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Use the reporting route that matches the harm. Report the post or account to the platform first; report a money or information scam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; escalate a covered platform’s failure to remove a valid nonconsensual intimate-image report through TakeItDown.ftc.gov; and report explicit imagery involving a child to local police, the FBI, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline.
Do not repost the material while gathering evidence. Save the post address, account name, dates, messages, report confirmations, and payment records when you can do so safely. The United States routes and deadlines below are specific to U.S. reporting systems and may change as agencies and platforms update their procedures.
First identify which kind of deepfake you are dealing with
A deepfake can be an altered or synthetic image, video, or audio recording. An AI-generated impersonation often copies a real person’s face or voice to exploit trust, request money, obtain account information, or persuade someone to take an action. The same technology can also be used to publish a fabricated intimate image or explicit image of a child. Those harms require different reports, so classify the incident before choosing a form.
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Examples include a voice message that sounds like a relative asking for an emergency payment, a video that appears to show an executive authorizing a transfer, or a social account using someone else’s identity to request passwords or financial details. Treat this as potential fraud even if you cannot prove the audio or video is synthetic.
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Nonconsensual intimate imagery, including a fabricated image
This includes an intimate photograph or video shared without the depicted person’s consent and digital forgeries that make it appear the person is nude or engaged in sexual activity. The Take It Down Act (TIDA) covers real imagery and digital forgeries, including AI-created or altered images. The platform-removal route is the priority when the goal is to get a hosted post taken down.
Explicit imagery involving a child
If the material depicts, appears to depict, or is presented as depicting a person under 18 in an explicit way, use child-safety and law-enforcement channels immediately. Do not download, forward, attach, or redistribute the image to prove what happened.
Choose the correct reporting route
| Situation | First action | Additional action | What the route is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impersonation scam or other fraud | Report the post, account, message, or profile to the platform | File at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; if money was sent, contact the bank promptly and consider IC3 and local police | Creates a consumer-fraud record and helps investigators identify patterns |
| Nonconsensual intimate image or AI-generated intimate deepfake | Use the platform’s report function on the post or its support page | If the covered platform has no workable process or has not removed a valid report within 48 hours, report the platform at TakeItDown.ftc.gov; consider StopNCII for adult images | Seeks removal of the hosted post and known identical copies, then escalates a platform-compliance failure |
| Explicit image involving a child | Report to local police, the FBI, NCMEC CyberTipline, and the platform | Use NCMEC’s Take It Down service to create a hash that can help suppress matching copies | Triggers child-protection and criminal-reporting channels while reducing online spread |
Preserve useful information without spreading the material
Reporting forms work better when investigators and platform reviewers can locate the content. Preserve only information you can access safely and lawfully. You do not need to download an explicit image, make a new copy, or send it to another person.
- Copy the exact post or profile URL and note the platform name.
- Record the account handle, display name, phone number, email address, or other identifier shown by the impersonator.
- Write down the date and time you saw the content, including your time zone when it matters.
- Keep messages, emails, caller IDs, voicemails, and transaction instructions that show what the person requested.
- Save the platform’s confirmation page, ticket number, email, or other submission record.
- For a payment scam, retain bank or payment-app receipts, transaction IDs, recipient details, and the method used.
- Store notes in a private location and limit access to people who need them for reporting or support.
Do not quote, embed, or repost the deepfake to warn others. A link, account identifier, and concise description are usually safer than creating another copy.
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Report the post or account to the platform
The platform report is the direct request to remove the individual post or account. It is separate from a report to a government agency, which generally records the incident or reviews the platform’s compliance.
- Open the post, message, profile, or listing containing the suspected impersonation or deepfake.
- Select the platform’s Report, Flag, or More-options control. If the post menu does not offer the right category, use the platform’s Help or Safety support page.
- Choose the closest reason, such as impersonation, fraud, nonconsensual intimate imagery, sexual exploitation, or child sexual exploitation.
- Describe the harm in plain terms. State whether the image, audio, or video is AI-generated or appears manipulated, whether the depicted person consented, whether money or information was requested, and whether a child may be involved.
- Provide the original post URL, account handle, and any relevant message or transaction details. Avoid uploading additional copies of explicit child imagery.
- Submit the report and save the confirmation, case number, and date. If the platform offers an appeal or status page, record that information too.
What the U.S. intimate-image deadline means
FTC guidance says covered platforms must remove a validly reported intimate image and known identical copies within 48 hours. The rule applies to qualifying nonconsensual intimate imagery, including covered digital forgeries; it is not a promise that every report about every manipulated media file will be accepted. A platform may still need enough information to determine that the report is valid and covered.
The 48-hour period is a platform-removal deadline, not a deadline for police, banks, or the FTC to complete an investigation. Keep the submission record so you can show when the valid report was made.
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Escalate a missing or failed intimate-image process to the FTC
If a covered platform does not provide a reporting process, the process is broken or inaccessible, or the platform has not removed a valid report within 48 hours, file a platform-compliance report at TakeItDown.ftc.gov.
- Gather the platform name, the post or account location, the date and time of your platform report, and the confirmation or error message.
- Explain whether the content is a real intimate image, an AI-generated or altered intimate image, or another covered digital forgery.
