EX FRIEND REQUEST ON FACEBOOK

[paul2501]

I recently received a friend request from my ex girlfriend and when I messaged her to confirm this she said no and her facebook must have been hacked.Is this possible,why would they try add me?.It seems a big coincidence for her facebook to be hacked then try add her ex?Any advice on this from a computer expert would be appreciated!Thankyou

[truenorth]

paul2501. Welcome to the CH forums. Yes it would be possible under certain circumstances (such as someone using her device and sending you a message). However now that you have confirmed it being a ruse time to move on. As to this "why would they try add me?." the answer is only limited by the imagination of the person that would venture an opinion on the question you have asked. truenorth

[jason2074]

FB Friends request could come from  people you have currently added which is to suggest friends that are common or mutual.
http://www.facebook.com/help?page=767

[Rob Pomeroy]

I'm not sure I'm in agreement with either piece of advice above.  A typical, possibly automated, phishing/identity theft strategy is to compromise one account and then use that account to attempt to trick other people into revealing personal information.  In this scenario, Nefarious Fraudster hacks into  ExGF's account and immediately parses all ExGF's Facebook date to acquire details of all possible further targets.  Immediately sends friend requests to everyone in order to extract information from their Info pages, once the friend request is accepted.

Given that many people have extremely insecure passwords, this kind of strategy is all too common.

Alternatively, maybe ExGF was drunk and hopeful.