create the illusion of a busy and fulfilling life. One tell-tale sign of a fake profile is the type of photos they publish.
These individuals are often forced to steal images of others they are trying to impersonate, as they don’t actually live the life they purport to. This is especially true for false Facebook profiles created by online dating scammers.
If you suspect a fake account, there are several ways to verify their authenticity. A simple Google reverse image search or specialized image search programs such as TinEye and Pixsy can help expose their true identity.
The process is straightforward: simply upload the photo in question and let the search engine do the rest. If you find the same image posted elsewhere at a different time, it’s a strong indication that the account you’re dealing with is a forgery.
2. An unreliable timeline
A significant proportion of the fake accounts on Facebook are either hijacked or bought from the thriving black market for aged Facebook profiles.
The reason behind this is that it’s easier to impersonate someone using an established, older account rather than creating a brand new one. In this underground market, anyone can purchase a decade-old Facebook account from any country of their choosing.
However, this approach has a critical flaw – an inconsistent posting history. If you examine the timeline of a fake profile, you may notice irregular patterns in their posts. Some individuals simply delete all their past posts and start anew, which is why it’s crucial to be cautious of accounts with a blank wall.
You may come across extended periods of inactivity, followed by a sudden outburst of daily posts. This inconsistency should raise a red flag and signal that the account may be fake.
3. Strange stories with a request for help
If you encounter an account that you suspect belongs to a close friend or relative suddenly requesting for unusual information or aid, exercise caution.
Regardless of the length of your Facebook friendship, never blindly trust requests for financial resources or sensitive information.
Scammers often succeed on Facebook by exploiting the trust of their victims, who believe they are communicating with someone they know.
These scams can take many forms, such as claiming they need help paying for an online service because they lack a credit card, or the classic story of a US soldier on a UN mission in Africa who urgently needs support to return home. Always be vigilant and keep in mind that fake profiles exist on Facebook.
4. Messages from Facebook accounts having no mutual friends
If you experience an influx of messages from Facebook accounts with no shared connections, be wary – it could be the work of a fake account that’s specifically targeting you. Regrettably, there are numerous fake accounts crafted with the sole intention of deceiving a specific individual.
These can be challenging to identify, especially if the fake profile builds trust by obtaining information about you. However, there may be small slips that give them away. Keep a sharp eye out for any red flags and always err on the side of caution.
How can you protect yourself from fake Facebook account?
Encourage your loved ones to exercise caution when accepting Facebook friend requests. Millions of people carelessly accept friend requests, leaving themselves and their network vulnerable to malicious links and scams.
If you have any doubts about the authenticity of a friend request, send a message to the individual in question and inquire about your relationship. If they are unable or unwilling to recall, it is likely not a genuine connection.
In case you suspect the account belongs to an imposter, consider verifying their identity through previous communication methods such as an email or phone number. Seek validation from mutual friends before engaging with any suspicious accounts.
Worried about your Privacy?
If you are worried about people spying on your IP address, then it’s worth telling you that knowing your IP address isn’t necessarily a security risk. For example, Web sites and other servers must have their IP addresses publicised in order to get visitors. So isn’t necessarily a privacy issue.
It’s like knowing the mailing address to a house: sure, it’s better if someone doesn’t know where your house is, but if they do, they would still need to bypass the home security to break in.
Eventually, an IP address is enough for a hacker to break into your network if your firewall is weak enough. So be cautious and always use a VPN.
Also, read our advanced guide: Trace Facebook user location using USER-Agent and IP address.
I hope this tutorial helps you in getting someone’s IP address from Facebook and then trace their fake profile. If you have any questions regarding bogus profiles, let us know via the comments section below or contact us directly.
See also – how to find out who made a fake Facebook account
Earlier, I had posted about finding a Facebook user’s IP address through chat and email headers, but neither of these two methods works today. Facebook chat runs on the XMPP protocol, which is not peer-to-peer, so it is not possible to determine the IP address of the user through Facebook chat using the Netstat command.
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