This afternoon (13/03/2020) it was brought to my attention that an account had been created without my knowledge or consent. The account used my full name, photo and a username very similar to mine. It’s important to note that I have not been hacked, rather an account was impersonating mine.
I notified all followers that I could, Issued a warning and contacted Instagram to have the account removed.
I only use “mattmorrismedia” as a handle across social media. I have made available a tool to verify genuine accounts (click here)
Please note the fake account used an ‘_’ underscore
An account was created without my knowledge or consent and used my full name, profile picture and near identical username to deceive people. This account was sending direct messages like the example posted below.
No, my accounts are secure, and important data is stored offline.
I use two-step verification across all accounts, with physical 2FA security, and encrypt all local and offsite data. In regards to any information collected for My Dancing Eyes this data was stored offline and at no time was physically or virtually accessed. It is stored an in encrypted form and can not be read without a decryption key.
As soon as I was made aware I took action to notify accounts that followed the fake account, I also reported the issue to Instagram and provided photo ID to have the account removed.
What you should do?
What to do should you find yourself in this situation?