Buddy basics: Who's hiding behind that face?

Beware of the IDs in the electronic era, says a social-utility website subscriber, who was duped by a woman posing as someone else.

Mohammad, 26, an Emirati, says he was shocked when he discovered that the girl he befriended on the popular website, Facebook, was actually posing as her "very good looking" cousin.

After a year of regular internet correspondences and phone chats, he felt betrayed when he finally met her and realised that she was an older woman who looked nothing like her slimmer younger cousin. He didn't lose any money as is often the case in internet fraud but his trust suffered a setback. "I was stunned to see someone very different," he says, after their first meeting.

"She was a friend for a whole year. We formed a strong bond, and I got very attached to her. I considered her a very dear friend of mine. We had similar interests and I never expected any surprises." He says the woman later apologised to him on the phone. However, she took umbrage at his reaction and accused him of being shallow for caring about her looks so much.

For Mohammad, it was total disappointment. In fact, he withdrew from public meetings, "I couldn't talk to anyone; I found it hard to trust again, I stayed home for weeks. People should not trust the pictures posted on this website unless they are acquainted with the person… otherwise they can be anybody, you will never know."

Facebook file

• Launched in February 4, 2004, Facebook's founder is Mark Zuckerburg, a former Harvard student
• With a revenue of Dh368 million, Facebook now has 58 million users worldwide
• Ontario government employees and cabinet ministers are banned from accessing Facebook, as well as the University of Mexico faculty and students. Facebook is also banned in Syria
• In the US, Facebook has been used in many investigations such as the hit and run case of Carlee Wines