Instascam: why won’t Instagram take down an impersonator scamming my friends and family?

It took two months for fake Zoe Stabler to be removed

In early August, I discovered that a fraudster posing as me on Instagram was messaging my friends and family, attempting to scam them. And despite reporting it to Instagram, the profile wasn’t taken down right away.

Here’s how it all unfolded. 

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A fake Zoe Stabler

I found out about the copycat Instagram account when my cousin contacted me on 11 August. He’d received a message from  “zoejuliastabler517” (my handle is the same without the numbers), and he wanted to check if I’d set up a new profile.

The page looked similar to mine, using my full name and the same photo. However, it didn’t have any posts or a bio.  

In the messages, fake Zoe asked if he’d “heard the great news”. She claimed to have been given £110,000 from a government grant (I wish!), with a link “to apply for it too”. The link was to another Instagram profile, with the directions to “text her immediately”.

No doubt, anyone who did this would be asked for personal information, probably including bank details, to “claim” the “grant”.

My cousin wasn’t the only person to get this message – some other friends and family members received it after being followed by the account.

Luckily, he and the others weren’t buying it and reported the account to Instagram. I was only vaguely bothered at the time, having faith that Instagram would swiftly take the account down. But it apparently wasn’t that easy.

Reporting to Instagram 

Naturally, I also reported the account to Instagram. It’s not the greatest system and doesn’t allow you to add extra information or details, such as screenshots of the messages this user had sent to my contacts. 

Instagram did get back to me quickly, but only to tell me it wouldn’t remove the account! I felt helpless; all I could think of was to ask more of my friends and family to report it, as well as my colleagues, but to no avail. 

As part of its explanation for its decision, Instagram told me: “We either use technology or a review team to remove anything that doesn’t follow our standards as quickly as possible”. So why was the scam account still up and running despite multiple reports?

With the feedback coming back so quickly and what looked a lot like a copy-and-paste response, it seemed like Instagram doesn’t always have actual people reviewing these reports, even when an account has been reported multiple times. 

Every time Instagram came back with its decision not to remove the account, I reported it again. I did this countless times. And it wasn’t until the end of September – almost two months later – that the account was finally taken down and only after I contacted Instagram via its parent company, Meta, through the press office.

My concerns about the impersonator

When I first learned about the account, it didn’t seem too bad. The impersonator wasn’t copying my posts or posting any scam adverts. But I then began to worry when the account wasn’t taken down.

As a financial writer, I already get a lot of messages from members of the public on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn asking for financial advice. Despite being qualified, I don’t offer this to strangers on social media — nobody can give financial advice without fully understanding their client’s financial situation. I will always explain this to anyone who contacts me. 

So if people looking for help mistake the impersonator for me, they’ll be walking into a scam. 

Those who engaged in the initial conversation were people I don’t speak to regularly. My close friends and family clocked the bad grammar and odd messages sent by the fraudster, but there’s a real risk of more vulnerable people falling for it.

On top of this, despite all of my efforts, I couldn’t alert everyone I knew about the fake account – and the fraudsters know this. 

What Meta said

Within an hour of an email to Meta’s press office, I was asked for more details on the fake account and was told I’d hear back soon. A few days later, the account was gone. 

When I contacted Meta to ask why it takes so long to remove impersonation accounts, it said: “Accounts that impersonate someone else are against [their] Community Guidelines” – but it didn’t answer my question. 

It claimed to have removed 1.2bn fake accounts between April and June 2024 with more than 99% of those spotted by Instagram themselves. The platform also said it has a trained team of reviewers who check reports 24/7 and work quickly to remove content or accounts that violate its guidelines. 

Instagram also dodged my questions about reports being ignored, how it uses technology to spot fraudsters and how it protects its users from being scammed on its platform.

What to do if you’re impersonated or spot a copycat account

Whether someone’s just stolen your name and photo, or if they’re actively posting as you, the only thing to do is report the account to Instagram. 

If it refuses, you can repeatedly appeal its decision – although it’s unclear how long it’ll take to get resolved.

You can prevent the fraudsters from seeing your posts and using them to impersonate you further by either blocking it or making your account private — this can be done in your security settings.

You’ll also want to warn your contacts. I did this by posting a screenshot on my stories with an explanation a few times, clarifying that if I knew of a way to get £110,000 put in your bank account, then I wouldn’t tell anyone over social media — I’d call from a luxury holiday abroad.

If you spot a fake account impersonating someone you know, tell the real person, and report the account to Instagram. When you’re on the copycat profile, click the three dots in the top corner of your screen and pick the option “Report”. You then say “Something about this account” and choose “Pretending to be someone else”. Then you can input the username of the legitimate account. 

You may need to do this several times for it to be removed, and the person being impersonated will want to report it, too.

Don’t give any personal information, click any links or send any money.

Why won’t Instagram remove impersonation accounts?

Instagram stresses that it removes fake accounts and bots, though it looks like plenty have slipped through its measures. 

It seems the main problem is that it uses technology to review reports alongside actual people, and with the sheer number of false accounts being reported, it’s not possible to review them all properly.  Supposedly, if you report the account enough, it’ll eventually hit a real person, which seems to result in the account being taken down. But it’s unclear how long this could take.

Instagram hasn’t explained how its technology determines whether an account is an impersonator, but with forums full of people also struggling to get copycat accounts removed, it just isn’t up to scratch. 

How to spot an impersonator

Being a little vigilant with the accounts messaging you on social media can help you avoid falling victim to scams like this one. Here are some ways to work out if you’re chatting to the real one.

• Look at the account’s username — is there an extra number or letter, or perhaps a number replacing a letter? Often a capital “I” is used to replace the lowercase “L”, for example. 
• Study the photo — does it look like a photo taken off a screen? Or is it a low-quality image? In my scenario, they did such a naff job of cropping the photo that Editor-in-Chief Andy spotted the dupe right away. 
• Look at the bio – most people fill out this section on their profiles, so if there isn’t one, this could be a red flag. 
• Give the real person a call — if you’re not sure, just contact them in an alternative way and confirm it’s them.
• Be wary of anyone, even close friends, asking for money or sending you links to a promised windfall – it’s very unlikely they’d do it over social media.

Tech companies urged to do more to fight fraud 

On 7 October, new rules came into place that require UK banks to refund fraud victims up to £85,000 within five days. 

Some banks have voiced concerns about the new rules, with HSBC stating that “the financial sector is not the problem”, stressing that social media platforms aren’t doing enough to stop scams operating on their platforms nor are they incentivised to.

David Callington, head of fraud at HSBC says that unless tech and social media companies are expected to financially compensate victims, there’s not enough motivation to tighten up their fraud prevention systems. 

On Wednesday 2 October, Meta announced a partnership with NatWest and Metro Bank to help prevent fraud. The partnership allows British banks to share information with Meta to identify scam accounts, although it doesn’t require Meta to contribute financially to reimbursing fraud victims. 

However, digital bank Revolut has accused Meta of falling “woefully short of what’s required to tackle fraud globally.”