If someone is using your photos, save the evidence before you report anything: the profile URL, the username and any numeric account ID, dated full-screen screenshots, and the original files that prove the photos are yours. Then report the account as impersonation through the platform's own form, and if anyone has been asked for money, also report it to the police and, in the US, to the FBI's IC3 and the FTC.
Order matters because reporting can get the account removed, and your evidence goes with it. This guide covers what to capture, how to keep it organised, how to report on each major platform, and when a case needs the police.
Your first 30 minutes
- Do not message the account. Warning them gives them time to delete, rename or lock it.
- Copy the profile URL from the browser address bar, or use Share then Copy link in the app.
- Take full-screen screenshots of the profile header, bio, each post that uses your photo, and any messages or payment requests. Make sure the device clock or date is visible.
- Record the details as text in a note: username, display name, URL, follower count, date and time you saw it.
- Gather your proof of ownership: the original photo files, the date you posted them, and links to your genuine accounts.
- Report the account using the platform's impersonation option (see below).
- Warn your contacts from your real account if the fake one is messaging people you know.
Use face search to find your own photos and to check accounts you are already dealing with. It should not be used to identify the person behind an account, find where they live or contact them.
Screenshots, original files and URLs: what each proves
Each type of record does a different job. Keep all three.
| Record | What it shows | Weakness | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your original photo file | The full-quality image and, often, the capture date in its metadata | Does not show that a particular page displayed it | Proving the photo is yours |
| Screenshot of the page | How the photo was presented: name, caption, bio, messages | Low detail; easy to edit; can include other people's private data | Showing the misuse in context |
| Page URL | Where the misuse lives, so a reviewer can check it live | Stops working once the account is removed or renamed | The report itself |
| Image URL | The exact file, which may sit on a separate content server | Often expires or changes; no caption or context | Technical reports and copyright notices |
A screenshot alone rarely proves the photo is yours, and an original file alone does not prove a page used it. Together, with the URL, they make a report a reviewer can act on quickly. If you share a screenshot with anyone, make a separate copy with other people's details blurred and keep the untouched version privately.
Page URL vs image URL
Prioritise the page URL: it carries the caption, account name and context a reviewer needs. Save the image URL as well (right-click the photo and choose "Copy image address") when you are filing a copyright notice or reporting to a host. Before sharing any link, remove tracking parameters and anything after a "?" that looks like a session token.
Save the evidence before it disappears
Profiles get renamed, deleted or made private, and search result links expire. A results page from a reverse image or face search is a temporary view; what lasts is the source page and your own notes about it.
- Save the account's permanent identifier. Usernames can change but the underlying account ID usually does not. On Facebook, the profile URL sometimes contains a numeric ID; note it if it does.
- Screen-record a scroll through the profile and conversation. A video is harder to dispute than a single screenshot and captures posts you might miss.
- Archive public web pages with the Internet Archive's Save Page Now, which creates a dated public copy. It often cannot capture social profiles that require login, and it makes a copy public, so use it only for pages that are already public and do not contain intimate images.
- Save each source link from search results, not the results page itself, and describe in a sentence what the matching image shows.
- Write down what you cannot verify. If a result link is dead by the time you open it, mark it "unverified" rather than counting it as evidence.
Keep only what you need. Collecting unrelated details about the person running the account does not help a report and can create problems of its own.
Organise what you find
A face or reverse image search can return dozens of results, many of them duplicates of the same image on one site. Sort before you count.
- Confirmed copies: your exact photo, on a page you have opened and checked.
- Possible copies: cropped, filtered or edited versions you are not yet sure about.
- Look-alikes: someone who resembles you but is not you. Do not report these as impersonation.
Group results from the same website or account together so one site with twenty thumbnails does not look like twenty separate problems. Then keep a simple log:
| # | Platform | URL | Username / ID | What it uses | Date seen | Reported | Reference | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | instagram.com/[handle] | [handle] | 3 of my photos, my first name | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-29 | In-app | Pending |
Recording a search that found nothing
A search with no matches is a result too, but a limited one. Note the tool, the photo you used, any crop, and the date, and write "no matches in this search", not "my photos are not anywhere". An upload error is not a negative result, because the search may never have run. Results also change over time: a quiet search today does not cover an account created tomorrow.
