Is that Facebook friend for real?

The Internet is the easiest place for a person to create a new identity. People are disguised behind a screen and can quickly spout out lies with only a few strokes on a keyboard.

Social media allow people to connect with "friends" they may have never met. Often, relationships are developed.

While there is potential for an Internet-born relationship to be genuine, there is an increasing risk that a relationship is developed under false pretenses and based on lies.

Without actually meeting someone in person, no one can be sure if the individual represented in his or her profile is precisely the person they befriend online.

A high-profile athlete said this winter that he was duped by a fake online profile.

Deadspin.com broke the story of Manti Te'o's fictitious girlfriend in January. The Notre Dame linebacker never met his girlfriend in person, but they spent hours talking on the phone.

Te'o's girlfriend turned out to be Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who had professional vocal training and was able to manipulate his voice while on the phone with Te'o.

But why would someone pretend to be someone he is not?

"There are almost as many reasons why people lie as there are people," said Donald Hantula, professor of psychology at Temple University. "Someone may make a fake profile to play a prank on a friend or rival, while others are just trying to figure out the optimal profile for online dating."

Charles V. Ford, author of Lies! Lies!! Lies!!!: The Psychology of Deceit, wrote:  "There are many different reasons that any one lie gets told. Greed, wish fulfillment, sadistic impulses, and the need to bolster one's self esteem are among these complex motives. Perhaps the most important reason that people lie, however, is that the lie facilitates self-deception; people lie to others in order to lie to themselves."

Social media have made deception much easier. As the number of people who use social media increases, so does the number of fake profiles.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook released statistics last year claiming it believes that there are more than 83 million fake accounts on its social network.

With this much deception, it is extremely important that users enter websites equipped with skills to identify false profiles so they can protect their personal information and their emotions.

A posting on Northeastern University's website lists several tips on how to identify a fake profile.

"A retouched profile photo or a photo looking like a super model usually indicates the profile is fake," the article says. "You should also search the person on Google to see if they are referenced anywhere else."

Generally, fake accounts do not have personal information, including hobbies, filled out, according to the Northeastern article.

It has become increasingly easy to be duped on social media websites. As the amount of fake profiles rises, social media users need to take extra precautions online.