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Someone else is posting your photos

Picture a Facebook page you have never heard of posting your baking videos, frame for frame, with your name cropped off the bottom. It has more followers than you do. Here is how to make that harder, spot it sooner and get it taken down.

the short version

  • Copied pages take photos and reels from public accounts, build a following, then use it to sell something, push a giveaway link or run a scam later.
  • You can’t stop a determined copier. You can make your content more trouble to take than the next person’s.
  • Photos of children are the part to protect first. The safest place for them is off public accounts altogether.
  • When you find a copy, skip the “Report post” button and use Meta’s copyright or impersonation forms.
  • If the copier uses your name to scam people, or starts harassing you, it is no longer just copying. Singapore has places to report that, listed further down.

five things to do

  • 1
    mark

    Put the watermark where it hurts

    usual
    Your name in a corner. A copier crops it off in two seconds.
    better
    A faint, see-through mark across the middle, over the main subject.
    aim
    Light enough that your followers don’t mind it, awkward enough that removing it isn’t worth the effort.
  • 2
    family

    Keep the kids off the public account

    why
    A watermark still shows a child’s face to everyone.
    instead
    A private account, Instagram’s Close Friends list, or a family photo-sharing app that only relatives can open.
    rule
    Your public page gets the cake. Your family gets the birthday.
  • 3
    settings

    Switch off the easy copy routes

    instagram
    Turn off letting others download your reels, reuse your posts and embed them on other websites. At the time of writing these sit under Settings and privacy, then Sharing and remixes.
    facebook
    Set your default audience to Friends, not Public, and stop search engines linking to your profile.
    tip
    Meta moves these menus around. If the names don’t match, search the settings for “download” and “embed”.
  • 4
    look

    Find copies before your followers do

    how
    Every few months, run your profile photo and two or three of your best-known posts through a reverse image search on Google Images. Copied pages tend to reuse the same few pictures.
    careful
    Face-search sites can find copies of your own face. Don’t upload a child’s photo to one: that hands the picture to one more company.
    business
    If you run a business or create content for a living, apply for Meta Rights Manager. It scans Facebook and Instagram for your images and videos and can block, track or claim the copies. Not everyone who applies is accepted.
  • 5
    report

    Use the right form, not the report button

    copied post
    Use Meta’s copyright form for Facebook or Instagram. Say you own the content and paste two links: your original and the copy. You don’t need a lawyer.
    fake you
    If the page uses your name, face or business, report it as impersonation through the Facebook or Instagram Help Centre (search “impersonation”). You may need to show ID. This is the route that removes the whole account, not one post.
    law
    Many guides quote the US DMCA. In Singapore, your rights come from our own Copyright Act, and Meta’s forms still work for you.

when it turns into a scam or harassment

A copied page might start with your cakes and later use your name to sell things or ask your friends for money. Or someone takes your photos to mock you, threaten you or post where you live. That is more than a copyright problem, and in Singapore you can report it to the police or the Online Safety Commission.

  • if
    scam

    Someone uses your name to scam people

    not yours
    Cheating by pretending to be someone else is the scammer’s offence. You don’t become liable because they copied your public photos.
    police
    Make a police report on SPF e-Services. It puts on record that you are the one being impersonated, which helps if someone who lost money comes looking for you.
    warn
    Post on your real account that you will never ask for money, OTPs or payment over WhatsApp or Telegram, and say which accounts are really yours. A notice like this helps people who check, but most victims are messaged from the fake page and never see your real one, so warn friends and family directly too.
    unsure
    Anyone who isn’t sure whether a message is a scam can call the ScamShield helpline on 1799.
  • if
    harm

    It becomes harassment

    covered
    Online harassment, doxxing (posting your address, phone number or other details to target you), online stalking, intimate image abuse (real or AI-made) and abuse images of children.
    where
    The Online Safety Commission, running since 29 June 2026, takes reports at report.osc.gov.sg. It can order posts taken down and accounts restricted.
    order
    For harassment and stalking, report to the platform first. If it hasn’t acted properly within 24 hours, go to the Commission. Doxxing, intimate images and child abuse images can go straight to the Commission.
    not yet
    Impersonation is in the law, but the Commission isn’t taking those reports yet. For a fake account, use the platform’s impersonation form and a police report for now.
    help
    SHECARES@SCWO offers free counselling and pro bono legal help to people facing online harm.
    court
    You can also ask the court for a protection order under the Protection from Harassment Act.
    danger
    If you are in immediate danger, call 999 or SMS 70999.

Before you report anything, take screenshots that show the date, the link and the account name. Don’t reply to the person, and don’t delete the messages yet.

a ten-minute routine

Keep family photos off public accounts. Put a faint mark across the middle of anything you post publicly. Check your profile photo with a reverse image search once a quarter. And when a friend finds a copied page, send them the copyright form link instead of telling them to hit report.

None of this takes long. It is much easier than explaining to an aunt why “you” are suddenly selling cheap air fryers.

Links

Settings and forms change. Check the current app and Meta’s Help Centre before you rely on any step here. The Online Safety Commission is adding more types of harm over time. Check its site for what it covers today. This is general information, not legal advice.