Like just about every other American chick, Ashlie Southard made Facebook and MySpace her second home. So when she discovered a stranger was impersonating her online, it was as invasive — and terrifying — -as a break-in.

Until recently, Ashlie Southard, 19, logged on to MySpace and Facebook as casually as she brushed her teeth or went to class. Like millions of people around the world, she had that mildly addictive habit of signing on several times a day to share news and pics with her friends-never really stopping to think that what she posted might, quite literally, take on a life of its own.

But this past January, Ashlie’s easy relationship with the Internet came to a halt, replaced by a disturbing paranoia. She received a bizarre e-mail from a girlfriend asking her why she had two accounts on MySpace and Facebook. Ashlie thought her friend was confused until she clicked the links to the profiles. She couldn’t believe what she saw-it was her name and her face staring back at her on the screen. “Both profile pictures were photos I had taken on New Year’s Eve and posted on my accounts,” she recalls.

The idea that someone could assume her identity so easily, and so plausibly, made her feel almost sick. “I felt violated,” she says. “It’s like they’re playing a head game, and it’s scary not to know who’s behind it.”

Ashlie’s not alone. Although MySpace and Facebook declined to release information on how many users report fake profiles, Ashlie’s situation appears to be increasingly common as social-networking sites gain popularity, according to Jayne Hitchcock, president of Working to Halt Online Abuse, an organization that fights online harassment. This year, Facebook added its 200 millionth user-that’s almost 25 times the population of New York City -and MySpace has 130 million users. And like in any big community, the more people there are, the more likely it is that you’ll encounter individuals with shady intentions.

“And yet,” says Hitchcock, “people feel safe behind their computer. They let their guard down, even though they wouldn’t dream of trusting a stranger if they were walking around a big city.”

People who create fake profiles prey on the openness of the sites’ members. The perpetrators often fall into two categories: people who are dissatisfied with their lives and use the Web to “try on” the personas of others and socially awkward people who use the anonymity to act out.

“Both types crave power and control-things they don’t have in the real world,” says psychologist Eric Shaw, PhD, a former intelligence officer who specializes in psychological profiling using computer content. “Social-networking sites are perfect for them because they can create and delete the account as they see fit, take time to mull over their actions, or turn off the computer if it’s not going their way.”

In hindsight, Ashlie says she wishes she’d been more cautious when adding friends online. In fact, one of her girlfriends had previously had a run-in with an online imposter, which Ashlie admits should have put her on guard.

What creeps out Ashlie the most, though, is not knowing who’s doing this and, more disturbing, why. “It’s invasive, and it could be anyone, even someone I know,” Ashlie says. “It makes me never want to talk to anybody on those sites.”

And that may be exactly the imposters’ goal, Shaw says. “They want their target to feel anxious and alienated,” he says. “They get a power trip from knowing that they’re making her worry.”

The one-sided anonymity can make the situation not just annoying but also potentially dangerous. The imposters have the advantage-they know who Ashlie is, where she lives, who her friends are-and she knows nothing about them (or even if it’s only one person).

“The victims have no way of knowing if this person is creating fake profiles for fun or if they’re dealing with someone who may take it to the next level,” says Hitchcock. “Most fake profiles aren’t a crime, but they need to be dealt with quickly.”

Soon after Ashlie learned of the imposters, she contacted MySpace and requested that the profile on their site be removed. She says she didn’t report the fake on Facebook because she didn’t know how, which Hitchcock says is common on both networks. Ashlie’s friends messaged the imposters, letting them know that they were onto them and asking them to delete their profiles. About a month later, the profiles on both MySpace and Facebook were gone, but Ashlie says she’s not sure if they were deleted by the sites or the imposters themselves.

That wasn’t the end of it though. Recently, another fake profile of Ashlie popped up on MySpace, except this one uses just her picture and not her name. “Whoever is behind it periodically changes the profile picture to be different people,” she says. And creepily, the picture up as of press time is just of Ashlie’s torso (she can see her tattoo and recognizes the photo).

Although Ashlie hasn’t deleted her online accounts, she says she’s more cautious now. “I rarely post pictures, and if I do, I put the settings on private so only the people I want seeing them have access,” she says.

Hitchcock says there are other ways you can protect yourself. “Make your profile as generic as possible- switch your picture to one that doesn’t have you in it, like a scenic shot,” she says. You also can use your initials or middle name so your identity is less obvious. The next step is to delete anyone you don’t know from your friend list.

“Now I tell all my friends to be careful about who they’re adding,” Ashlie says. “I don’t want this to happen to them.”

How to Take Down a Fake

If someone’s impersonating you online, you’ll want to get rid of that imposter-pronto. But it’s not so easy to figure out how. Here are step-by-step instructions.

ON MYSPACE

1 Scroll to the bottom of the homepage, and click on FAQ.

2 Choose the Contact MySpace tab, and fill in your e-mail address.

3 Select Imposter Profile/Account as the category.

4 In your message, explain that someone is posing as you, and include the URL to the fake profile.

5 Attach a photo salute to verify your identity. Here’s how: Write your MySpace URL or Friend ID clearly on a piece of paper. Take a picture of yourself holding it in front of you. Then upload it to your computer, and attach it to the form. Hit send, and you’ll receive a confirmation number.

ON FACEBOOK

1 Scroll to the bottom of the homepage, and click on Help.

2 In the search box, type report.

3 Select “I need to report an imposter profile” (the third option underneath Privacy: Report Abuse).

4 Fill in all the required info on the form. No salute is necessary.

5 After Facebook receives your message, they will evaluate the fake and delete it if it’s obviously an imposter. If they need more verification, they will ask you to fax or e-mail them a copy of government-issued ID.

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