LAT staffers warned about Facebook 'friends'

A number of Facebook "friend" requests have surfaced recently claiming to be from employees of the Los Angeles Times, but with little other info on their profiles — and always a young woman's photo. I've been getting them, and so have several others — enough that the Times' reader engagement editor felt moved to alert staffers to beware of spammers. His note is after the jump.

From: Beck, Martin
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2010 12:08 PM
To: yyeditall
Subject: Times 'Employees' on Facebook

Hi all,

In the last week or so many Times Facebook users have reported receiving friend requests from young women claiming to work for the Times. It’s fairly clear that they do not. The profiles in question were all created very recently and all include very little information other than a fetching photo.

If you have accepted such a friend request, we recommend “unfriending” them. You can also report suspicious accounts to Facebook directly by clicking the “Report/Block this person” link on the lower left-hand side of the profile page.

Here’s a list of some of the suspects (some of which have apparently already been pulled down):

Gaynelle Josphine
Jacelyn Gregory
Brenda Michelle
Dacia Josphine
Brittanie Agripina
Ashton Aracely
Sueann Maye
Gloria Evelyn
Nannette Elaina

Questions? Let me know.

Martin

Martin Beck
Reader engagement editor

The photo is from Aracely's Facebook profile.