How to report a fake TikTok account that's pretending to be you
Someone made a TikTok account with your name, your face or your videos. Report it in the app, or on TikTok's web form if you're not on TikTok.
First, before you report
Don't message the fake. Don't comment, tag it or argue. It tips them off, they block you or change the name, and your proof goes with it.
- Copy the fake account's link, not just its name. Names change; the link is harder to hide.
- Take dated screenshots: the profile, a few posts, and any messages it sent people. Ask followers who got messages to screenshot them for you.
- Post from your real account: "This is my only account. If 'I' message you asking for money, it isn't me. Please report it."
Report it in the app
- Open the fake account's profile.
- Tap the Share arrow at the top (on a computer, ⋯ More options).
- Tap Report, then Report account.
- Choose Pretending to Be Someone, then Me.
- Tap Submit.
You can check on it under Settings and privacy, then Support, then Safety Center, then Report records. TikTok's steps: Report an impersonation account.
Not on TikTok? Use the web form
In the U.S., open TikTok's request form and choose Report an Impersonation Account on TikTok, then Me under who is being impersonated. You can list up to 10 fake profile links. TikTok asks for a clear photo of you holding your ID, with your face and the ID photo both showing, and a signature. Outside the U.S., use the feedback form: Report a potential violation, then Account violation, then Impersonation.
What to put in the report
- The fake account's link, and 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.
- The ID photo only on TikTok's own form. Never send it to anyone who messages you, even someone who says they're from TikTok.
If it copied your posts or photos
If the fake reposted your videos, file on TikTok's copyright form. Only the owner or someone you authorize can file it.
What happens next
TikTok doesn't give a time frame. It may update you in your TikTok inbox, and the in-app report shows under Report records. The web form only takes reports from the person being copied or their representative, so friends should report from the app.
Still up after a week? Report it again with any new screenshots, and ask a few people who know you to report it too. If anyone sent the fake money, they can report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI at ic3.gov.
Fake on another app too?
Not sure where else it is? The free 10-minute self-check searches your name, look-alike handles and your headshot.
Don't want to do this every month? Copycat Watch looks for fakes of you each month, fills in the reports, and files again if the fake is still up on day 7 and day 14. The first check is free.
This page links each platform's own help 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. Platforms change their menus; if a step doesn't match, the help page link has the current one.