If someone has set up a fake Instagram account or Facebook Page using your brand, start with Meta’s own reporting tools: an impersonation report for an account pretending to be your business, and a trademark report where your brand name or logo is being used to sell or promote goods or services. Meta’s trademark report asks for the basis of your rights, such as a registration and its number, so a Pakistani trade mark registration is the document to have ready. If the fake page keeps coming back or is taking customers’ money, the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001 gives you legal routes as well.
First, collect the evidence
A page can be renamed or deleted at any time, so before you report anything, record:
- the full URL and username of the account or Page;
- dated screenshots of the profile, the posts that use your name or logo, and any prices, phone numbers or payment details shown;
- messages from customers who were misled, with their consent; and
- your own official account links and your trade mark registration details.
Meta’s trademark reporting guidance asks for URLs that lead directly to the content, so collect the link to each post, not only the profile.
Route 1: report it as impersonation
Meta’s Community Standards on authentic identity prohibit impersonating another person or entity, including by speaking in the voice of an entity without authorisation, for example by creating a Page or profile.
- Facebook. Facebook’s help page on impersonating profiles and Pages says you can report a profile or Page pretending to be you or someone else from the Options menu below the cover photo (“Report profile” or “Report Page”), and that you can report even without a Facebook account, using a contact form.
- Instagram. Instagram’s impersonation help page lists a business or organisation among the identities an impostor account may be pretending to be. You report it from the account’s profile: Options, Report, Report account, “It’s pretending to be someone else”. Instagram notes that it accepts reports for impersonating someone or something, not for an account merely misrepresenting itself.
Meta’s impersonation help pages do not ask for a trade mark registration. This route fits a page that pretends to be your official account.
Route 2: report it as trademark infringement
Where the page uses your brand name or logo to sell or promote goods or services, Meta’s trademark route applies. Meta’s intellectual property policy says that, on a report from a rights holder or authorised representative, it will remove or restrict content involving trademark infringement, the sale or promotion of counterfeit goods, and false affiliation with brands, and that it removes accounts that repeatedly violate the policy.
Facebook’s help page on reporting trademark infringements and the matching Instagram trademark page point to an online report form. Meta’s stated requirements include:
- your full contact details;
- the word or symbol in which you claim rights, the basis of the claim (such as a registration, with its number) and the country;
- the category of goods or services covered;
- URLs locating the content and a description of how it infringes;
- your relationship to the owner, if you are not the owner; and
- a declaration of good faith and accuracy, with your signature.
Points to know before you file:
- Only the owner or its authorised representative may file a trademark report.
- Your details are shared. Meta says it regularly gives the person who posted the content the rights owner’s name, the reporter’s email address and the report details, and suggests using a generic business email.
- Meta does not decide complex disputes. It says it cannot act on reports that need in-depth trademark analysis or involve a real-world dispute outside Facebook, and that such matters may need to be resolved directly or in court.
- Brand Rights Protection. Meta’s Brand Rights Protection tool lets brands search for and report counterfeit, trademark and copyright infringement and business impersonation. Meta says owners of a registered trademark may be eligible and can apply for access.
Why registration in Pakistan helps
Meta’s form asks for the basis of your rights and the jurisdiction. A Pakistani registration answers both. Under the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001, using an identical mark for identical goods or services, or a deceptively similar mark where confusion is likely, infringes a registered mark (section 40(1) and (2)). Using a registered mark as your trade name, or part of it, is also infringement (section 40(5)). A mark counts as used in relation to goods or services if it appears in an advertisement, among other places (section 3(1)(c)).
Without a registration, you can still rely on passing off, which the Ordinance preserves (section 46(3)), or on the unfair competition provisions, which make acts creating confusion with a competitor’s business, goods or services unlawful (section 67). But infringement proceedings under the Ordinance cannot begin until a mark is actually registered (section 39(5)).
Warn your customers
While a report is pending, post a short notice on your official accounts and website naming your genuine handles and payment channels, and asking customers to report anything that looks fake. Keep the wording factual: say the account is not yours, without accusing a named person of a crime.
When to take legal action
If the page reappears, takes payments from customers, or is run by a competitor you can identify, a platform report may not resolve it. Trade mark suits in Pakistan are brought before an IP Tribunal (section 117). The remedies, evidence and procedure are covered in our guide to trademark infringement and passing off in Pakistan.
Frequently asked questions
How do I report a fake Facebook Page using my business name?
Go to the Page, open the Options menu below the cover photo, select “Report Page” and follow the prompts. Facebook also offers a contact form for people without an account. If the Page uses your mark to sell goods or services, consider a trademark report as well.
Can I report a fake Instagram account pretending to be my business?
Yes. Instagram’s help pages list a business or organisation as an identity you can report impersonation of, using “It’s pretending to be someone else” in the report menu.
Do I need a registered trademark to report to Meta?
Not for an impersonation report. For a trademark report, Meta asks for the basis of your rights, including a registration number if applicable, and Meta says owners of a registered trademark may be eligible to apply for Brand Rights Protection.
Will the person running the fake page see my details?
For trademark reports, Meta says it regularly shares the rights owner’s name, the reporter’s email address and the report details with the person who posted the content. Instagram says impersonation reports are anonymous except for intellectual property reports.
Meta’s help and policy pages and the Trade Marks Ordinance 2001 (as amended in 2023) were checked on 15 October 2026. Platform procedures change; check the current pages before reporting. This post is general information, not legal advice.