Fake Facebook Accounts – 1. How to Spot it, 2. Report it

Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. It’s a great place to connect with friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, some set of people abuse it by creating a fake Facebook account.

A fake Fakebook account is one where someone creates an account and is pretending to be you or your friend, and also one where your email address might also have been used to create a Facebook account.

Facebook is actively putting in so much effort to crack down on fake Facebook accounts. It’s also currently illegal to create a fake Facebook account in the UK. Those who do so might face criminal charges.

You may sometimes spot a new Facebook account created in your name and with your picture, it might also be in the name of someone you know. This is quite a common occurrence on Facebook. The best way to get it sorted is to report the Facebook account. You should also block the Facebook account to stop the impostor from sending you messages or viewing your post.

How to Report a Fake Facebook Account

Before you report a Facebook account as fake, you need to establish the fact that it is actually a fake Facebook account. If they created the account using your personal details such as name and photos, you obviously don’t need to do any checks.

Sometimes people create a new Facebook account because they can’t remember their password, this is probably because they recently changed their phone or did a phone reset to give the phone a boost.

Therefore, it is important to check that the account is a fake Facebook account before reporting it to Facebook. You can do this by either contacting your Facebook friend (outside Facebook) with the possible fake account and ask if he/she has recently opened a new Facebook account.

How to Report a Fake Facebook Account with PC

1. Go to the profile of the impersonating Facebook account. You can also search for the profile by entering the name used in the search bar at the top left corner of Facebook. You can also ask someone to send you the link.
How to Report a Fake Facebook Account with PC
2. Click the three horizontal dots

below the cover photo just at the right corner.
3. Next, tap Find support or report profile in the pop-up menu.

How to Report a Fake Facebook Account with PC
4. You will get a pop-up page with several options, you can select the reason that the fake account falls under, for example, if someone has used your personal details to create a fake Facebook account, you’d select Fake account or Pretending to be someone.

How to Report a Fake Facebook Account with PC
5. Click on Next, then tick the I believe that this goes against Facebook’s community standards box.

6. You’ll get the message below;

Report received: Your report helps us to improve our processes and keeps Facebook safe for everyone.

In review: We use technology and review teams to remove anything that doesn’t follow our standards as quickly as possible.

Decision made: We’ll notify you about the outcome in your
7. Click Next, it will then prompt you to either Block, unfriend, unfollow the account whilst waiting for an outcome from Facebook.

8. Click Done, to exit the page.

How to Report a Fake Facebook Account with Mobile app

The steps for reporting a fake Facebook account using the Facebook mobile app are the same as using a PC.

How to Report a Fake Facebook Messenger Account- App
1. Go to the conversation/person you’d like to report on Messenger.

2. Tap on the i icon at the top right corner of the messenger app. at the bottom of the new page, tap Something’s wrong.

How to Report a Fake Facebook Messenger Account
3. Next, tap Pretending to Be Someone as your category, then select who they are pretending to be.

4. Finally, click Send Feedback to submit it.

How to Report a Fake Facebook Messenger Account- Web

1. Open the conversation of the person you need to report to Facebook.

2. Click on the person’s name at the top of the chat box in the chatbox

3. Click on View profile, then follow the guide above on how to report a fake Facebook account on PC

How to Report a Fake Facebook Messenger Account- App
1. Go to the conversation/person you’d like to report on Messenger.

2. Tap on the i icon at the top right corner of the messenger app. at the bottom of the new page, tap Something’s wrong.

3. Next, tap Pretending to Be Someone as your category, then select who they are pretending to be.

4. Finally, click Send Feedback to submit it.

How to Spot a Fake Facebook account.

1. Check the profile picture; They usually create fake Facebook accounts with pictures of celebrities or pictures of models. Also, if the profile picture is too perfect, it’s most likely a fake Facebook account.

2. Check if you can view any information on their profile such as friend list, if it’s hidden and you have no mutual friends, or if there’s very little or no activities on their facebook feed, it’s most likely a fake Facebook profile.