This guide covers impersonation, such as when someone creates a social media account or dating profile using your name, photos or other identity information.

If this is not your situation, these guides might be more useful:

• If someone is sharing your photos but not pretending to be you, see our guide Someone is sharing my images in a sexualised way
• If this person is using this fake account to share sensitive information about you, use this guide instead: Someone has shared my personal information online .

Record what happened

Start collecting evidence (e.g. take photos, screenshots, recordings) and keeping notes of what happened, while keeping yourself safe. Do this before you do anything else. Reach out to people you trust if you need help and support.

Email these notes and the evidence to yourself or someone you trust. This will add a timestamp. If the situation escalates further, the timestamp will also make the record more useful to the police or courts.

Guide to Preserving evidence

Report the account

Many platforms ban fake profiles. In general, look for a place to report Violations of Terms of Service or Violations of Community Guidelines. Remember to take screenshots or keep other records before reporting.

For dating apps, some will require you to have an account in order to report. This means you will have to either create an account or ask a friend with an account to report the impersonation. You can also try emailing the site directly.

Below, we’ve listed further actions you can take. These are all optional – it is up to you to decide what you would like to do.

Identify information

Take stock of the information that the person behind the fake account has shared about you.

If they have been sharing sensitive personal information like your home address or contact details, see our guide Someone has shared my personal information online

Let your contacts (e.g. friends, family, colleagues) know that you have been impersonated, and ask them to report this account if they see it.

Beyond this, the person who created the fake account might be using information about you that they found online. You might want to assess what information of yours is available online, and what other information this links to (i.e. if they know your full name, this might connect them to your Facebook).

Guide to Identifying information

Limit unwanted contact

Once you have identified what information about you is accessible online, remove any info that you no longer want to share. Our guide to limiting unwanted contact can help you with this.

Guide to Limiting unwanted contact

Secure online accounts

You may also want to secure your accounts by changing passwords and activating 2-factor authentication. This is important if you know you were hacked OR if you think the impersonator would try to hack into your accounts.

Our guide to securing online accounts can help you with this.

Guide to Securing online accounts

Seek legal advice

Depending on the facts of your situation, you may be able to take criminal or legal actions – e.g. filing for False Statement Orders or making a police report.

We are unable to advise you on these. If you are thinking of pursuing these actions, you may wish to seek legal advice.

Find legal support

Take care of yourself

Reach out to people you trust to let them know what you are going through. They can support you emotionally and help with any actions you decide to take.

Additionally, you can refer to our directory Find support in Singapore to find a hotline, legal clinic, mental healthcare provider, or other social service that best fits your needs. In the directory, you can also find resources that can help you make sense of the emotions you may be feeling in that directory.

Go to Find support