# Someone is pretending to be you: author impersonation and hacked accounts

Hacked account or fake copy of you? What to lock down first, how to report a clone, and how to protect readers from scammers using your name.

Facts last checked 12 October 2026. https://bervet.com/forum/guides/218/someone-is-pretending-to-be-you-author-impersonation-and-hacked-accounts

A post appears on your author page that you didn't write. A reader thanks you for a message you never sent. Someone with your name and photo is offering "signed copies" in a group you've never joined.

It's horrible, and it's common. Scammers borrow real authors' names because readers trust them. It doesn't mean you did anything wrong. It means people know who you are.

The first job is working out which of two very different problems you have.

### Hacked, or copied?

**Hacked** means someone is inside your real account. Signs:

- Posts, messages or comments on your actual page or profile that you didn't make
- You can see them in your own activity and you can delete them
- Your password, email or phone number has changed, or you get login alerts you don't recognise

**Copied (a clone)** means someone has made a separate account that looks like yours. Signs:

- The name and photo match, but the web address or username is slightly different (an extra letter, a dot, a number on the end)
- You can't delete their posts, because they aren't yours
- Readers or friends get a second friend request or follow from "you"

If you're not sure, open the post or message and click through to the account that made it. If it isn't the account you log in to, it's a clone.

### If you've been hacked

Do these from a device you trust, in this order:

1. **Change the password**, and make it one you don't use anywhere else.
2. **Turn on two-factor login.** An authenticator app is safer than text messages, because phone numbers can be hijacked.
3. **Sign out everywhere else.** Most platforms have a list of devices or sessions logged in to your account. End any you don't recognise, then all of them.
4. **Check who has access to your page.** If you run an author page, look at its list of people with access or admin roles. Remove anyone you don't recognise. A password change doesn't remove someone who was given access to the page.
5. **Check your recovery details.** Make sure the email and phone number on the account are still yours, so they can't simply reset it again.
6. **Check connected apps.** Remove any app or service you don't remember connecting.
7. **Then clean up.** Delete what they posted, and if they messaged people as you, post a short note saying so.

If you've been locked out completely, use the platform's own account recovery or "hacked account" page. Don't use anyone who offers to recover it for a fee. That's a well-known second scam aimed at people who've just been hacked.

### If someone has cloned you

1. **Report the copy as impersonation**, using the platform's own report option on that account. Choose the option for someone pretending to be you, not spam, so it's looked at for what it is.
2. **Ask readers who've been contacted by it to report it too.** They have the messages it sent, and can report those directly.
3. **Don't message the clone.** There's nothing to gain, and it tells them you're watching.
4. **Post a short note on your real page**: an account is pretending to be you, here's how to tell the real one, and you will never ask anyone for money in a private message. Pin it for a while.
5. **Keep screenshots** with dates, in case you need to report it again or it moves to another platform.

### Protecting your readers

The usual reason someone copies an author is to get money out of your readers: fake giveaways, "signed copies" for a fee, crypto "opportunities", or a request to pay for shipping on a prize they never won.

Say this once, clearly, somewhere readers will see it, like your website, newsletter footer or pinned post:

- You never ask for money, gift cards or payment details in a private message.
- Your only real accounts are these (list them).
- Giveaways and sales only happen through places you name.

If you have your own email domain, ask whoever hosts it about SPF, DKIM and DMARC. They're settings that make it harder for someone to send email that looks like it came from your address.

### Why this keeps happening

Writer Beware's look back at 2025 lists impersonating real, well-known authors as one of the year's patterns, often as the opening of a pitch for editing or marketing. Our [guide to predatory services](/guides/spotting-predatory-services) has the wider list of what's doing the rounds and where to report it.

This is general information, not legal advice. If someone is using your name to take money from people, your local police or consumer protection agency is worth a report as well as the platform.

### Sources

- Sourced from Writer Beware, "Best of Writer Beware: 2025 in Review", https://writerbeware.blog/2026/01/16/best-of-writer-beware-2025-in-review/, as at 12 October 2026.

---
From Bervet (bervet.com), indie books straight from the people who wrote them. Page: https://bervet.com/forum/guides/218/someone-is-pretending-to-be-you-author-impersonation-and-hacked-accounts
Site guide for AI assistants: https://bervet.com/llms.txt