Social Accounts Impersonation Scam - AI photo and book banner

Six weeks ago, I received an Insta DM from “Instagram User” who had taken my image and one of my books, run them through AI, and created a social banner.

“Instagram User” wanted me to be impressed with their talented art work and talk about more marketing they could do for me. In so many words, I told “Instagram User” to FO, and then used my block feature.

Fast forward to today. I get an email from some big-name editor/publishing company (with a Gmail email account, mind you) with a very simple question. Are these your socials? My name/handle follows for an X and a Blue Sky account, two platforms I don’t use and have never created accounts on.

I checked out the X account (after being required to create an account because you can’t report impersonation without having your own accunt), and sure enough, there’s me with “Instagram User’s” talented AI art project as the banner. Over 300 followers already and a whole bunch of give me your money and I’ll help you posts. I was able to submit a report to Blue Sky without creating an account. Both were suspended on the same day as my complaint.

Still a pain because I had to send proof of who I was to X after creating a profile I didn’t want. I just put a disclaimer on X saying I don’t post on this platform, and if you see anything other than this account, it’s a fraud.

Why did “Instagram User” do this? My best guess is that, had I responded to the email I received today, I would have been presented with a “service” and fee to remove the fraudulent accounts. Long story short, the same person impersonating me is the same person who emailed me today and would have requested money to remove them.

Hope this helps someone else.