Here’s the latest Facebook hoax you should know about

Did you get a message from a Facebook friend telling you that your account has been cloned? Don’t worry – it probably hasn’t.

It’s the latest in hoaxes aimed at users of the social networking site.

A viral message circulating the website says the sender has received a duplicate friend request from the recipient and they should forward the same message to their friends. Thanks to a few well-meaning users, the message blew up and has been sent to thousands, if not millions of people.

The 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 officials told WSYR that there is no known uptick in cloned accounts nor is this latest hoax connected to last week’s security breach.

Facebook cloning isn’t new. Malicious users can duplicate legitimate accounts simply by stealing images and information from that account, creating a new account and then sending friend requests to the real user’s actual Facebook friends. The duplicate user can then use this new profile to message the victim’s friends for personal information or to spread scam messages.

The best thing to do when you receive this latest message is to delete it and move on.

However, if you’re worried your profile may have been cloned, you can search for your profile on Facebook and report any duplicate accounts.