It doesn't take much to convince social networking giant Facebook that somebody is dead, a report has revealed.
Facebook created a feature intended to hold profiles for deceased people, so that only directly connected family and friends can view or leave tributes or messages in memory of the departed.

But the feature, that was intended to be a sensitive and respectful service, has become a weapon for mischievous types looking to mess with other.

According to ABC News, by simply going to the " Memorialization Request" page and filling out a form, including a link to an obituary, anybody can take someone else off Facebook.

The obituary needs to have the same name (or at least a close name), but doesn't need to match any other details on the profile, the report said.

When pages are memorialized, they are removed from sidebars, timelines and friend suggestions and searches, the report added.

The report pointed out that this is likely to prevent people from seeing their friends who have died pop up on their newsfeed, and to prevent people from hacking into the accounts of dead people.