How to report a seller on eBay for selling fakes, or a fake app in Play Store: prove the original first

By Devin Marsh Published 19 October 2026 18 min read

Fake sellers, copycat apps, cloned browser extensions, fake profiles and invented business listings look like different problems. To the desks that remove them they are one problem with one question attached: which item is genuine, and who is entitled to say so? A buyer who received a fake bag, a developer whose app was cloned and a person whose photos run a dating profile all get further when the report carries proof of the original, not just a description of the copy.

This guide works through the marketplaces first (eBay, Poshmark, Depop), then the app stores and the Chrome Web Store, then fake accounts on LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Lemon8, Quora, Tinder, Bumble and Grindr, and finally fake clients on Upwork and fake places on Apple Maps. Each section names the report path, the proof the desk asks for and the limit of what a report can do. Where a help page could not be read for this guide, the section says so.

Which desk takes down which kind of copy?

Every platform runs at least two desks for copies: a community report that any user can file, and a rights desk for the owner of the original name, brand, code or photos. The community report flags a rule break for review. The rights desk removes on proof of ownership. Knowing which desk you belong at decides most of the outcome before anything is filed.

Learning how to report a seller on eBay for selling fakes, or how to report fake app in Play Store copies, starts with that split. It matters because a community report on a counterfeit or a cloned app asks a reviewer to guess which version is real. A rights notice answers that question for them. The same logic sits behind the difference between reports that remove and reports that only record: a report from someone without standing is often logged and closed, while the same facts from the person or brand copied lead to removal.

US consumers filed more than 1 million imposter reports in 2025, with reported losses above $3.5 billion, out of 3 million fraud reports and $15.9 billion lost overall.Federal Trade Commission testimony to Congress, 25 March 2026

How to report a seller on eBay for selling fakes

To report a seller on eBay for selling fakes, open the listing and use its report option, choosing the counterfeit or prohibited-item reason. If you bought the item, open an “item not as described” return under the eBay Money Back Guarantee instead of waiting on the report. A brand owner files through VeRO, the route that removes listings on proof of rights.

The three routes do different jobs. The listing report asks eBay to review one item; members on eBay’s community boards describe the link sitting above the description, and eBay has moved it before, so look for “Report” on the listing page if the label has changed. The return claim protects your money. VeRO, eBay’s Verified Rights Owner programme, lets the owner of a trademark or copyright file a Notice of Claimed Infringement and have listings ended, and only the owner or an authorised agent may use it.

eBay counted about 75,000 rights owners enrolled in VeRO and roughly 7.9 million listings removed proactively in 2025.eBay 2025 Global Transparency Report, as quoted in published summaries

To report fake eBay listing pages as a buyer, the evidence that helps is concrete: the item number, the listing photos saved before the seller edits them, close-ups of the item you received, and any authenticity mismatch you can point to, such as a wrong serial format or missing hologram. Forum users report that eBay sometimes closes a counterfeit report without action, which is why the refund claim matters more than the report for a buyer who has already paid.

The money route has a clock. Under the eBay Money Back Guarantee a buyer can open a request up to 30 calendar days after the estimated delivery date; the seller then has 3 business days to respond before the buyer can ask eBay to step in. Any payment made outside eBay is excluded. So the order of work, if you are working out how to report a seller on eBay for selling fakes, is: save the listing, open the return, then report the listing.

• Buyer with a fake in hand: return claim first, report second, keep the item until eBay closes the case.
• Brand or authorised reseller: VeRO notice naming each item number; a report from a customer carries less weight.
• Someone who spotted fakes without buying: the listing report, with the reason the item is not genuine stated in one or two plain sentences.

How do you report a fake bag on Poshmark or a fake Depop account?

If you want to report fake bag on Poshmark listings, use the report option on the listing or the seller’s closet and, if you bought it, raise the problem inside Posh Protect’s window of three days after delivery. Items over $500 pass through Poshmark Authenticate before they reach the buyer. On Depop, report the listing or the account from the three-dot menu and choose the counterfeit reason.

Poshmark’s reporting path runs from the closet through the action menu to Report User, and listing reports sit on each item. The short claim window is the hard part: a buyer who opens the parcel after day three has lost the platform’s protection whatever the report says. Brand owners contact Poshmark’s IP team, which a 2024 law-firm summary (Vorys) lists as reachable through [email protected].

