1. The fraudsters create a fake profile with the available or collected identity related information (through various means like using social engineering tactics, phishing, recent photographs, events/functions, achievements/family and other details of others like army personnel; popular personalities; professional working abroad etc.,)
2. With the fake social media profile created they can
   
   • send friend requests to the victim to trap them
   • post false messages to damage the reputation of the person being impersonated
   • request for money/gifts; show false romantic interests for money; try to sell false goods/items etc.,

Good online practices to safeguard against fake profiles

• Avoid sharing your personal information like address, mobile number, personal mail id and other sensitive identity related information on social media and restrict access.
• Do not share your personal high resolution pictures online publicly on social media accounts
• Share groups pictures  rather than Individual  images and  post limited information only  in the social media platforms
• Never send money to the requests sent on social media accounts
• Never accept friend requests from unknown persons without appropriate verification and confirmation, or call to verify before paying.
• Never click on suspicious links or download anything until you verify the authenticity of the source.
• Use different passwords for different social media accounts and emails.
• Be alert of any queries about your online actions that you are not aware about.
• Enable two factor (2FA) or Multifactor Authentication (MFA provided by the social media platforms.
• Report against any fake profile on the social media platform and also on cybercrime portal cybercrime.gov.in
• Be aware of security and privacy features and enable them on the social media accounts (https://www.facebook.com/help/; https://help.twitter.com/en;  https://help.instagram.com/; https://faq.whatsapp.com/)