A student at the University of Prince Edward Island found out the hard way about the risk of identity theft on social networking sites when four police officers knocked on his door last October.

The police wanted to question Adam Morrison about threats he was allegedly making in his Facebook profile.

"The cops were worried I was going to kill a bunch of people. I was on the verge of almost having a heart attack that night," Morrison said.

Police believed that Morrison had posted remarks saying he wanted to kill people in a Columbine-style massacre, but after some investigation found he had no connection with the postings.

While he had created a Facebook profile, someone else set up a second account using Morrison's name, a fake birth date and a picture of Morrison from a past party.

"I was sick to my stomach over this whole experience," he said.

High school student 'felt really violated'

Facebook allows users to choose who can see their profiles, but when Bluefield High School student Kaily Norris tried to look at a profile with her name on it she was shocked to find her access was blocked.

"It had my picture, so it had to be someone I knew, who I had let take my picture, whom I had trusted. I couldn't get any access to the information. I felt really violated. I had no idea what they were saying to my friends or anything," Norris said.

On its site, Facebook says it doesn't allow fake accounts.

But experts admit it's difficult to regulate these social networks.

"Now kids are spending most of their time on social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. Those types of environments are much more global, open to a wider audience. So we're finding there's much more issues," said Cathy Wing, with the Media Awareness Network in Charlottetown.

"You have a city of a million people, how do you police a city that big?" Wing said.

Facebook has removed both Morrison's and Norris's fake profiles. Police are investigating Morrison's case, but said it may be difficult to find the culprit.

Wing said education is the solution and kids have to be taught right from wrong in the cyber-world.

"They see the internet as a free-for-all, a tool of free expression. They don't understand the same laws that apply offline also apply online," Wing said.