Detecting a fake account on Instagram or other social media networks, including Facebook, is not new. Every year, statistics from trusted sources in the US alone show that most influencer accounts have fake followers. And what we see are millions of bots and comments on that platform.
The real concern with that is when you need to search for yourself or another person you know and find that a mysterious user has already made an account with your name, photo, and other details. That leads to real issues when that person contacts others and pretends to be someone else when the truth is entirely different.
Now, we’ll show you how to figure out who created that fake account on Instagram. But also, you should be able to trace that anonymous user and learn more about them, like their real name, where they live, what they do, etc…
Identifying the person behind a fake Instagram account
Not every account on social media is the same. Some users try to hide their real identities behind random names. Others put someone else’s photo under their profiles. So, it all depends on many factors. However, these are the best ways to verify if an IG account is real or fake. After that, you may see the name of that mysterious user and their other accounts online, and finally, report them.
Search for the IG profile photo
The profile photo is like the identity of every user. So, that can show you most of their details online and whether someone else is using the same photo or not. So, use any of these reverse image search engines.
Next, upload the exact photo of that person on Instagram that you need to identify. Finally, read the search details and see if there are other people who are using that picture on other sites or social media networks.
Google images can also help with that. But it won’t be that easy to filter long lists of images and see what’s really important to you. Hence, if the photo of that user seems to be taken from someone else’s account on other social profiles, then you know that’s not the real person.
Suppose you search for a picture of someone with the name ”John”, for example, on Instagram. Then, if you find the same image of someone else called ”Peter”, then one of these accounts is fake.
Verify the username
It won’t be that complicated to use a simple reverse username search tool and then see who the person behind it is. You can identify Instagram users with their usernames and get their location, name, and even contact details if that’s available.
That said, some sites have outdated information. So it’s better to use a trusted service that can scan accurate databases and tell you who’s the real user on Instagram. Next, you can determine if that person is fake or a real guy you know.
With someone’s Instagram username, you can find personal details like the following:
- The real name of that IG user
- List of addresses
- Phone numbers
- Arrest records
- Published photos are online
- Their possible social media accounts
- And more or fewer details, depending on availability
Remember that when you find out the email of a fake Instagram account, that can help you to get in touch with them or reverse lookup more details. It’s powerful search information with lots of features because the email could be used on other social media sites or apps. In addition, when you get the email behind a fake account, you can easily contact them or report the user.
Contact the user and find out who they’re (indirectly)
This is not like telling someone that you want to see if they’re a fake or real user. Even if you try to hide that, the guy behind that fake account may not reply to your message. So, it’s better to pretend to offer that user something they may be interested in.
For example, ask them if they can tell their followers about a product you have or other services that attract their interest. Then, make sure you ask them for their email, so you can send them the offer there.
By doing that, you’ll know their email, and you can learn more about that unknown person. Google, for example, can show you who the real person is behind that Instagram email. In addition, you may try other email lookup services that show in-depth reports like location and real name.
Now, if you want to go further with that Instagram account investigation, then wait for the email reply. Once you find the message in your Gmail account, there is a way to find the real IP behind that person. But sometimes, that’s the Gmail server, which can tell you about the origin country.
In all cases, if someone is pretending to be located in the US, for example, and you find his IP from another country, then probably it’s a fake user, and that could be a scammer.
Follow these steps:
- Open the email you received from that Instagram user
- From the top right corner of the screen (on the desktop), click the three dots
- Now, scroll down and click on ”show original”
After that, you should get a new window where Google shows the details behind the email you received from the Instagram user. So, use the search-and-find option on your keyboard and type “received: by” and you’ll see the IP address.
To find out who’s behind an IP address, make sure you use this IP lookup tool. It scans the web and other sources, and then shows you the name of the service provider, location, and even other details when applicable.
Remember, in most cases, that’s the IP of the servers that sent the email, which means Google. Remember that Google has data centers and servers in different countries. Thus, if you reverse lookup that IP and find the location from China, for example, the guy or girl behind that account is not real.
Another advantage of using this method to identify someone on Instagram is that you can look at their email details. That could show you the profile on Google of that person with a name or username.
Signs of a fake Instagram account
Social media stats expect that 1 out of 10 accounts on Instagram is fake. Also, many tools dedicate server resources to building sophisticated algorithms that send thousands of bots to act like real users on Instagram. So, it’s not as easy as most of us expect to distinguish between real and bot accounts on Instagram without looking closely. Here are some signs that someone on Instagram is a fake user:
No followers or a few ones: Those who follow that user could also be fake. So, all of them are interconnected to influence the opinions of millions of people.
There’s no profile photo: That’s because some tools generate fake users with no time to add the picture to all their bots. If you see that most of the user’s followers have no profile picture as well, you know what that means.
No profile bio: This is not always a true sign of a fake account. But nowadays, most people try to introduce themselves or at least show something under their Instagram ”about” section.
A high number of accounts they’re following compared to their followers. Normally, when someone uses social networks and acts naturally, the number of accounts they follow should not be thousands of times bigger than the number of their followers. So, if someone has no followers but follows thousands of users on Instagram, that’s in fact a fake profile.
Here is one example of a fake Instagram profile with no pictures, no posts, and no followers.
Reporting a fake Instagram account
Once you find that someone’s account on Instagram is fake, you must report that to the official site and even local authorities. The need for that depends on how serious the account problems could be for the real person.
If someone is impersonating you on Instagram, the best thing to do is fill out the support form, and then choose the right answer. Nevertheless, when you can’t login to Instagram, there is an option to report that as well and avoid further issues with that platform.
In case you want to report that user’s fraud to authorities, use the usa.gov safety page. Hence, if you’re going to report someone who steals the identity of your friend or a business, it’s better to take a screenshot of that Instagram profile first. Then, save the details on that profile with the URL, username, and other information. That’s better than finding an empty page the next day you want to do further investigation on that specific IG account.
Why would someone create a fake account on Instagram?
As I said earlier, the number of fake profiles on social media, and especially Instagram, is alarming in terms of Internet safety. There is no magic system that detects these accounts instantly and blocks access for users behind them. Meanwhile, people who steal the identities of celebrities and other users on Instagram develop new ways to hide their details and look genuine.
When someone has a secondary account on Instagram, that might be used for scams or catfishing. So, it never ends with just a few posts for fun. Instead, these guys know what to do with other people’s details. They start by adding other people’s pictures, details, locations, and more. Then, they act like these users and contact others. Finally, they can send suspicious links or forms online. That way, others never know whether these are scams or real offers, which leads to fraud in the end.
Other than that, identity theft is a real issue these days. So, an unknown individual may try to contact others through their friend’s exact profile details. The reason for that could be causing problems or trying to steal details from them. That’s why everybody should be aware of that. When you find out that someone has an Instagram account in your name or your partner’s name, the first thing to do is use the above methods to identify them.
Conclusion
With the above methods, it’s easy to know who created a specific fake Instagram account. Some options can show you the name and address of that person, and others give you hints about other details or usernames. In all cases, you need to look further at the details you get about unknown Instagram accounts. Finally, report it and tell the platforms about the problems. It would be better to alert others about that by using an official website.
