Fake Ads Using My Brand on Facebook: How to Report

A customer sends you a screenshot. It is a Facebook or Instagram ad with your shop name, your logo and your product photos, offering a closing down sale you never announced. The link goes to a site you do not own, and people are already asking you why their order never arrived.

The short answer: save the evidence, report every copy of the ad to Meta, report the Page behind it as an impostor, and if you own a registered trademark, use Meta's trademark routes. Then warn your customers from your real accounts.

This guide covers each step, which report fits which situation, what to do when customers lose money in Malaysia, and the scams aimed at owners chasing a takedown.

Last checked: 5 October 2026.

#How Do You Report a Fake Ad Using Your Brand on Facebook or Instagram?

Open the ad, tap "Options" next to it and choose "Report ad", then follow the prompts. If the ad has scrolled away, search your brand name in the Meta Ad Library and report it from there. Next, report the Page or Instagram account that runs the ad as an impostor. If the ad uses your registered trademark or your own photos, add an intellectual property report. Meta makes the final decision on each report; nobody outside Meta can remove an ad for you.

#Which Report Fits Your Situation?

Each Meta route answers a different question. You can file more than one, as long as each is true.

#Step 1: Capture Evidence Before the Ad Disappears

Do this before you report anything. The Meta Ad Library says it shows ads currently running. Outside the EU and UK, and for ads not about social issues, elections or politics, an ad that stops running drops out of the search. Once a scam advertiser pauses an ad, your proof can go with it.

Meta also describes a trick called cloaking in its announcement on legal action against scam advertisers: the linked website shows Meta's reviewers one version and real visitors another. That is why what your customers saw matters, not only what the ad looks like now.

• A full screenshot of each ad with the date, time and the advertiser name visible.
• The Ad Library entry for each ad, including any ID number shown on the ad card.
• The advertiser's Page or account name and its link, plus a screenshot of its profile.
• The destination link, copied with a long press rather than opened. Do not enter any details on that page.
• Screenshots your customers send you, with their permission, and the date they saw the ad.
• Every report reference or confirmation email Meta sends you, in one folder.
• Your own proof: trademark registration, business registration and the original photos the ad copied.

#Step 2: Find Every Copy in the Meta Ad Library

Scam advertisers often run several versions at once. The Ad Library lets anyone search ads by keyword or advertiser name, and it says a new ad appears there within 24 hours of its first impression.

1. Open the Meta Ad Library and set the location to Malaysia, or to wherever your customers are.
2. Search your brand name, then common misspellings, your product names and your shop's handle.
3. Repeat the search in each language your customers use, including Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese versions of your brand name.
4. Search the advertiser name from the first scam ad, since the same Page often runs other copies.
5. Screenshot each result before you report it, and search again over the next few days for new copies.

#Step 3: Report Each Ad as a Scam

Meta's help page on reporting an ad gives two routes. In your feed, click "Options" next to the ad and choose "Report ad". If the ad is gone from your feed, search for it in the Ad Library, click "Options" next to it and choose "Report ad". Meta says a report may trigger its ad review system to review the ad again.

• Report each ad separately. One report does not cover every copy.
• Pick the reason that honestly fits, and keep any description short and factual: the ad uses our name and logo, and we did not create it.
• Ask staff or customers who saw the ad to report it themselves if they wish, but only what they saw. Do not hand out a script or ask for a coordinated wave of reports.

#Step 4: Report the Advertiser's Page or Account as an Impostor

An ad always runs from a Page or account. If that Page pretends to be your business, report it too. Our guide to fake Pages posing as a Malaysian business covers impostor Pages that post rather than advertise.

Facebook's page on reporting a profile or Page pretending to be you says to open the Page, click "Options" below the cover photo, select "Report Page" and follow the prompts. It also says you can report an impostor Page even if you have no Facebook account. On Instagram, the help page on reporting an impersonating account offers an in-app report and a form for people without an account, and says the reported account will not see who reported it, unless the report is about intellectual property.

#Step 5: Use a Trademark or Copyright Report When You Own the Rights

A rights-based report rests on something you own, so it does not depend on Meta agreeing that an ad looks like a scam. Meta's page on reporting an ad for intellectual property infringement covers copyright, trademark and counterfeit claims. It says the reports go to Meta's IP operations team, and asks for a direct link to the ad, or a screenshot if you have no link. If you use Business Manager you can report from there; otherwise Meta points to its Intellectual Property Reporting Center.

