How to Remove Fake Accounts on Facebook?
Facebook is the leading social media company in the world with over 3 billion active users. Such a large number of users can quickly create lots of spam or spread a ton of misinformation. For instance, some scammers might make an account with your name and photos or copy your page’s content. And sometimes, this can lead to serious problems for you or your company.
In this article, we will tell you about some easy ways to deal with Facebook scammers and remove fake or duplicate pages on Facebook.
Remove an imposter account
Imposter profiles are some of the most typical Facebook scams. A malicious user will create an account identical to yours by using your photos and name or duplicating your personal information.
How serious can it get? More often than not, this can be innocent. However, you should take action as soon as this fake account starts interacting with your audience. The scammer can send mean messages to your friends, or even worse, spread inappropriate information about you.
In this case, you should report the account. Navigate to the fake profile, click the “…” button on the cover photo, and choose the “Find support or report a profile” option. Then, follow the instructions under the “Pretending to be Someone” option.
Note that some skillful scammers can block your original account, effectively preventing you from seeing their fake page. In this circumstance, ask your friends to report the imposter’s page. Alternatively, you can use this link.
Remove an imposter business page
Some scammers might try to steal your audience by creating a duplicate of your brand page. They can create an account with identical brand information and trick trusting customers into buying the wrong products.
There are two ways to solve the problem:
- If you are a public figure, you can use this form (note that this form is only intended to be used to report malicious imposters, not fan pages), and Facebook will soon start their investigation
- If you represent a company account, you may report imposter accounts via the copyright violation or a trademark violation form. If the situation is urgent and you need immediate results, you can talk to a lawyer who has experience dealing with Facebook scammers.
Claim and Merge a Defunct Page
Another case where you might want to remove a duplicate Facebook page is when there’s an account that represents your brand or company but you don’t own it. This might happen for many reasons, for instance, if somebody tried to impersonate your account and gave up, or the company used the page in the past, abandoned it, and created a new one.
Unfortunately, you can’t just take over ownership of somebody’s page even though it contains your branding. However, you can try. There are two ways to do so:
- Reach out to the page owner. If they respond to your messages, you may ask them to grant you admin rights so you can co-manage the page.
- Merge the second account with your brand’s primary page using this link. Remember to be careful about choosing the primary page and the account that will be merged.
Delete an abandoned Facebook page
It’s important to mention that some fake and duplicate Facebook accounts could belong to you. For example, if you created a page a long time ago, gave up on it, and now want to get rid of it. Here are two simple ways to do so:
- Report a trademark violation
- Claim the page and delete it
Frequently asked questions about fake accounts on Facebook
Is creating a fake Facebook account against the law?
No, it is not illegal to create fake pages on Facebook. The exception is if you create a page with the goal of cyberbullying someone in California.
How long does it take for Facebook to delete a fake account?
On average, it takes 4 or 5 days for Facebook to evaluate and delete the fake account.