To report fake Depop account copies, open the profile, use the three-dot menu and choose the report reason that fits: counterfeit for fake goods, impersonation where the account copies a real seller’s name and photos. A UK football-shirt retailer’s walkthrough notes that Depop’s reviewers rely on the written description, so name the specific sign the item is fake. Depop’s own help pages could not be read for this guide, so menu labels may differ slightly in your app.

How to report fake app in Play Store listings

Here is how to report fake app in Play Store listings: open the app’s page in the Google Play app, tap More, then Flag as inappropriate, choose a reason and tap Submit. Google’s help page also links a separate form for Developer Program Policy violations and a troubleshooter for illegal content. The developer whose app was copied should use the policy or IP form, not the flag.

Google’s Play Help page describes the flag as a route “for review and potential action” and promises no reply or timeline. For a user working out how to report fake app in Play Store results they installed by mistake, that is the right button, and the uninstall should happen first. For the owner of the real app, the fake is an intellectual-property and impersonation problem, and the Play Console policy pages treat apps that pretend to be another developer’s product under their impersonation rules.

Google blocked 1.75 million policy-violating apps from Play in 2025 and banned more than 80,000 developer accounts.Google Play 2025 safety review, reported by BleepingComputer, February 2026

To report copycat app listings well, put three things in the free-text field: the package name of the fake (the id= part of its Play URL), the package name of the genuine app, and what the copy took, such as the icon, the name or the screenshots. Fake apps often reuse the original’s icon and a near-identical name, which a How-To Geek guide lists as the first warning sign. Anyone learning how to report fake app in Play Store listings should treat the package name as the key fact: a reviewer comparing two package names decides faster than one reading a complaint about “a fake”.

To remove copycat app listings for good, the developer route is stronger than any user flag. Google’s IP complaint form takes trademark and copyright notices from the rights owner, and it asks for registration details. Users who want to remove fake apps from their own phone should uninstall them, revoke any account access granted through them, and then flag the listing so the next person is warned.

How do you report a fake app on the App Store?

To report fake app on App Store listings, sign in at reportaproblem.apple.com and choose “Report a scam or fraud” against the app in your purchase history. Apple added that option in iOS 15 in 2021. The route needs the app to appear in your purchases, so it suits people who downloaded the copy. Developers and brand owners use Apple’s App Store content dispute form instead.

The purchase-history link is the catch people miss when they try to report fake app in App Store search results they never installed. Apple’s community answers say the reporting form lists only items you have downloaded or bought. Someone who never installed the copy can still write to Apple through the content dispute route if they own the name or artwork, or report the developer to the FTC if the app is part of a fraud.

Apple says its App Store review rejected about 371,000 copycat submissions and terminated around 193,000 developer accounts, as part of $2.2 billion in fraudulent transactions blocked.Apple fraud-prevention figures, reported by BleepingComputer, May 2026

To report fake app apple listings as a rights owner, prepare the same pair of identifiers as on Play: the fake’s App Store ID (the number after id in its URL) and your own app or trademark registration. Apple’s counterfeit prevention form, a separate page on apple.com, covers fake Apple products sold by third parties rather than apps, so a developer reporting a cloned app should not use it.

How to report fake loan app listings and a fake Cash App

To report a fake loan app, flag it in the store it came from and send a complaint to the regulator in your country, because a loan app that takes fees or personal data is a financial fraud, not only a store violation. Google Play bans personal loans that must be repaid in full in 60 days or less, and in the US any loan app with an APR of 36% or higher.

Those two rules give a reporter specific words to use. A loan app that demands repayment in a week, or that hides its maximum APR, breaks Google Play’s Financial Services policy on its face, and saying so in the flag is more useful than calling it a scam. In the US the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau takes complaints about lenders and the FTC takes fraud reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; contacts and threats from a lending app belong with the police.

To report fake Cash App profiles, open the profile, scroll to the bottom and choose Report or Block; payment problems go through Activity, then the payment, then Report an issue. Cash App’s help centre warns that payments are “instant and usually can’t be canceled,” which is what fake “Cash App support” accounts rely on. A fake app posing as Cash App in a store is flagged in that store, as above. The broader money side of fraud reporting, with the bank and payment desks, is set out in the guide on reporting a scammer to the right desk.

How do you report a fake or cloned Chrome extension?

To report fake Chrome extension listings, open its Chrome Web Store listing and use the report or “Flag issue” option, choosing the policy reason that fits, such as impersonation or malware. Then remove the extension from chrome://extensions. A developer whose code or name was copied files through the store’s copyright complaint tool, which the impersonation policy links to.

