A fake Facebook profile is pretending to be you: the impersonation report and what to attach

If someone created a Facebook profile pretending to be you, report it from the profile itself: click Options below the cover photo, select Report profile and follow the prompts. If you don’t have a Facebook account or can’t log in, Facebook’s impostor form does the same job, and it is where you attach a photo of your ID. Facebook’s help page is plain about the rule: profiles and Pages that impersonate other people go against its Community Standards and aren’t allowed.

This guide covers both routes, what Facebook asks you to attach, and what happens after you report.

The short answer

• You have an account: report from the fake profile (Options, then Report profile) or the fake Page (Options, then Report Page).
• No account, or locked out: use Facebook’s Report an Impostor Account form, with a photo of your ID.
• What to attach: one government ID showing your name plus your date of birth or photo, or two different non-government IDs.
• A friend is being copied: you can report from inside Facebook, but the form only accepts the person impersonated or their authorized representative.
• Who is behind it: Facebook points you to a lawyer or the police, not to a direct answer.
• Before anything else: save the link, screenshots and any messages the fake sent.

Is it impersonation, or just someone with your name?

Meta’s authentic identity policy prohibits impersonating another person by “using their image(s), name, or likeness with the aim to deceive others”, and by speaking in the voice of a person you are not authorized to represent. The key words are “with the aim to deceive”. A profile using your photos and presenting itself as you is the clear case. A stranger who happens to share your name is not.

The same policy allows accounts dedicated to fan sentiment, humor, parody, satire, criticism and commentary, provided the account makes its unofficial status abundantly clear, at minimum in the account name. A clearly labeled parody profile is usually not impersonation, even if you dislike it. If a profile exists to mock or harass you rather than to pass as you, report it for bullying or harassment instead of impersonation.

Before you report: save the evidence

In our experience, fake profiles change their name, lock down or disappear once reports start. Save these first:

• the link to the fake profile or Page (Facebook’s help page suggests searching the name or asking a friend to send you the link if you can’t find it, which helps when the fake has blocked you);
• screenshots of the profile, its photos and its about section;
• messages it sent to you, your friends or your customers, with dates;
• the link to your real profile;
• any payment requests or links it shared, if it is running a scam.

Screenshots matter because the fake may vanish before the review ends, and because police, banks or a lawyer may need them later.

Route 1: report it from Facebook

Facebook’s impersonation help page gives the steps.

For a profile:

1. Go to the impersonating profile.
2. Click Options below the cover photo.
3. Select Report profile.
4. Follow the prompts, and say that the profile is pretending to be you.

For a Page: the same steps, selecting Report Page instead.

In Messenger: if the fake is messaging you or people you know, Facebook’s page on reporting impostors in Messenger explains the desktop route on messenger.com: open the conversation, click Information, then Privacy & support, then Report, and select Pretending to be someone as the category.

Ask the people who received messages to report the conversation too. Reports that show the fake in action give the reviewer something concrete.

Route 2: the impostor form, if you have no account or are locked out

Facebook’s help page sends people who don’t have a Facebook account, or who have lost access to theirs, to its Report an Impostor Account form. If you say you do have an account, the form points you back to the in-app report. If you are locked out because your own account was hacked, start the recovery as well; in our experience a fake and a takeover often arrive together.

The form asks whether the account is impersonating you, someone you are the authorized representative of (for example, as a parent or legal guardian), or a friend. It then asks for:

• your full name and contact email address;
• the full name on the impostor profile;
• the email address or mobile phone number listed on the impostor profile, if available;
• a photo of your ID;
• the link (URL) to the impostor profile;
• optional additional information.

Use the additional information box for the facts a reviewer cannot see from the link: that the photos are yours, which friends were contacted, and what the fake asked them for. Keep it short and factual.

What to attach: the ID Facebook accepts

Facebook’s page on the types of ID it accepts sets out two options.

One government-issued ID that shows your name and date of birth, or your name and a photo. Examples include a driving licence, national identity card, passport or birth certificate.

Or two different non-government IDs, such as a student card, library card, employment verification, diploma or loyalty card. Everything you send must show your name, and at least one of the two must show your date of birth or photo.

Two practical points from the same page. Facebook does not accept photos that have been digitally modified to hide information, but you can physically cover non-essential information before you take the photo. And the impostor form says Facebook may encrypt and store your ID for up to one year to improve its systems for detecting fake IDs; if you turn that option off, the copy is deleted within 30 days.

If the name on your ID differs from the name you use on Facebook, say so in the additional information box and explain the link, for example a married name or a professional name.

When the fake is copying a friend or your child

You can report a profile pretending to be someone you know from inside Facebook. The form is stricter: it says Facebook can only act on reports from the person being impersonated or their authorized representative, and asks you to send your friend the link so they can fill it in themselves. For a child, a parent or legal guardian files as the authorized representative.

After the report

Finding out who did it. Facebook’s page on requesting information about an impersonating account says to contact a lawyer or your local law enforcement agency first. If you pursue legal action, they contact Facebook following its operational guidelines, and Facebook warns it may not be able to retrieve everything because of technical limitations. Our guide to who is behind a fake Instagram account explains why paid “find the owner” tools are not the answer either.

Warning people. Post on your real profile that the other account is fake and that you will never ask for money in messages. Tell close contacts directly.

Making the real profile easier to recognize. Facebook now offers a free Facebook Verified badge for eligible profiles, based on a short video selfie checked against your existing profile photos; Meta says it is rolling out in phases in select markets. The paid Meta Verified subscription adds what Meta calls proactive impersonation monitoring, saying it will remove accounts it determines are pretending to be you. Neither stops a fake from being created; both make the real one easier to identify.

The same person on Instagram. Fakes often run on both apps. Our guide to fake Instagram accounts using your photos covers the Instagram side.

What not to do

• Do not message the fake. It rarely helps and can prompt a retaliatory report against your real profile.
• Do not organize mass reporting. A clear report from you, with ID, is worth more than many vague ones.
• Do not pay anyone who promises an instant takedown or asks for your login details. Facebook’s reporting tools and the impostor form are free.
• Do not create a second “real” profile to prove it. It adds another identity for reviewers to sort out.

When to get help

One fake profile, your photos, your ID: you can usually handle this yourself today with the steps above. Help is worth considering when fakes keep coming back, when they are defrauding your friends or customers, when your own profile was disabled after the fake reported you, or when a Page is copying your business. That is the work behind our unauthorized content removal service. It starts with a free case review, we work only through Meta’s official reporting channels, we cannot promise outcomes, and if an account turns out to be a lawful, clearly labeled parody, we will tell you so.