Report it on each platform
Menu labels change between app versions, but the paths below are the current pattern. Each platform's help article is the authoritative source.
On the fake profile, tap the three dots, then Report, then choose the option for an account pretending to be someone else and select Me. Instagram may ask for a photo of a government ID to confirm who you are. If you do not have an account, Instagram's help article on reporting impersonation links to a form you can use without logging in.
Open the fake profile, tap the three dots, choose Report profile, then the option for pretending to be someone, and select Me. Facebook's help page on reporting an account pretending to be you also covers reporting without an account. If the fake profile is messaging your friends, ask them to report it too; multiple reports of the same account are common in impersonation cases.
TikTok
Go to the profile, tap the share arrow or three dots, then Report, then Report account, and choose the impersonation option. TikTok's report a problem section explains in-app reporting and links to a web form for people who are not logged in.
Dating apps
Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and most other dating apps let you report a profile from the profile itself, usually under a flag or three-dot menu, with a category for fake profiles or someone using another person's photos. If you are not a user of that app, use its help centre contact form and include the profile name, age and location shown, plus screenshots, because dating profiles rarely have a shareable URL. Our guide to spotting fake dating profiles covers the warning signs if the account is being used to target matches.
Other websites
For forums, blogs and smaller sites, contact the site owner or host. The photo removal request templates include wording for impersonation, privacy and copyright, and the guide to removing images from Google covers clearing the search results afterwards.
Write the report so a reviewer can act on it
Reviewers have little time per report. Make yours easy to approve:
- State the fact, not a theory. "This account uses my profile photos and my first name, and has asked two of my followers for money" can be checked. "This person is a criminal" cannot.
- Explain why the photo is yours: link your real account and say when you first posted the image.
- Quote only the relevant claim from the bio or messages.
- Choose the matching category. Impersonation, harassment and intellectual property are reviewed by different teams.
- Keep uncertain matches out. If a photo only resembles you, leave it out or say it is unconfirmed.
If a report is rejected, check whether you chose the right category, then submit again with clearer evidence, or use the platform's appeal or help form.
When it is a scam: police, IC3 and FTC
If your photos are being used to ask anyone for money, gift cards, crypto or personal details, treat it as fraud as well as impersonation.
| Situation | Where to report |
|---|---|
| Anyone lost money or was asked for payment (US) | FBI's IC3 and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov |
| Your personal details were used to open accounts or apply for credit (US) | IdentityTheft.gov |
| Threats, extortion or intimate images | Local police, plus the platform's dedicated reporting options |
| Outside the US | Your local police and your country's national fraud reporting service |
Give investigators your log, the URLs, screenshots and any payment details from victims who are willing to share them. The FTC's guide to romance scams is useful to share with anyone the fake account has been talking to. The scammer photo search page explains how people on the other side of a conversation can check a profile's photos.
Hand the case to someone else
If a friend, lawyer, employer or police officer takes over, give them a short packet rather than a folder of unlabelled screenshots:
- One paragraph: what is happening, since when, and what you want to achieve.
- Your log of URLs, IDs, dates and report reference numbers.
- Proof of ownership: original files and links to your real accounts.
- The strongest screenshots, labelled with the URL and date each one shows.
- What you have already tried and what is still open, for example "account reported on Instagram, still live; Facebook copy removed".
Remove unrelated personal details before sharing, and never pass on links that contain login or session tokens.
Keep checking after the report
Impersonators often come back with a new account using the same photos. Recheck a week after the account is removed, and again after a month. Facehunch can help here: one face search ($4.99, no subscription) shows pages with similar faces, each with its source link and a similarity score, so you can see whether your photos have resurfaced. The fake account using my photos page walks through that check, and the digital footprint audit sets out a schedule for longer-term monitoring of your own photos.
Written by Facehunch with AI assistance and checked against the cited sources. Our editorial policy.