Last week Nature’s Lucas Laursen exposed a Facebook network of stem cell scientists that was not all it seemed. Over 100 scientists, policy-makers and journalists have had their identities purloined to create a fake network of people linked to stem cell science.
One of the few real people in the network was Forbes science editor Matthew Herper, who accepted a seemingly authentic friend request from a fake version of Washington Post reporter Rick Weiss. Now Herper has written a piece for Forbes entitled, ‘I Was Impersonated On Facebook’.
“My trip from Facebook to fakebook began in February when I got a friend request from Rick Weiss, the former Washington Post science writer. I’d admired Weiss’ work for years and was thrilled to speak on a panel with him in Madison, Wis.; I accepted the request immediately,” he says.
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