Are You Dead Today and Just Don't Know It!

Make sure you’re still alive this morning – online at least! A disturbing CyberPrank on Facebook is quickly going viral. It is easy for a Facebook “friend” to report you dead using a simple, unverified online form. Once reported “Dead” you will be locked out of your page, with no notification and for all practical purposes your online persona will be deceased.

All a person needs to declare you legally dead on Facebook is a name, a Facebook account ID and a link to an Obituary with a matching name!

If you’re thinking, “well where would they get an Obituary with my name?" Think again! Just for morbid laughs, go to Google and type your name with the word, “Obituary” and see what happens. To my amazement I did this and a person with the same first and last name as mine passed away recently in the town next to mine! The age and the date of death might not match but Facebook has taken this information as evidence and Memorialized the member’s page.

So, what can you do to prevent this from happening to you? Not much really! Facebook has a “Help” section that you can click on if you find that you are a victim of this prank. You can let Facebook know that your page has been Memorialized and they will do the investigation to correct the situation. Sometimes the problem can be corrected in hours but sometimes it takes days or weeks to resolve the issue. So the next time you check your Facebook page, make sure you’re still alive – online at least!

Here is more on the topic:  http://consumerist.com/2010/05/27/once-facebook-thinks-youre-dead-youre-dead-forever/

For more information about starting, integrating and improving your partner or marketing programs, contact Larry Fournier on LinkedIn or by email at: fourthman@usa.com.