83 Million Facebook Accounts Are Considered Fake, Duplicates

83 million Facebook accounts are either fake of duplicates, according to CNN. Out of the 955 million users who visit the site on a monthly basis, 8.7 percent of these folks are logging into fake or duplicate accounts, a problem the company hopes to correct in the very near future. Since the company is built upon people using their real identities when they visit the site, Facebook is preparing to crack down on those individuals they feel are more than a little dubious.

Of course, Facebook isn’t saying that everyone with a duplicate account is up to no good. Far from it. In order to separate the innocent from the malicious, the company is dividing these profiles into three different categories. Duplicate accounts, of which there are an estimated 45.8 million, are usually created by parents for their children, people on behalf of other individuals, and those who, for whatever reason, just want another profile. By having more than one personal account, these people are in violation of the company’s terms of service.

The second group includes those individuals who create accounts for businesses, pets, and various groups and charities. Facebook would prefer these accounts to be public pages. Interested in having the world worship your talkative Maine Coon kitty? Then it’s probably best if you created a Public Figure profile for your furry best friend. That way, you won’t fall in with the 22.9 million people who are doing this on a regular basis.

Last, but certainly not least, are the bad guys, those folks who create Facebook accounts just to bombard innocent users with spam. Although this group contains the least amount of offenders, there are an estimated 14.3 million individuals out there who utilize Facebook for the sole purpose of sending you an enormous amount of garbage.

The BBC reports that, since a lot of fake users are “liking” advertisements, the effectiveness of the company’s ad system is being called into question by its clients.

“We generate a substantial majority of our revenue from advertising,” the company stated in a recent filing. “The loss of advertisers, or reduction in spending by advertisers with Facebook, could seriously harm our business.”

Should you discover that the company has closed one or more of your duplicate accounts, you’ll need to contact Facebook if you wish to create a new one.