Scams change over time, but one thing remains the same—not being vigilant about your brand can damage your reputation, mislead customers, and create a ripe environment for potential fraud.

On social media, more and more fake business pages are popping up, along with personal pages impersonating CEOs or even average HR employees to gain information from others fraudulently. Impersonators often replicate logos, branding, and content to appear legitimate.

The good news is that social media channels give you built-in tools to report and address these concerns. The bad news is that there’s no way to stop them completely.

So what should you do?

  1. Be proactive. Address your legitimacy within your page’s bio, including a link to your official website. This not only asserts your authority, it makes it easier to file a “false claim” report if a page tries to replicate it.
  2. Regularly monitor for impersonation accounts. Simply search your business name on platforms at least once a month to identify new accounts that may confuse customers.
  3. Always report fraudulent accounts to the impacted platform. Often this is more effective if you have multiple members on your team file the same report. Sometimes this may require submitting official documentation (such as a tax ID number, driver’s license of page owner, or other ownership document) to the platform, so be sure you’re only using official channels to report and NEVER follow links from emails to document this.
  4. While most of these scams require zero access to your account, and are simply impersonating your presence, it’s always an important reminder to enable two-factor authentication for everyone who manages the pages and practice good password hygiene to ensure enhanced security.
  5. If you find out about an impersonated page or person, remember that Red Shoes can help you navigate how to communicate the issue to your impacted audiences or prepare a statement for your official channels.

Resources:
Report impersonation to Facebook
Report impersonation to Instagram
Report impersonation to X
Report impersonation to LinkedIn

You may have also heard of the infamous “blue check mark” or authentication from social pages. The process and eligibility for this type of authentication varies from platform to platform and is often paid. While it is valuable to have in combating fake accounts, in some cases it may not be advantageous or even possible for your brand to acquire. Some pages that reach a certain size or advertising threshold, or have been grandfathered in, will automatically receive a level of verification on the platforms.

Resources:
Apply for authentication on Facebook (must have a paid Meta Verified subscription)
Apply for authentication on Instagram (also part of Meta Verified)
Apply for authentication on X (must be a X Premium member)
Apply for authentication on LinkedIn (individual verification available)

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