Someone has made a fake profile pretending to be me — what can I do?

Cloning does not require hacking. Your public photographs and friend list are copied into a new account, which then messages the people who know you. It is fast, cheap and effective, and the platform response depends almost entirely on using the right reporting route and supplying the right evidence.

Safety

Step by step

1. Screenshot everything first.The profile, the account name and identifier, the messages it has sent, and the date. Fake accounts disappear quickly once reported, and the evidence goes with them.
2. Use the impersonation report, not the general one.Every major platform has a specific route for someone pretending to be you, usually requiring you to confirm your own identity. It is handled differently and far more reliably than a generic report.
3. Ask contacts to report it too.Several reports on the same account move faster than one. Post from your real profile asking people to report and not to engage.
4. Warn people plainly and early.A short post and a message to anyone likely to be targeted — older relatives, colleagues, anyone who would send money if you asked. Say explicitly that you will never ask for money by message.
5. Tell anyone who has already been contacted what to do.Do not reply, do not send money, screenshot and report. If they have sent money, they should ring their bank immediately on 159 or the number on their card.
6. Lock down what is copyable.Set your friend list to private, limit who can see your photographs, and restrict who can message or tag you. The clone is built from what is public.
7. Escalate if the platform refuses.Appeal the decision, submit identity verification, and report again with the new evidence. If a real business or your professional name is being used, that may give you a trademark or a legal route the platform takes more seriously.
8. Report it as a crime where it fits.Using a false identity to obtain money is fraud — report to Action Fraud, or Police Scotland on 101. Harassment, threats and malicious communications are separate offences and should go to the police directly.

Tips

• A clone usually appears within days of a friend's account being taken over, because the friend list came from there. If several people you know are being cloned, that is the source.
• Making your friend list private is the single most effective preventative measure, because it removes the target list.
• If you have any public profile — a business, a trade, a community role — set up a search alert for your own name so you find clones before your customers do.

Common mistakes

• Messaging the fake account to confront them — It confirms an engaged target, and anything you say can be screenshotted and used with your contacts.
• Reporting only once and waiting — Volume and the correct route both matter. One generic report frequently goes nowhere.
• Deleting the evidence once it is taken down — If money was taken from anyone, the police and the banks will want the screenshots and account identifiers.

Questions people ask