Park Shin Hye's Social Media Identity Hijacked

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Park Shin Hye
Celebrities

Look up Park Shin Hye on Facebook and you will get at least eight pages that have that name and show a picture of the popular actress.

So, it's no surprise that this week, the actress found a suggestion that she friend herself under the Facebook function, People You Know. This function lists possible people you might want to friend, based on who your friends know.

Park was puzzled. Was it merely someone with the same name? She didn't know someone who had the same name. When she checked it out, things got even more confusing. Not only was the account under her name, the person they suggested she friend was really meant to be her. Someone had stolen her social media identity.

"On Facebook, I saw my own name popping up," tweeted the actress. "When I checked it out, the account was under my name, and the photos, schools, and even the friends and acquaintances listed on this account were exactly the same as my own. What is going on...?"

The person with the page even befriended Park's friends who were convinced she created the site. Most of the Park Shin Hye pages listed on Facebook are fan sites, which say as much and dispense information about the actress. Until now no one on Facebook had claimed to be the actress.

Hopefully Park's tweet will help clear up the confusion.

But it's not the first time that actors and singers have issued a statement about social media accounts claiming to be them. And when people believe such sites are real, they may also believe the false information that is found on them.

Last year, actress Kim Tae Hee had a fake account that started a rumor that she was married. In fact, Kim did not have a Facebook page. The account confused many people as some of her fellow actors and other celebrities were listed among her friends.

Only last month Girls Generation Soo Young, who will appear in "Dating Agency: Cyrano," warned fans about people who were impersonating her online. She was especially concerned about the effect it had on her SONE fans.

"I cannot stand watching the rampant impersonations that have been going on," said Soo Young. "At first I tried to laugh it off. But after seeing our SONEs' hearts become troubled by these perpetrators, wouldn't you get mad too? To the fake Soo Young, if you are reading this post, please stop now."

That's good advice for anyone impersonating a celebrity online

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