Some new social networking trend?Fakebooking is the practice of setting up phoney Facebook accounts in someone else's name, then posting messages purporting to be from that person.
Anybody we know?Lots of well-known people have been victims. This week, it emerged that Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet had been targeted by fakebookers, spurring the social networking site to close an account set up in her name.
When did they begin to suspect that "Kate Winslet" was an imposter?When she called rival Oscar nominee Angelina Jolie a "fat-lipped crazy cow".
Oh, dear. Not quite the sort of ladylike thing we'd expect from the refined star of Titanicand The Reader. And how did Angelina react to this insult?Mrs Pitt promptly responded via her own Facebook profile, calling Kate out for a celebrity death match on the Academy Awards red carpet. "Bitch. I'm getting out my favourite blade," she is reported as saying.
Er, I'm guessing that wasn't the real Angelina Jolie either.Correctamundo. Although an online slanging match has been going on between Ms "Winslet" and Ms "Jolie" in the run-up to the Oscars, in real life neither uses Facebook. Most celebrities are too busy to bother with such sites, but that hasn't stopped pranksters from setting up fake accounts for stars and using them to stir up a little controversy.
Who else has been fakebooked?Recently, a Facebook site supposedly belonging to Eastenders star Kara Tointon began posting what it claimed were future plotlines from the BBC soap. Furious EastEndersbosses rushed to reassure viewers that these were fabricated. And Guyana's president Bharrat Jagdeo was none too amused when he learned a fake profile had been set up in his name. He sent his cops to track down the prankster.
You don't mess with the serious folk.Jagdeo should have been thrilled to be part of an elite that includes George Bush, Fidel Castro and Barack Obama. The most-impersonated star on the web used to be Britney Spears, but she's been overtaken by Winslet. It's not just celebs who suffer. Last year, Matthew Firsht, a businessman, successfully sued an ex-schoolfriend for libel over a fake Facebook profile. When you ring that doorbell, run fast enough so you don't get caught.
So, how many pretend profiles are out there?It's reckoned that up to 40 per cent of Facebook's accounts are phoney, so next time you're having a nice online chat with John Travolta, don't believe every word he says. Facebook chiefs are worried about all the fakery out there, so they've been shutting down suspect accounts. Only problem is, they also accidentally closed down some genuine accounts, including those of footy star David Beckham and actress Lindsay Lohan.
Try at home:I should have suspected a fake when "Tom" started going on about "Scientology whackos".
Try at work:Listen, dahling, you're nobody unless you've been fakebooked.
