Somebody has set up a fake Facebook account using the name and image of journalist Michelle Malkin, for the purpose of defaming her. Here is a screenshot of the fraudulent “Michelle Malkin” Facebook page, which is [was] profile number 501128701. [UPDATE: As of Oct. 13, this phony Malkin profile seems to have been deleted.]

The fake page has a genuine (but stolen) photograph of Michelle Malkin, and lists her ineterests as: “White supremacy, Asian guilt, being white, blatant racism.”

Facebook records show that the unidentified perpetrator created the fraudulent Malkin profile on September 27. Perhaps coincidentally, Malkin-obsessed UNC professor Eric Muller posted his fake Malkin bikini picture post the very next day. (This post was subsequently deleted by Muller, but Michelle still has a screenshot of it.)

I created a Facebook account myself on October 2, in the course of researching the source of Muller’s photo. I found this “Michelle Malkin” account at that time, but could not see the full profile, because I was not on the account owner’s list of “friends.” I applied to be a friend of “Michelle,” and waited. Yesterday at around noon, whoever owns this account approved me as a “friend,” and so for the first time I am able to see the fraudulent and defamatory assertions posted there.

Facebook has policies against identity theft and fraud. I will officially register my disapproval right here in this venue, but I am not sure if I have standing to lodge a complaint with Facebook. Perhaps Michelle has to do that herself. And I hope she does.

UPDATE 1: Eleven million dollars! That’s a message, all right. According to my calculations, if each person who has defamed Michelle Malkin online owed her $11 million, she would acquire more than six times the entire world’s wealth.

UPDATE 2: Thanks to World Net Daily for spotlighting this. The phony Facebook page has apparently been pulled down Oct. 13.