I only have one Instagram account, @themoneymarketerblog which you can check out by clicking here. Any variation of this is a fake account. So far, we’ve had themoneymarketreblog, themoneymarketblog, and latest is themoneymarketerblogg.
A couple of months ago, a friend sent me screenshot of what looked like my own Instagram profile but wasn’t my own.
Looks like someone had set up a fake account of my blog Instagram! They had even taken all my stories, used my picture, real name – everything. Of course, I made a post about it right away and had several accounts report it until it was finally taken down.
Phew, I thought. This just moved from being a headache to a fun story I can tell people. Well, one week later another fake account was back. Of course, we went through the motions before another account was set up. Great! During this time, I’ve tried to gather as much information as I can. Here’s what I know.
Who is the impersonator? What do I know so far?
So far, I know that the fake account was set up by a young, male scammer based in Nigeria who is not well educated.
It was fairly easy to figure out the country as they left on where one of the Instagram accounts was based in one time. Many of my followers showed me conversations they had with this particular individual which allowed me to understand their motive, gender, age and more.
The individual behind this account has also ben sending me aggressive, hateful messages which to me indicates they are a younger person, likely a teenager.
What is going to be done about these accounts?
I’ve had success with these accounts being taken down in the short-term but I do have a long-term plan which will take a bit more time.
If you run into one of these fake accounts, please do report them for impersonation. I recommend not engaging with them so you don’t put yourself at risk.