Report a fake profile and block it

Step by step

1. Click the Start button! Look at the bottom of this practice computer: the dark strip there is its taskbar. In the middle of it, click the Start button (four blue squares). The main menu opens just above it. If you see two taskbars, use the one inside this page.
2. Click "Browser". In the menu that opened, click the "Browser" tile (a square with a small picture and its name under it): the app opens in its own window.
3. Go to . Click in the address bar at the top, type and press Enter. It is a practice social network: made-up people, nothing is really shared.
4. Open "Messages". At the top of the page, click "Messages". A message from a name you know is not always from that person.
5. Open the message from "Emily Carter". Click the message from Emily Carter, the one marked "Not your friend yet".
6. Click "View profile". She says her old account was locked and asks for $200 in gift cards, in secret. Real friends don't ask like this. Click "View profile" to check.
7. Click "Report profile". The clues: she joined 2 days ago, has 3 friends and no posts, while your real Emily joined in 2016. This profile copies her name. Click "Report profile".
8. Choose the reason. Open the "What is wrong with this profile?" list and choose "Pretending to be someone I know".
9. Click "Send report". Click "Send report". The network checks the profile and may close it. The profile is not told it was you.
10. Click "Block this profile". Click the red "Block this profile" button. She can no longer write to you or see what you share.
11. Close this window. You are done with this window, so close it: click the ✕ button at the top right corner of the "Browser" window (on its title bar, the strip at the top). The window disappears.

These steps are written for SafePC, a pretend Windows-style computer in your web browser. On your own computer, the buttons and menus may look a little different, but the idea is the same.

More lessons in Social media, safely

• Sign in and look around
• Post a photo to "Family only"
• Check your privacy settings
• Hide your birthday and phone number
• Turn down a friend request from a stranger