As currently there is someone active on here who is uploading pictures from a Instagram influencer (28k followers, no relation to WAM) and pretends to be him (and get's a lot of positive attention), I'd like to raise awareness and make sure everyone is careful and safe! (I've reported the profile, but so far without any feedback)
As this is not the first (and probably also not the last time this will happen), let's collect a few hints how to detect a fake (in the WAM scene): 1. Account was just recently created 2a. Uploads only non-WAM related pictures OR 2b. Uploads WAM pictures which seem not to fit to the person on the clean pictures 3. When you ask the person about fake-check, they will react very extreme (e.g. trying to turn it on you and make you feel bad that you question that the person is real) 4. When you ask the person if the Insta account is his/hers, the person blocks you (like it happened to me in the current case)
In general: be careful who you text to, who you send pictures to, who you will meet up with. You never know who is behind such an account.
If you have more hints / experiences in that field (I feel like we all have), please comment and make people around you aware!
Thanks for looking out for others here. I'm not sure what this user's endgame would be (I don't think I've found the profile yet) as he won't be able to show his fake persona actually getting messy. It could just be the attention along the way he's seeking, who knows.
That's really unfair to the influencer, as he didn't give consent to have his image used this way to imply that he got messy. No better than the times someone posted (not on UMD, on the Internet in general) someone's image next to an almost-lookalike in a porn scene.
I hope nobody has been victimized by this individual. Those tips you gave for spotting a fake were excellent and everybody should read them.
Thanks for the tips! I have seen the same thing where a profile was using non-wam photos of an influencer from her twitter. It seemed very suspicious. I mean there are a lot of fake accounts, but then there are ones that are obviously fake. There are ones that are situationally fake like female accounts being ran by the husband. Then there are fake ones like Kelsey Rose which are hard to catch.
Reports on profiles, like those on store scenes, go direct to MM, the rest of the admin team don't see them, so it may take some days for them to be dealt with, but they will be.
Note (in general) it's important to include as much detail in reports as possible, like links to the person being impersonated's real on-line presence, etc.
It's always vaguely disappointing to hear/see this kind of thing. I really hope the user in question isn't trying to use their fake profile for "nefarious" purposes, and I hope everyone stays vigilant against potential scammers!!
Edit: thinking this through, maybe this person (and/or others using someone else's pics, etc.) has some kind of self esteem issue, lack of self confidence, or something else along those lines. I've been there myself, and I can definitely say that at the end of the day, it's better to be your true self than to try to adopt someone else's image and live that lie. I know it's easier said than done, but try to be happy and love yourself for who would really are!!!
I know a female profile had been using another persons pics in their profile and the so I'm title said it was her (even thought it was obvious to at least me they were using multiple different peoples pics but semi resembled the others). I had reported it but the user who's pics were being used as catfish didn't sign on for several months. Once she signed on she must have reported it too as I sent her a DM. Obviously don't think we wanna ask the IG user to come make a profile but how DO we get pics removed when people r stealing other peoples pics?
Love you, too