Copycat extensions are common because the store relies heavily on automated review. In early 2025 a copy named “EditThisCookie®” appeared after the genuine extension was pulled, reached more than 50,000 users and carried code aimed at stealing Facebook account data, according to Cyber Security News. A later LayerX study found 30 near-identical extensions posing as AI assistants with a combined install base above 260,000 (Dark Reading).

To report cloned Chrome extension listings so the report is actionable, give the extension ID of the clone (the 32-letter string in its store URL) and the ID of the original. To report copycat Chrome extension listings as the developer, attach proof that you published first, such as the original listing date or the repository history. Chrome Web Store’s impersonation policy, last updated in November 2022, points only to its DMCA tool, so a developer without a copyright claim has to rely on the policy report.

How to report fake LinkedIn accounts and fake profiles

To report fake LinkedIn accounts, open the profile, select More, then Report / Block, then “Report [name] or entire account”, and choose “This person is impersonating someone” or “This account is not a real person”. LinkedIn’s help page says reported members will not know who reported them. LinkedIn publishes no review time for these reports.

The two reasons do different work. “Not a real person” suits invented recruiters and sales profiles with stock photos, and LinkedIn’s automated systems catch most of those already. “Impersonating someone” is the reason to use when you know how to report fake LinkedIn profiles that copy a named, real person, because the impersonated person can then be asked for identification and the copy removed on that proof.

LinkedIn stopped 99.7% of fake accounts proactively in July–December 2025, 97.8% of them through automated defences, before any member reported them.LinkedIn Community Report, July–December 2025

To remove fake LinkedIn profile copies of yourself, file the impersonation reason from your own account so LinkedIn can match the two profiles. A LinkedIn fake account takedown request for a company page or an executive is stronger when the person filing is the executive or holds a company admin role, with the official website and email domain cited. Third parties describe a separate LinkedIn “notice of false profile information” form, but that form could not be confirmed on LinkedIn’s own help pages for this guide.

How to report fake social media accounts on Threads, Bluesky, Lemon8 and Quora

To report fake social media accounts on the newer networks, start on the profile: Threads, Bluesky and Lemon8 all have a report option in the profile menu. Threads impersonation is handled through Instagram’s impersonation form, Lemon8 through TikTok’s, and Bluesky through its own moderation service. Quora handles answers and profiles through its report flag.

Threads

To take down fake Threads account copies, use the three-dot menu on the profile and choose Report, or file Instagram’s impersonation form, which covers both Instagram and Threads and asks for the impersonated person’s Threads username. Knowing how to take down fake Threads account copies mostly means knowing the form: one account per report, a photo of the person holding ID, and ID images deleted within 30 days, according to the form’s own wording. The wider Meta process, including what Instagram will not do, is in the guide to asking Instagram to take a copy down.

Bluesky

To report fake account on Bluesky, open the profile, use the three-dot menu and choose Report account, then the impersonation reason. Bluesky’s December 2024 policy update banned handle squatting and “identity churning” and required parody accounts to say so in both the display name and the bio (MIT Technology Review). A copy of you without that label breaks the rule as written.

Lemon8

To report fake account on Lemon8, use the report option on the profile in the app. Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance and publishes no transparency report of its own; Australia’s eSafety Commissioner lists [email protected] as its safety contact. TikTok’s US impersonation form lists Lemon8 among the apps it covers, so the method in the guide to reporting a fake TikTok account applies to Lemon8 copies too.

Quora

To remove fake Quora answer posts written under your name, report the answer and the profile from their menus and choose the impersonation or spam reason; a Quora answer that copies your published text can also go to Quora’s copyright agent. Quora’s help and copyright pages refused automated reading for this guide, so check the labels in the app. Impersonation on X, the other network where fake answers and quote-posts spread, follows the route in the guide to an X takedown request.

How to report fake Tinder, Bumble and Grindr profiles

Dating apps remove fake profiles through an in-app report backed by photo verification. To report a fake Tinder account, use the report option on the profile or in the chat; Tinder lets you report after unmatching. Bumble’s report menu has a stolen-photo reason. Grindr has an Impersonation category and can suspend the profile until its owner passes a selfie check.

Knowing how to report fake Tinder account copies of yourself matters because the copy may never match with you. Tinder’s policies say members can still report someone after unmatching, through the Safety Center or the match list. A friend who sees your photos on someone else’s profile is often the first to know, and their report with your public profile link carries the comparison.

