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Facebook account that I didn't set up

lotvic
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Posted September 6, 2011 at 2:00PM

In the past week I have been getting unsolicited emails from Facebook that indicated I had created an account - I haven't so was just marking them as spam. As more emails kept coming I got curious so went to Facebook.com (NOT via a link in emails) and typed the user name that the emails were addressed to and then clicked on 'Forgotten your Password'. I went through the procedure to get a new password set and was then able to log in and have a look-see. Nothing much there except this bogus username and date of birth. What did worry me was the fact that in the privacy section my 'details' and email address were available publicly.

I have now hopefully deleted the account permanently via:

Facebook how to delete account permanently http://romcartridge.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-delete-facebook-account.html

I now have to wait 14 days before I can check that the account really has been deleted.

What does worry me some is the fact that the account had been set up with the fictitious username and my gmail email address that has never been used for anything Facebook connected and is only used for family contact.

Has anyone else had this happen?

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lotvic

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Posted September 6, 2011 at 4:31PM

It must be just me. Think I will check with relatives to make sure they haven't been playing a joke on me..... (I'll watch closely for a guilty look or a sly smile)

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interzone55

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Posted September 6, 2011 at 5:24PM

Not had this happen - it could be someone who knows your email address having a laugh.

What I have found though is that I keep getting friend suggestions for people who I know don't have accounts, they're just people in my gmail contacts list.

I wonder if this is what's happened here, a friend has had a suggestion for your name, they've clicked on it and Facebook has somehow created an account...

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lotvic

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Posted September 6, 2011 at 9:46PM

I think I've worked out what's happened. Had a look at the emails that came and I think that someone has put the wrong email address in when they've created the account, must have mis-typed it.

Anyway I've deleted the account now so hopefully that's the end of it (fingers crossed)

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morddwyd

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Posted September 7, 2011 at 9:08AM

As lotvic seems to have his answer, I'll just add a bit to the thread.

I opened a Facebook account yesterday, mainly to see what it was all about, and at the urging of a US friend.

I found lots of people already wanted to be my friend.

Some of them were genuinely people who I know personally and who presumably had just fed my name in, some were simply contacts of mutual friends, but others were slight acquaintances, or contacts, people who I had actually met face to face, but who wouldn't even know I had a computer, let alone my e-mail address.

How does this come about?

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lotvic

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Posted September 7, 2011 at 10:00AM

morddwyd, hope you didn't let Facebook upload your contacts addresses from your pc...... and if any of the other people had and you were in their contacts list and then one of them was in someone else's contact list.... etc etc. Like a tree with branches that don't touch but are interconnected by a (Facebook) spiders web. That's the best way I can think of to explain it.

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morddwyd

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Posted September 7, 2011 at 1:04PM

"morddwyd, hope you didn't let Facebook upload your contacts addresses from your pc...... "

I try to ensure that nothing goes into or out of my pc unless I give a definite "click" somewhere!

However, nobody's perfect!

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lotvic

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Posted September 7, 2011 at 6:43PM

Same here, but still get problems.....

I have a little printed card just above my monitor

"Sod's Law"

"I've apparently installed the wrong software, the printer's jammed and now that knob thing's dropped off...."

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