4 things you can do when a Facebook page is pretending to be you

Internet, Security

4 things you can do when a Facebook page is pretending to be you

Sooner or later, you could fall victim to a malicious party who would create a website and social media accounts pretending to be your business or your brand. They might just use your name and your logo, but some might go so far as creating a decent website and a long history of social media posts just to make their identity look genuine and trustworthy.

What to do with a fake Facebook page

If this happens to your Facebook page, here are some things you can do to address the problem.

File a trademark infringement report with Facebook.

To do this, you should be the rights owner of the trademark or a part of the organization that is the rights owner, or the rights owner can be your client. You will be asked to submit information about the trademark and to upload supporting documents.

You can file a trademark infringement report by completing this short form in Facebook’s Help Center.

“Report” the Facebook page.

This is the quickest way to submit a report, and you can even enlist the help of other people to also report the fake page as this requires very little work and information.

To do this, just go to the fake page, click on the three dots under the banner, and then click on “Find support or report Page”. You can report the page as “Scams and Fake Pages” and for violation of “Intellectual Property”.

Apply for a “Verified” badge for your Facebook page.

A “Verified” badge will give users who see your page, your posts, and your ads a increased level of trust because they are assured that your identity has already been verified by the Facebook team.

You can apply for a “Verified” badge in this form in Facebook’s Help Center. You will need to upload proof that the Facebook page is indeed associated with your brand or business.

Inform people who might be affected.

Lastly but just as important, you need to warn your employees, customers, and partners about the fake Facebook page. You can contact them directly, via email, or through an announcement in your page.

Doing this would keep them from getting compromised in case the malicious party will get in touch with them to attempt to retrieve confidential information, to claim payments, or to do other things that take advantage of your relationship with the contacted party.