Instagram fake profile: reporting, evidence and legal action

By Advocate Panchanand Shaw, Bar Council of West Bengal · Published 2 Nov 2026 · Online fraud

A fake Instagram profile carrying your name and photographs is identity theft under section 66C of the IT Act 2000, and cheating by personation under section 66D where it is used to extract money. Report it through Instagram's impersonation flow first, document the profile before it disappears, then file a police complaint.

A fake Instagram profile carrying your name and photographs is an impersonation, and Indian law has a specific provision for it rather than leaving you with a general complaint about defamation. Under section 66C of the Information Technology Act 2000 the fraudulent or dishonest use of another person's unique identification feature is identity theft, and under section 66D, cheating by personation by means of a computer resource is a separate offence. If the profile is used to ask your friends for money, section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 is added; if it publishes material to defame you, section 356; if it threatens you, section 351.

The order of action that works is counter-intuitive. Report the profile to Instagram first, because the platform can remove it within a short window and the profile is often the intruder's only asset. Then build the evidence that the profile is not you and that it caused harm, and only then file the police complaint. Complaints filed before the evidence is assembled tend to be returned, and a removed profile that was never documented leaves you with nothing to prosecute.

Reporting the profile without losing the evidence

Capture the profile before you report it. Screen-record from the profile page through the grid, the bio, the follower list and any messages it sent to your contacts. The handle, the display name and the profile photograph must all appear on screen. A screenshot of the grid alone proves nothing about who is behind it.
Note the exact handle and URL. Write down the handle character by character, including dots and underscores, because lookalike handles are common and the police complaint must identify the right one.
Use the impersonation report, not the ordinary abuse report. Instagram's impersonation flow asks whether the account is pretending to be you or someone you represent, and accepts an identity document where the name matches. A government photograph identity card is usually sufficient; do not send documents that disclose more than the name and photograph.
Ask your contacts to preserve what they received. Messages from the fake profile to your friends, especially payment requests, are the strongest evidence of the purpose behind it. Ask them to screenshot the chat with the handle visible and to keep the original.
Record the refusal to take it down. If the platform responds that the profile does not violate its rules, save that response. It is the document that later supports an escalation under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.
Do not message the profile from your own account. It warns the operator, who may delete the account and reopen another. Report and document first.

The 2021 Rules require a significant social media intermediary to appoint a grievance officer in India, acknowledge a complaint within twenty-four hours and dispose of it within fifteen days. Where a complaint concerns impersonation or non-consensual intimate imagery, the platform is expected to act faster than the general timeline. Quote those obligations in your grievance, attach the case reference from the in-app report, and keep the delivery record. If the grievance officer does not decide, the Grievance Appellate Committee is the next step, and an appeal there is decided on documents.

What the law says

Identity theft and personation

Section 66C is made out where a person fraudulently or dishonestly uses another's electronic signature, password or unique identification feature. A profile built from your name and photographs uses identifying features that belong to you, and the dishonesty lies in presenting them as the operator's own. Section 66D covers the consequence: cheating by personation through a computer resource, which is the charge where the profile asks your contacts for money, gifts or account details.

Under the BNS 2023, the same facts are charged as cheating under section 318 where property was induced to be delivered, forgery under section 336 where documents or screenshots were created, and defamation under section 356 where the profile published imputations intended to harm your reputation. Section 351 applies where the operator threatens you directly, for example by demanding money to take the profile down. Where a woman's photographs have been morphed or used with sexualised captions, section 77 on voyeurism and sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act become relevant, and if a minor is depicted, section 67B and POCSO apply.

Defamation, and its limits

Section 356 BNS requires an imputation made with intent to harm reputation, published to a third party. A fake profile that merely copies your photographs and posts innocuous content may not meet that test, even though it is plainly impersonation. A profile that posts claims about your character, your business or your family does. This distinction matters because a complaint that leads with defamation and cannot prove it invites the response that the dispute is civil, when the identity theft charge was available all along.

Where the fake profile targets a business

A clone of a business account that collects payments from customers is a different problem with a different remedy. The criminal complaint runs on section 66D and section 318 BNS, because customers are being induced to part with money. In parallel, the business can pursue a civil action for passing off, and can ask the platform to verify and remove the profile through its brand impersonation channel. Trade mark registration strengthens the takedown request but is not a precondition for the criminal complaint.

Which offence fits which fake profile

What the fake profile does	Principal provisions	Practical forum
Copies your photographs and name, no money demanded	IT Act 66C, 66D; BNS 336	Platform impersonation report, then police complaint
Asks your contacts for money or OTPs	IT Act 66D; BNS 318	1930, cybercrime.gov.in, police station
Publishes defamatory claims about you	BNS 356, 351 as applicable	Police station; platform grievance in parallel
Posts morphed or private images of a woman	IT Act 67, 66E; BNS 77, 78	Emergency report, platform takedown within 24 hours
Clones a business and collects payments	IT Act 66D; BNS 318, 336	Police complaint, platform brand channel, civil suit

Proving the profile is not you

The complaint has to establish two things that feel obvious to the victim and are not obvious on paper: that the profile is not operated by you, and that whoever operates it intended to deceive. The first is shown by the differences between your account and the fake one, documented side by side — the handle, the account creation date if visible, the follower pattern, the wording of the bio, the absence of your older posts. A short table comparing your verified account with the fake profile is more useful to an investigating officer than a paragraph of protest.

