Am I being copied? A free 10-minute check.
Six searches with free tools show whether someone has made an account with your name or face, copied your posts, or put your photo in an ad. Open each step, do it, then move to the next. No sign-up, and nothing here asks for your ID.
Do it once now, then again every month or two. Fakes come and go.
The check
Keep a note open as you go. For anything that looks wrong, save the link and take a screenshot with the date showing before you do anything else.
1. Search your name and handles 3 min
In the search bar of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube, search your full name, your business name and your handle.
Then try the spellings a copycat uses:
- An extra or missing letter: janedoe, jannedoe, janedo
- A dot or underscore: jane.doe, jane_doe, janedoe_
- Add-ons: _official, real, therapy, coach, rn, realty, shop
- Look-alike letters: rn for m, l for I, 0 for o
A fake usually has your headshot, only a few posts and a recent join date. It often follows your followers.
2. Search your headshot 2 min
Use the exact photo from your profile. Upload it to each of these:
On Google and Bing, tap the camera icon in the search bar.
Look for pages you don't know: other social accounts, dating sites, or a business's "our team" page you never worked for.
3. Search one of your lines 1 min
Pick one sentence from your best post or your website, a line only you would write. Search it on Google inside quote marks:
"the exact sentence from your post"
Quote marks make Google find those words in that order. Any page that isn't yours with the same sentence copied it. Try your bio line too.
4. Turn on Google's "Results about you" 2 min, once
Google's free tool emails you when your phone number, home address or email shows up in Google search, and lets you ask for those results to be removed.
You sign in with your Google account and add the details you want watched.
5. Search the ad libraries 1 min
Scam ads borrow real faces to sell supplements, courses and investments. Search your name in both:
Meta's covers Facebook and Instagram ads running now. TikTok's mostly lists ads shown in Europe and the UK, so an empty result there doesn't clear you.
6. Check your email for leaks 1 min
Type each email you use for work into Have I Been Pwned. It shows which known data breaches included it.
If it shows up, change that password, use a different one on every account, and turn on two-step login. A leaked password is how a real account gets taken over.
Found a fake?
Never message the fake. Don't comment, tag it or argue. It tips them off, they block you and change the name, and your proof goes with it.
- Save proof first: the link, a dated screenshot of the profile, and any messages it sent your followers (ask them to send you screenshots).
- Report it on the platform's own page. Links below, or follow our step-by-step guides for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn.
- Tell your followers from your real account: "This is my only account. If 'I' message you asking for money, it isn't me. Please report it."
- Instagram impersonation formWorks without logging in.
- Facebook impostor formWorks without logging in.
- TikTok impersonation formChoose Report an Impersonation Account. Asks for a photo of you holding your ID.
- LinkedIn: report fake profilesOpen the fake profile, tap More, then Report.
- YouTube: report a fake channelSigned in, open the fake channel, click …more in its description, then Report user.
- X: report a fake accountWorks without an X account. The form checks a photo of your ID and a selfie.
What to put in your report
- The fake account's link, not just its name. Names change; links are harder to hide.
- The link to your real account.
- What it copies: your name, your photo, your posts, your business name.
- What it's doing, in one line: "messaging my followers asking for deposits."
- The date you found it.
- A photo of your ID only if the form asks, and only on the platform's own form. Never send it to anyone who messages you, us included.
If a follower sent the fake money, they can report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI at ic3.gov.
If someone used your identity for credit
A new card, loan or account you didn't open means more than a fake profile. Do these in order:
- Freeze your credit at all three bureaus. It's free, takes a few minutes each, and stops new credit in your name. You can lift it when you apply for a loan.
- Report it at IdentityTheft.gov. The FTC's free site gives you a report and a step-by-step recovery plan.
- Get an IRS identity protection PIN. It stops anyone else filing a tax return with your Social Security number. You get a new one each year.
Got a text, email or link that looks off? Is this a scam? Paste it and see the signs. Free, and it never leaves your phone.
Want a person to do this every month? Copycat Watch watches five apps for your face, your name and look-alike handles, marks your posts and downloads so copies give themselves away, and fills in the takedowns for you. We never ask for your ID or passwords.
This page names free tools and platform pages so you can find them. Headed In LLC isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of them, and this isn't legal advice.