The Trademark Report Form is for owners without Brand Rights Protection. Read these conditions before you file:

• It covers a registered trademark only, and each report must relate to one registered mark.
• You need a link to the registration in an online trademark database, or the registration certificate.
• You must be the rights owner or authorised to act for them, such as a lawyer or agent.
• Meta says it gives the rights owner's name, your email address and the nature of the report to the person you reported. Use a business email, not your personal one.
• You confirm the report is accurate under penalty of perjury, and Meta warns that abuse of the form may lead to your account being terminated.

If your brand name is not registered as a trademark, the trademark form is not your route. Use the scam ad and impostor reports, and a copyright report for photos you took yourself. Our article on trademark reports against fake brand accounts explains the rights side in more detail. This is general information, not legal advice.

#Brand Rights Protection: Is It Worth Applying?

Brand Rights Protection is Meta's tool for businesses with a registered trademark. Meta's overview of Brand Rights Protection says it lets an approved brand search for and report counterfeit, trademark, copyright and impersonation problems across Facebook and Instagram ads, Pages, profiles, Instagram accounts, posts, Shops and Marketplace. You reach it from the Menu in Meta Business Suite, and you need the IP reviewer role to see it.

Meta has also expanded scam ad reporting to every Brand Rights Protection account. Enrolled businesses can now report suspected scam ads even when they do not use the brand's intellectual property, including misleading ads that exploit a brand's name without permission, through the "Other" violation type on the ads tab. Access needs an application, and Meta decides who gets in.

#Warn Your Customers Without Spreading the Scam

Your customers cannot see your reports. They can see a clear warning from you. Post it on the Facebook Page, Instagram account and website you control, and pin it.

• Name your only official accounts and website, and how you take orders and payments.
• Describe the fake ad in plain words, for example a closing down sale you never announced.
• Show a screenshot with the scam link blurred, so nobody taps it from your post.
• Tell people who paid to contact their bank straight away and make a police report.
• Post the warning in the languages your customers use, such as Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.

#If the Ad Leads to a Phishing Site or Customers Lost Money

A scam ad is often only the front door. If the link leads to a fake checkout or login page, report it to CyberSecurity Malaysia's Cyber999 incident response centre by online form, email, phone or its app. Cyber999 says it helps Malaysian internet users escalate abuse reports to the relevant parties. Our guide to reporting a phishing site that copies your brand covers the website side.

Customers who paid should act on the money first. The NSRC's FAQ on the NFCC website says to contact your bank's hotline or the NSRC on 997 as soon as fraud is noticed, then make a police report within 24 hours. It also says NSRC, PDRM, MCMC, Bank Negara Malaysia and banks will never ask for a password, PIN, TAC or OTP. You can share this advice in your warning post.

#What Not to Do

• Do not file a trademark or copyright report for a mark or photo you do not own. Meta's form is signed under penalty of perjury.
• Do not organise mass reporting or ask followers to flood the advertiser. Report each real violation once, accurately.
• Do not contact, threaten or try to trace the people behind the ad. Leave that to Meta and the police.
• Do not pay anyone who promises to take the ad down, and never give them your logins.

#If Meta Leaves the Ad Up

Sometimes the answer is no, or the ad is gone before anyone acts. Meta makes the final decision on every report, and an ad that is merely annoying, or a competitor's lawful ad, usually stays up. Nobody can promise that an ad will be removed.

• Check your evidence folder: a direct link, clear screenshots and the right report type often matter more than repeating the same report.
• If you own a registered mark, switch from a general report to the trademark route, or apply for Brand Rights Protection.
• MCMC's complaint page lists online content problems among the issues it handles, though platform reports come first.
• For trademark infringement, passing off or a court order, speak to a Malaysian lawyer. Meta's trademark form accepts court orders. This article is general information, not legal advice.

#When a Case Review Makes Sense

A single scam ad can usually be handled with the steps above. Outside help is worth considering when the ads keep returning, when several Pages and countries are involved, or when you are unsure whether you hold rights you can report. SocialSafe by AwareXone reviews the evidence first, then prepares accurate reports through Meta's own channels only. We never claim rights you do not hold or ask for your password, codes or portfolio access, and Meta still decides. You can read how we handle impersonation removal, and our Trust Center sets out how we work.

#Frequently Asked Questions