--- title: "What to do if someone is pretending to be you — Check Twice" description: "Someone is using your name, account or phone number to message people you know. Who to warn first, how to work out what they’ve done and how to stop it." url: https://www.check-twice.com/scams/someone-pretending-to-be-you --- # What to do if someone is pretending to be you ## Warn people first Most people find out from the person who was contacted. A friend rings, or texts the phone number they’ve always had for you, to ask whether you really just asked them for money. By then the scammer has probably tried everyone else they could reach, so the first job is to get to those people before the next message does. > Today 11:06. Did you just message me asking to borrow £200? Didn’t sound like you x > > You: No, that wasn’t me. Someone’s pretending to be me > > You: Don’t send anything or share any codes. If anything else comes from “me”, ask me here first Send the same to everyone the scammer could reach and ask them to pass it on. It only needs to say what has happened, that it isn’t you and that nobody should send money or codes to anyone claiming to be you. If it’s your own account they’re using, reset its password and sign out every other login to it if it lets you, so only your own phone is left. Until then, send the warning from somewhere else, by text, on a call or in another app, because whoever is inside the account can delete anything you post there. ## Work out how they’re doing it Ask whoever told you exactly what they saw. It tells you which problem you’re dealing with, and each problem needs something different.
Scenario Problem
There is a second profile with your name and photos Someone has made a fake account as you
Your own account is sending messages you didn’t write Someone has taken over your account
People are getting calls from your phone number that you didn’t make Someone is using your phone number as their caller ID
A text from a new phone number says it’s you Someone is sending “new number” texts as you
### A fake account Report the profile from inside the app and say it’s pretending to be you. If you’re not on that platform, [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/295309487309948) and [Instagram](https://help.instagram.com/contact/636276399721841) have forms that don’t need an account, though both ask for your photo ID and only take a report from you or someone acting for you. While you wait, set your real profile to private and hide your friends list, which is where they found the people to message. In the UK, [Report Harmful Content](https://reportharmfulcontent.com/advice/impersonation) can take it up with the platform if nothing happens. ### A stolen account Once you’re back in, turn on two-step verification, ideally with a hardware key and never with your phone number. On WhatsApp there’s no password, so sign in with your phone number again and the six-digit code it texts you signs out whoever is using it, and if it then asks for a two-step verification PIN you never set, you have to wait seven days. Don’t report the account as hacked until you’re back in, or WhatsApp may ban it and lock you out too. ### A faked caller ID The scammer has only made your phone number show on their calls, so nothing of yours has been broken into, and they usually move on to another phone number within hours. People they called may ring you back, so tell them it wasn’t you and not to give whoever it was anything, and say the same in your voicemail greeting. Forward any texts to 7726 and tell your network on the phone number from a bill. You don’t need to change your phone number. If your own phone loses signal at the same time, your phone number may have been moved to another SIM, so ring your network from another phone straight away. ### “New number” texts Nothing of yours has been touched. The scammer has typed your name into a text from a phone number nobody knows, and the same text is probably going to everyone they can find. Send whoever got it [our guide to “new number” texts](https://www.check-twice.com/scams/new-number-scam), which says what to do from their side. ## How to stop and prevent it Every one of these scams borrows something of yours, your name, your account or your phone number, and the person contacted has no way to check it’s really you. What would stop all of them is your friends and family being able to check it’s really you, biometrically, on their phone. This is exactly what [Check Twice](https://www.check-twice.com/) offers. When someone claiming to be you messages a friend, your friend opens your contact and taps “Verify them on their phone”. The request comes to your own phone, not to whatever the scammer is using, and asks whether it’s you. If it really is you, a quick photo on your phone, matched against the face photo you signed up with, which was checked against your photo ID, confirms it. If it isn’t, tap “No, it isn’t me” and your friend is warned at once, and if you miss it they’re told you didn’t answer in time. If you’re being impersonated right now, [download the app](https://www.check-twice.com/download), create your account and tell your friends to download it too, so they can verify you. Or send them a link, which opens in the app on your verified card to show it’s actually you contacting them, and anyone without the app is shown where to download it. You can also turn on “Show impersonation warning” in your account, which puts a warning on your card for everyone who has you saved, until you turn it off. Verification works between people who both have a Check Twice account, so it’s best for you, your friends and family to have it set up before you need it. Check Twice is free and easy to set up. All you need is a quick photo and your passport, driving licence or state ID card. Your contacts never leave your phone and only people you’ve saved can see your profile, unless you opt in to showing it to anyone with your phone number. Previous: [How to check who’s really contacting you](https://www.check-twice.com/scams/whos-really-contacting-you) Next: [How to tell if a video call is fake](https://www.check-twice.com/scams/fake-video-call-scam)