How to Report an Imposter Account and Stolen Photo on Facebook

If you read my last post you will know that someone set up a facebook account in my name with a photograph of my 5 year old daughter as the profile picture.

I found the whole reporting process a complete nightmare if I am honest, as it is almost impossible to deal with human being, rather than a computer generated checkbox and automatic reply.

However, I have discovered two ways of getting the case reviewed by an actual person and it worked:

1. Go to How to Report an Account Pretending to be Me? and click on the link ‘Filling Out this Form’:

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It will then take you to this page, where you need to choose the option most relevant to you.

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In my case I clicked ‘Someone has created an account pretending to be me or a friend’ which brings up a further choice.

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If you click ‘Yes’ it will take you back to the generic “Report this user” instructions that is all automated that has got me nowhere, however, if you click ‘No’ it will give you the option to fill out a form that will be read by an actual human being.

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Do not check the ‘No, this account is impersonating my friend’ as it will not allow you to report anything, however, checking one of the other boxes will bring up a form for you to fill in.

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Fill in the form with as much information as possible and ‘send’. I attached a copy of my driving license as proof of my identity. I would advise that you be concise but to the point in the additional info as it was clear they didn’t read mine, as replied with “our records indicate that the user you reported simply has the same name as you“. They obviously did not read that they were using a picture of my child too.

2.  If you want to Report a Photo or Video that Violates the Privacy of your Child clicking the link will take you to this page:

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Click the link ‘fill out this form’ which will then open up the page below. As you click your checkboxes more of the form opens up giving you further options to choose.

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Once you click where you live you then get sent to a new form which asks whose rights are being violated.

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Find the URL of the photograph you want to report and enter it in the box provided along with your name and surname and submit.

To find the URL, go to the profile where the picture is displayed and click on the photograph. The URL will appear in your URL bar at the top of the screen. It will look something like this.

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When the form is submitted you will get this message so you know it has been sent.

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I will advise it is not a quick process and I have yet to hear back from facebook about removing this fraudulent account and I will update this post with the timescale as soon as it is resolved.

UPDATE: The account was removed within 48 hours of my first report being sent.

As the world’s #1 for social media, their customer service needs serious improvement!

 

 

22 thoughts on “How to Report an Imposter Account and Stolen Photo on Facebook”

  1. I read about the imposter account and having also read reports of bloggers finding themselves being impersonated so that other people get to review things in their name, I think we do have to be increasingly vigilant. I’m glad that the account has been taken down but that is a ludicrously long way round, especially when someone was using a photo of your child. Facebook seriously need to review this system as I can imagine it must be a common problem

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  2. This is so helpful as this is one of my worst nightmares. My personal account has high privacy which is where I keep the pictures of my children. I rarely post their faces publicly as there are too many strange people out there. Despite this I am sure those in the know can access whatever they want. Social media needs to get better at having a human face to deal with these things. I have found Instagram helpful when I have reported pornographic followers. Which again makes me feel uneasy about being online. Better to clamp down as soon as possible. I’ll be saving this.

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  3. When I read your post the other day I tried to report the other account but I couldn’t get any further as I’m not a friend of yours on Facebook. What a terrible process. It’s also shocking that at age 13 they seem to think children are adults!

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  4. I am sorry this happened to you and you are right about their customer service, it is totally shocking. I have had to prove who I am many times and they forever to come back to you x

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  5. This is awful! I had several accounts created in my name and the names of my family (all by the same demented individual) but had they done it in my childs name I would have lost the plot!! Do you have any clue who did it? I’m so glad that Facebook removed the account, and rightly so!!

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  6. I’m glad that the account was removed within 48 hours Kara – it is awful how imposters can set up online as anyone – with no checks to their identity and what makes it worse is them using your daughter’s photo. Shameful.

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  7. I had a notification saying this had been taken down as i reported it too, i just dont get why people do such stupid things a friend of our Facebook account got hacked and they changed her name to an indian mans name and although she saw the funny side its an eyeopener that nothing is safe on the Internet.

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  8. There’s some weird and cruel people out there. I’m glad you were able to sort this out. I’m sharing this post because I think it’s really important, well-written and easy to follow. Thanks!

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  9. I’m so sorry that this happened to you. Why on earth do people do this? I agree with you, FB customer service and complaints service is an absolute joke.

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  10. I followed this on your social media account. I can’t believe how long the process takes and how long they take to get back to you. It’s so frustrating. I’m so glad they’ve now taking it down. What an odd thing for someone to do. x

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  11. Oh no what a nightmare 🙁 I can imagine how stressful this was for you too. A friend of mine was saying how someone has set one up of her the other day. I will hae to share this post with her ..

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