Fake accounts using a business's identity usually fall into two groups, and platforms handle them differently: accounts pretending to be your business, and accounts using your name or logo to promote something else, often a scam.
Impersonation report or IP report?
If the account is only pretending to be you, the platform's impersonation report is the right path. If it also uses your logo, product photos or other trademarked or copyrighted material, that's a separate trademark or copyright report, reviewed by a different team. Filing both accurately gets better results than picking one and hoping it covers everything.
Where to report
- Instagram and Facebook
Open the account, choose Report, then the impersonation option. It works even if you don't follow the account, and Meta has a separate web form if you don't have an account on the platform. Meta's Brand Rights Protection programme for repeat cases requires a registered trademark and an application.
- TikTok, X and LinkedIn
Each has an in-app report option for impersonation on the profile, plus web forms for intellectual property complaints, which ask for your trademark or proof of ownership.
- Lookalike websites
Report to the domain registrar and the hosting provider. If the site is phishing for passwords or payments, also report it to Google Safe Browsing and Microsoft so browsers warn visitors.
Evidence to collect first
- The profile itself
Screenshots of the profile, its handle and its URL, plus the posts or messages that show the impersonation.
- Your official presence
Links to your real accounts and website, so the reviewer can compare.
- Proof of rights
Your trademark registration, if you have one, and original versions of any logo or images being used.
- Customer contact
Any messages or payments customers made to the fake account, with their permission.
When the account is running a scam
Act on the customer side as well as the platform side. Post a short notice on your real accounts and website naming the fake handle, tell customers you'll never ask for payment by DM, and if people have lost money, encourage them to report it to their bank and to the national fraud reporting service.
Dealing with a fake account right now:
We identify whether a case is impersonation, IP infringement or both, collect the evidence and file the right report with each platform.