- State what happened to the platform report: no reporting route, technical failure, rejection, no response, or no removal after 48 hours.
- Submit the FTC report and keep its confirmation for your records.
This FTC route reports the platform’s compliance. It does not directly remove the image; only the platform hosting the post can take that post down. Continue using the platform’s safety channel if the content remains online, and report newly discovered copies separately.
FTC business guidance published in May 2026 says a violation may result in civil penalties of $53,088 per violation. That figure concerns potential platform enforcement, not money owed to the person reporting and not a guaranteed award.
Report an impersonation scam or other fraud
Use ReportFraud.ftc.gov when an impersonator solicits money, account access, identity information, or another benefit. The FTC’s process asks you to describe what happened and lets you provide details about the person or business involved, payment, and contact information if you choose. After submission, it returns a report number and information about next steps.
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- How the person contacted you and which platform, phone number, email address, or website was used.
- Why you believe the voice, video, image, or profile was impersonating someone or was generated or altered.
- What the impersonator requested, including a payment, gift card, cryptocurrency transfer, password, one-time code, or identification document.
- The amount, date, payment method, recipient, and transaction reference if money moved.
- URLs, account names, message text, and the dates you observed them.
A fraud report is useful even when you did not lose money. FTC attorney Rosario Mendez explains that each report helps the agency build cases, stop scammers, and alert others to current trends.
If money or account access was involved
Contact the bank, card issuer, payment service, or cryptocurrency provider promptly using an official channel. Ask whether a transfer can be stopped, recalled, or disputed; the outcome depends on the payment method and timing. Change exposed passwords from a trusted device, enable multifactor authentication where available, and tell the real person or organization being impersonated so it can warn others.
The FBI and American Bar Association Foundation direct scam victims to report to their bank, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), and local police. Their 2025 infographic reports more than 4.2 million fraud reports and $50.5 billion in losses since 2020; those figures cover broad fraud, not specifically deepfake scams.
Handle explicit imagery involving a child as an emergency safety report
Report the perpetrator or account to local police, NCMEC’s CyberTipline, or the FBI, and separately request removal from the platform. Include the location of the post and the account identifier rather than circulating the image.
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- Stop viewing and do not download, forward, screenshot, or attach the explicit image.
- Copy the post or profile address if you can do so without saving the image itself.
- Report the account and post through the platform’s child-safety or sexual-exploitation category.
- Submit a report to NCMEC’s CyberTipline, local police, or the FBI, describing where the material appeared and why a child may be involved.
- Keep confirmation numbers and provide them to investigators if requested.
NCMEC’s Take It Down service can create a digital fingerprint, called a hash, from an image on the user’s device. Participating services can use that fingerprint to help detect or suppress matching copies without requiring the original image to be uploaded. Use the service as a supplement to platform and law-enforcement reports, not as a replacement for them.
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Use hash-based services to reduce future matches
Adults: StopNCII
For an adult’s nonconsensual intimate image, the FTC identifies StopNCII as a free global service. It creates the digital fingerprint on the user’s device and shares the fingerprint, not the original image, with participating platforms. This can help limit future matching uploads, but it does not remove the original post from every website and does not replace a report to the platform hosting the image.
Minors: NCMEC Take It Down
For an image involving a minor, use NCMEC’s Take It Down service. Its purpose is to help participating platforms suppress matching copies while the underlying child-safety report proceeds. Do not send the original explicit image to friends, moderators, or agencies through ordinary messaging; follow the service’s own instructions.
Understand the limits
- A hash service works with participating platforms, not the entire internet.
- Changing, cropping, recompressing, or otherwise altering a file may produce a different hash that is not automatically matched.
- Hashing does not identify the perpetrator, recover money, or create a police report.
- The hosting platform’s report remains the route for removing the specific post you found.
What to expect after reporting
Platforms may remove content, restrict an account, ask for additional information, or determine that a report does not meet their rules. Keep every case number and note any reposts. A government report may be used for trend analysis, referrals, or enforcement, but it does not guarantee immediate removal, a refund, an arrest, or a personal award.
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United States scope and reporting outside the U.S.
The 48-hour intimate-image deadline, FTC escalation routes, and agency guidance described here are United States specific. Platform rules may apply globally, but legal duties and government reporting systems differ by country. Readers elsewhere should use their national cybercrime or police service, their country’s privacy or consumer-protection regulator, and the platform’s own safety channel. Check the live instructions on each service before submitting because forms, coverage, and implementation details can change.
Quick Recap
A practical decision checklist
- Money or information requested? Report the account to the platform, file at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, contact the bank or payment provider if applicable, and consider IC3 and local police.
- Adult’s intimate image shared without consent? Report the exact post to the platform, save the confirmation, and use StopNCII to help limit matching copies.
- AI-generated intimate deepfake? Describe it as a digital forgery in the platform report. If the covered platform lacks a workable process or has not removed a valid report within 48 hours, report that failure at TakeItDown.ftc.gov.
- Explicit image involving a child? Do not copy or redistribute it. Report to the platform, NCMEC CyberTipline, local police, or the FBI, and use NCMEC Take It Down for hash-based suppression.
- Unsure which category applies? Preserve the URL and account details safely, make the platform report, and use the government route that matches the suspected harm rather than waiting to prove the media’s technical origin.
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