The second is shown by what the profile did. A profile that sits silently is difficult to prosecute. A profile that messaged twenty people asking for a loan, or that posted a payment link, or that sent you a demand to pay for its removal, supplies the dishonest intention. Collect those messages from the recipients, with their consent, and keep them in a form that shows the sender handle.

For court, the electronic record needs the certificate under section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023, identifying the device, the account and the hash value. Where the screenshots came from someone else's phone, that person may need to give the certificate. A complainant who gathers evidence from six friends without asking any of them to certify it ends up with material that is attacked the moment it is relied on.

Filing the police complaint

File the portal complaint at cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930, and note the acknowledgement number.
Give a written complaint at the police station under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, attaching the evidence index.
Ask for a receipt and for the FIR number, and note the officer's name and designation.
If registration is refused, request the reason in writing and apply to a magistrate under section 175(3) BNSS.
Where the impersonation is part of a wider fraud on your contacts, ask that the transaction details also be sent to the bank's nodal officer so that accounts can be frozen early.

The police can obtain the account's registration details, IP logs and device identifiers from Meta through a lawful request, which is the only reliable route to the person behind the profile. That is why the complaint should not wait for the platform's takedown decision: by the time the profile is removed, the login records may be the only thing left, and they have a retention period.

What decides the outcome

Speed of reporting is the largest single factor, because takedown and record retention both run on short clocks. The second is whether money was induced. Cases where contacts paid are investigated as cheating with a transaction trail; cases without money often end with a takedown and no prosecution, which is a real outcome but not the one most complainants expect. The third is the quality of the identity evidence: profiles that reuse a genuine photograph from your public account are easy to link to a suspect once the platform discloses registration data, whereas profiles built from images that were never public are harder.

The fourth is whether the complainant's own conduct created an alternative explanation. A person who has a commercial dispute with the suspect, or who has previously confronted them publicly, will be asked about it. Answer frankly in the complaint. Concealment surfaces later and is used to suggest motive. The fifth is the platform's response, which affects the timeline rather than the merits: a profile removed after a proper grievance is one thing, a profile that stayed up for months after notice is another, and the difference is recorded in the file.

Mistakes to avoid

Reporting the profile before capturing it, so there is no record of what it contained.
Naming a suspect without evidence. A complaint that accuses the wrong person creates a defamation exposure for you.
Waging a public campaign against the profile, which can prejudice the investigation and give the operator a defence.
Sending your identity documents to the fake profile or to anyone claiming to be platform support.
Filing only with the platform and assuming the police will come to know of it. They will not.

When to involve a lawyer

Most straightforward impersonation cases can be handled by the complainant with the platform report and a police complaint. A lawyer is useful when the platform refuses takedown and an appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee has to be drafted, when the fake profile is being used to defraud customers of a business and civil and criminal remedies have to be sequenced, when images of a woman have been published and urgent protection is needed, or when you have been named as a suspect in someone else's impersonation complaint.

If any of those apply, gather the handle, the screenshots, the platform case reference and the messages sent to your contacts, and have them reviewed before the complaint is filed. You can contact the office for that review, read the practical guides in the cyber crime blog, or look at the cyber crime services page for the filings handled in Kolkata, including appearances before the City Sessions Court and the Calcutta High Court.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I report a fake Instagram profile of me?

Use Instagram's impersonation report, reached from the profile menu, rather than the ordinary abuse report. It asks whether the account is pretending to be you or someone you represent and may require a government identity document with a matching name. Capture the profile first, because the report can lead to removal within hours.

Is creating a fake Instagram profile a crime in India?

Yes, in most cases. Section 66C of the Information Technology Act 2000 covers fraudulent use of another person's identifying features, and section 66D covers cheating by personation. Where money is induced, section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 applies; where reputation is harmed, section 356; where threats are made, section 351.

Can the police trace who created a fake profile?

They can try. Meta holds registration details, login records and IP addresses, and the police can obtain them through a lawful request once a case is registered. Whether that identifies a person depends on how the account was created and how it was accessed, since profiles run on rented numbers or a virtual private network are harder to trace.

What if Instagram says the fake profile does not violate its rules?

Save that response and escalate. Write to Meta's India grievance officer under the IT Rules 2021, which require acknowledgement within twenty-four hours and a decision within fifteen days, and then appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee. In parallel, continue with the police complaint, because the criminal case does not depend on the platform's view.

Should I post publicly about the fake profile?

Generally no. A public campaign warns the operator, who may delete the account and open another, and it can give the operator a defence that the dispute is one of public accusation rather than impersonation. Warn your close contacts privately, especially those who might send money, and put the rest in the police complaint.

Can I claim damages for a fake Instagram profile?

A civil suit is possible for defamation, passing off or invasion of privacy, seeking damages and an injunction. It is most useful where a business is being cloned and customers are paying the wrong account, or where the fake profile published defamatory material. For a silent copy of your photographs, the criminal route is usually more effective.

How quickly can a fake profile be removed?

Removal usually follows the impersonation report, and the platform acts faster where identity documents match the profile name. For complaints about non-consensual intimate imagery, the IT Rules 2021 require action within a short window. If the platform does not act, the grievance officer and then the Appellate Committee are the escalation.

Information for general guidance only and not legal advice. Provisions cited follow the Information Technology Act 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023.

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