Another Identity theft on FaceBook
Just found a very interesting article on Le Monde today about identity theft on FaceBook:
“Who knows Rachel Bekerman? Based on her Facebook’s photo, Rachel Bekerman is a young blond woman, with a pleasant face. She says very little information about her private life: she was born on August 17, but the year is not specified. Instead, it speaks of her profession willingly: it informs all its correspondents that she’s a journalist at the french newspaper Le Monde.
Starting from November 2007, she’s starting to contact with hundreds of Facebook users working in the media, to announce she has created a “gathering only journalists working for french media”: “I invite you to join us, to build a network of communication and media professionals.”
Soon, Rachel succeeds in her ambitions and, in December, the french Journalists group gathered more than 1,200 people: journalists from all over France, of the press, executives of major financial media, advertising, students. As is, Rachel holds the ultimate authority over her group, and loves recalled it on the occasion: “Dear journalists (…), some of you have rightly pointed out that I am the only one (…) to send email to all members. To ensure fairness, I invite all of you who would like to speak to send me their message for the other members.” Of course, there is no way to ascertain whether she actually does it. At the same time, she began to distribute promotional messages for commercial sites, written in a tone suggesting slight it is a simple game.
With too much confidence in herself, she also contacted coworkers of Le Monde. Several are confident in this group, without trying to find out more. With people who want to meet in the cafeteria or at the nearest bar, she skillfully temporise. For coworker journalists, she said that she worked at Monde.fr, a subsidiary located two kilometres away from the parent company. Then she broke off contact.
Gradually, seem obvious: Rachel Bekerman never signed in Le Monde, nobody has ever heard of her, the photo posted on Facebook is not remembered. Her name is not even listed on Google, which is rare for a journalist. Provisional conclusions: it is perhaps one of the journalist of Le Monde who uses a nickname when she wants to portray itself as an attractive blonde. Or, Rachel Bekerman ment across the board.
A few dozen members of the french Journalists group are warned of the situation by Le Monde. Some, feeling betrayed, unsubscribe immediately. Others thanked Le Monde for having alerted and passed the message.
Rachel is then decides to resume contact on Facebook, while refusing an interview face-to-face or by telephone. She admits that she is no longer employed by Le Monde.fr, but continues to assert that she worked there in 2004 – which is again denied by the administrative services. Then she proposes a new version of her life: “I am committed to press for a media Web that I should keep the name secret. (…) My job is to talk about the Internet sites that we publish. I’m taking advantage of social networks to create the maximum buzz. Information is disseminated more quickly through journalists. That’s why I’ve created this group. ” She explains why she unequivocally lied on her status: “Saying that I work at Le Monde raises more confidence to journalists asking me the question.” When asked if she finds the process honest, she counter-attack: “Why ask a question that nobody could answer” yes “? I am a journalist and don’t try to trick me.”
Rachel says that, in fact, she is “responsible for the communication of commercial french websites . She cites Zlio, creator of blogs and online stores, Seesmic, a new video community site, and Whosdaboss, an enigmatic official website whose goal is to elect the Boss of the Internet, and was able to convince a few users to pay up to 25 euros to climb in the ranking of candidates.
When we contacted those responsible for these sites, the mystery only thicken. Jérémie Berrebi, Zlio boss, says he never heard of her, and said he was distressed by the excesses of this type of marketing ambush, where all shots are allowed: “Some members of Zlio, which are paid by fees when they sell a product for a commercial site, send massively messages to promote their page. This hurt: people take us for spammers. we are taking good care of our reputation, and we’re trying to monitor what is said about Zlio in blogs and forums, but not on Facebook, it’s too complicated. ”
Antoine Barthélémy, creator of Whosdaboss, do not know Rachel Bekerman either, but he is not shocked by her behaviour: “It’s good war. Therefore even a good method. Marketing, the end justifies the means. In real life, it’s not good to lie, but on the Internet, everybody lie. Therefore, Antoine has registred the website Whosdaboss under a false name, and gave legal address as “Gare de Juvisy” (which is a french train station).
Rachel remains unavailable outside Facebook, and continues her work. She sends new messages to journalists at Le Monde, by presenting herself as an old colleague of the house, which became a PR for a websites editor and eager to reconnect with her former colleagues: “You might have heard of whosdaboss.com, Against which Paris Hilton herself (!!!) engaged a complaint, it has given us an enormous visibility in the USA. Well, it would make me happy to have a drink one of these 4. ” Would you?
