Virginia Beach, Va. - Alex Tubeman says he's a junior at Cox High School. He writes on his Facebook profile: "New school, new kids, same me."
Except no one knows who he really is.
"I have never seen him before."
Jamie Vest, a Cox soccer player, is also a junior. She and her friends know most of the class, but not Alex. Even so, when the handsome new boy in town sent her a friend request, she accepted, although she'd not met him in person.
"My first thought was, why are you friends with them?" asks her mom Theresa.
"His profile looks really real," says Jamie. "Because he's got family pictures and stuff."
And he said he was a Cox classmate. Jamie and her friends had suspicions about Alex, but wanted to see for themselves. After all, they shared the same Facebook friends, and let's face it, he's pretty good looking.
Alex's profile is one of at least three NewsChannel 3 has determined to be fake, all centered around Cox High School. The others are Cody Sting, and Harriot Smith. School officials confirm to NewsChannel 3 there are no students with those names at Cox High School or any other Virginia Beach high school.
But in the past few weeks, hundreds of real Cox students have received friend requests from the trio. No one knows what the imposters are up to, why they're targeting Cox, or what they want with that access.
"(It) makes me nervous and uncomfortable," syas Theresa. "They post all kinds of pictures on their profile and share them among their friends. And if he is on their friends list, he can get to all those photographs and information about siblings and friends, and family and things that are going on at school."
When no one ever saw these kids in school, a suspicious Cox student Googled the phrase "girl with cell phone." Up popped a news article with an old stock photograph. The same picture on Harriot's profile.
Theresa suspects it may be another student, or even a parent behind this. But she worries it could also be a pedophile.
Either way, it's been a teaching moment for the parent and her teen.
"Don't friend him just because he is friends with everybody else."
Some of our viewers wondered if the imposters were school teachers or police looking for anything illegal or harmful. But they told NewsChannel 3 they were not behind this. We also asked Facebook to reveal the true identities, but a spokesman said he couldn't without a court order. The best thing you can do is to delete these friends from your child's Facebook account.
Except no one knows who he really is.
"I have never seen him before."
Jamie Vest, a Cox soccer player, is also a junior. She and her friends know most of the class, but not Alex. Even so, when the handsome new boy in town sent her a friend request, she accepted, although she'd not met him in person.
"My first thought was, why are you friends with them?" asks her mom Theresa.
"His profile looks really real," says Jamie. "Because he's got family pictures and stuff."
And he said he was a Cox classmate. Jamie and her friends had suspicions about Alex, but wanted to see for themselves. After all, they shared the same Facebook friends, and let's face it, he's pretty good looking.
Alex's profile is one of at least three NewsChannel 3 has determined to be fake, all centered around Cox High School. The others are Cody Sting, and Harriot Smith. School officials confirm to NewsChannel 3 there are no students with those names at Cox High School or any other Virginia Beach high school.
But in the past few weeks, hundreds of real Cox students have received friend requests from the trio. No one knows what the imposters are up to, why they're targeting Cox, or what they want with that access.
"(It) makes me nervous and uncomfortable," syas Theresa. "They post all kinds of pictures on their profile and share them among their friends. And if he is on their friends list, he can get to all those photographs and information about siblings and friends, and family and things that are going on at school."
When no one ever saw these kids in school, a suspicious Cox student Googled the phrase "girl with cell phone." Up popped a news article with an old stock photograph. The same picture on Harriot's profile.
Theresa suspects it may be another student, or even a parent behind this. But she worries it could also be a pedophile.
Either way, it's been a teaching moment for the parent and her teen.
"Don't friend him just because he is friends with everybody else."
Some of our viewers wondered if the imposters were school teachers or police looking for anything illegal or harmful. But they told NewsChannel 3 they were not behind this. We also asked Facebook to reveal the true identities, but a spokesman said he couldn't without a court order. The best thing you can do is to delete these friends from your child's Facebook account.
