Beware the viral Facebook hoax that’s tricking people into thinking their account was hacked

Facebook is hit by a new viral hoax message that falsely tells users their account has been ‘cloned’ by cyber criminals and to forward on the message to ALL of their friends

Facebook officials have warned of a new viral hoax message that is fooling users into thinking there is a problem with their account.

The fake message claims your account has been cloned – meaning someone has created a new account using your name, photos and other information to impersonate you on Facebook.

It encourages you to forward the message to your Facebook friends to warn them of the mimic account.

The scam message reads: ‘Hi….I actually got another friend request from you yesterday…which I ignored so you may want to check your account.

‘Hold your finger on the message until the forward button appears…then hit forward and all the people you want to forward too….I had to do the people individually. Good Luck!’

Facebook said there is no virus attached to the message, and advised users to simply delete it if they receive it.

A spokesperson said: ‘We’ve heard that some people are seeing posts or messages about accounts being cloned on Facebook.

‘It takes the form of a “chain mail” type of notice.

‘We haven’t seen an increase in incoming reports of impersonation (cloned accounts).