Someone Made a Deepfake of You: What to Do First

Safety & scams Guide9 min read·Updated August 10, 2026

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For your specific situation, consult a qualified legal professional.

The short answer

Save evidence before anything gets deleted, then report the content to the platform hosting it. If the image is sexual or intimate, StopNCII.org (18+) or NCMEC's Take It Down (under 18) can get it removed from participating platforms using a private hash, and U.S. platforms must act within 48 hours under the TAKE IT DOWN Act. For any other kind of harmful fake, report it as impersonation or synthetic media and document who has seen it.

Finding out that someone has made a fake AI photo or video of you — sexual, embarrassing, or just designed to make you look like you said or did something you didn't — is frightening, and the instinct to panic or immediately confront whoever posted it is completely normal. But the order you do things in matters. Acting fast on evidence, not emotion, gives you the best chance of getting it removed and, if needed, holding someone accountable.

Save evidence before you do anything else

Before you report, block, or confront anyone, capture what exists right now: screenshots of the image or video, the post's URL, the username or account that posted it, the date and time, and screenshots of any comments, shares, or messages tied to it. If you can, save or download the actual file — you will need a copy of it for some of the removal tools below. Content gets deleted, accounts get renamed, and posts move — evidence you didn't save in the first hour is often gone by the next day.

If it's sexual or intimate: use a hash-matching removal tool

If the fake shows you nude, partially nude, or in a sexual situation, you have a fast, private removal path. If you are 18 or older, go to StopNCII.org. It turns the image or video on your own device into a digital fingerprint called a hash — the actual file is never uploaded or seen by anyone — and shares that fingerprint with participating platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, X, Snapchat, Bing, and OnlyFans, so they can find and remove matching content. This works on AI-generated deepfakes as well as real images. If you are under 18, use NCMEC's Take It Down instead — it works the same way and is built specifically for minors.

Report it directly to the platform

Alongside a hash-matching tool, report the specific post through the platform's own reporting flow — look for options like "non-consensual intimate image," "impersonation," or "synthetic or manipulated media" rather than a generic complaint. In the United States, the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act now requires platforms to remove nonconsensual intimate images — including AI-generated deepfakes — within 48 hours of a valid request, with penalties of over $53,000 per violation for platforms that don't comply. If a U.S. platform ignores a valid takedown request, you can file a complaint at the FTC's TakeItDown.ftc.gov.

Ask Google to remove it from Search results

Even after a platform takes content down, it can still show up in search results or on sites that copied it. Google has a dedicated removal request for nonconsensual explicit or fake sexual imagery at Remove explicit or intimate content — it also proactively filters similar results and removes duplicate copies it finds once one image is confirmed and removed.

If it's not sexual: report as impersonation and correct the record

A fake video putting words in your mouth, a manipulated photo used to embarrass or scam someone, or an AI clip impersonating you for a prank or a con doesn't fall under the sexual-image tools above, but it's still a policy violation on nearly every major platform. Report it under "impersonation" or "synthetic and manipulated media" — most platforms including Meta, TikTok, and YouTube have specific categories for this. If people who know you may have seen it — coworkers, family, a school, an employer — a short, calm message letting them know it's fake and that you've reported it does more to limit damage than staying silent while it spreads.

If someone is using it to threaten or extort you, involve police

If a message comes with it — "pay me" or "send more or I'll post this" — that's sextortion, a crime, not a negotiation. Don't pay and don't send anything further; compliance rarely ends the demands and often invites more. Save every message and file as evidence, then report it to your local police and, if you're in the U.S., to the FBI's IC3.gov. Being targeted this way is not something you caused, and it's not something you have to handle by yourself.

What to Try Next

If you want to get better at spotting fakes before they fool you or someone you love, how to spot a deepfake video covers the visual signs, and is that really your family on the video call walks through verifying a live call. If the fake involves a cloned voice rather than an image, how AI voice cloning scams work explains how those are made and reported.

Sources

Published August 10, 2026 · Updated August 10, 2026How we test →

Frequently asked questions

Do I need the original photo to prove a deepfake is fake?
No. You do not need to prove how it was made to get it removed. Platforms and the tools below act on the fact that the image or video depicts you without your consent, not on a technical analysis of whether it is AI-generated. Save the fake content itself — that is what gets hashed or reported.
What if I don't know who made or posted it?
You can still report and remove the content without knowing who is responsible. Reporting to the platform, using StopNCII.org or NCMEC's Take It Down, and asking Google to remove it from Search all work whether or not the source is known. If it looks like extortion or a pattern of harassment, a police report creates a record even before you have a name.
Is it illegal to make a deepfake of someone?
In the United States, making or sharing a sexual or intimate deepfake of someone without their consent is covered by the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, and many states have their own deepfake laws that go further, including for non-sexual harassment or election-related fakes. Rules vary by country, so if you are outside the U.S., a local victim-support or cybercrime hotline can tell you what applies where you live.
Will reporting it make more people see it?
No — reporting to a platform or using a hash-matching tool like StopNCII.org does not publish or share the image further. StopNCII and NCMEC's Take It Down convert your image into a digital fingerprint on your own device; the image itself is never uploaded or seen by a person. Reporting privately to a platform is also confidential and does not notify the poster who reported it.
What if the deepfake is being used to pressure me for money or more images?
That is sextortion, a crime, and paying or sending more material almost never makes it stop. Stop responding to the person making demands, save every message and image as evidence, and report it to your local police and, in the U.S., the FBI's IC3.gov. You are the victim here, not someone who did something wrong.
Radim S.
Founder & editor

Radim is a software developer who spends his days building with AI and his evenings explaining it to family members who don’t care how it works — only what it can do for them. The safety guides are checked claim by claim against primary sources before they go out.

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