To report fake Bumble account copies, scroll to the bottom of the profile and choose Hide and Report, then a reason such as “Stolen photo”. In July 2024 Bumble added “Using AI-generated photos or videos” under “Fake profile” (TechCrunch). To report fake Bumble profile matches you are already chatting with, use the three-dot menu in the conversation. A reported profile that fails Bumble’s pose-matching selfie check is switched off.

Bumble said member reports of spam, scams and fake profiles fell 45% after it launched its automated Deception Detector system.Bumble statement to TechCrunch, 9 July 2024 (company figure)

To remove fake Grindr profile copies, tap the block icon at the top left of the profile, then Report, and pick Impersonation, which Grindr describes as someone “pretending to be you or someone you know”. Grindr can then suspend the account until its holder sends a selfie with a paper showing the account email. The full Grindr route, including the 30-chat option, is in the guide to a Grindr catfish report.

How do you report a fake client on Upwork or a fake Apple Maps listing?

To report a fake client on Upwork, use “Flag as inappropriate” on the job post or in the Message Center and pick the reason, such as a request to pay outside Upwork or a false identity. For a fake Apple Maps listing, open the place card, choose Report an Issue, and, if the place copies your business, claim the real one in Apple Business Connect.

Upwork’s scam guide lists nine flag reasons, from payment outside Upwork to false identity, and says genuine Upwork staff write only from @upwork.com or @cloud.upwork.com addresses. A “client” who sends a cheque to deposit, or asks for a fee before the contract, is the classic fake. Upwork’s 2025 transparency report gives a median report review time of 22 minutes.

To report fake Apple Maps listing entries, the place card’s Report an Issue link lets any user say a place does not exist or has the wrong details. To remove fake business profile Apple Maps entries that copy your own company, the owner’s route is Apple Business Connect: claim the genuine place, then open a support ticket from your profile menu. One marketer on Local Search Forum reported that the option “Multiple things are wrong with this listing” got a claimed listing fixed, though slowly. Apple publishes no timeline.

What proof of the original does each desk ask for?

Each desk wants a different proof that the item is genuine: a receipt or authentication result for a marketplace fake, a registration or earlier publication date for an app or extension, a government ID for an impersonated person, and ownership of the business for a map listing. A report that attaches the right proof skips the step where the reviewer has to guess.

The same table answers how to report a seller on eBay for selling fakes with the least back-and-forth: quote the item number and attach the authentication result. Photos are the proof most people already hold and most often lose. If the images that a fake profile uses also sit on an image host, those copies need their own notice; the guide to removing images from Imgur shows how a copyright notice for your own photos is put together. Keep the originals with their file dates, because a reviewer comparing two identical photos needs a reason to believe one owner over the other.

Why does the copy come back, and what stops it?

A removed copy returns because removal targets one listing, app or profile, while the person behind it can open another. Desks stop the return by acting on the account behind the copy: eBay can suspend the seller, Google and Apple terminate developer accounts, and dating apps lock profiles behind selfie checks. Repeat copies get removed faster when each report cites the earlier one, which applies equally to a relisted counterfeit and to anyone checking how to report fake app in Play Store clones that reappear.

The pattern is documented on dating apps: a South African creator told Briefly News that the person using his photos kept making fresh profiles each time one was banned. The practical fix is a log. Record each copy’s identifier, the date of the report and the outcome, and quote the earlier report numbers in the next one so the desk can see a repeat offender rather than a new case.

1. Search for the copy again after removal

   Check the store, marketplace or app a week later under the name, the icon and a reverse image search of your photos.

2. Report the account, not just the item

   When the same seller or developer returns, say so and name the earlier listing or app. Store desks can end the developer account; a single flag rarely does.

3. Use the owner’s route each time

   A registered trademark or copyright claim travels from one copy to the next unchanged, which makes it the cheapest route to repeat.

4. Move to the host when a copy leaves the platform

   A fake that turns into a website or video channel needs that host’s process, such as the steps for taking down a YouTube channel that reposts your material.

When the same copy sits on several marketplaces, stores and networks at once, the work stops being a single report and becomes casework across desks. The content removal service page sets out how Clearline scopes that work: it files the owner’s report on each platform under the client’s standing, and it does not promise an outcome that only the platform controls.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• Impersonation reports that remove
• Reporting a scammer
• Fake TikTok accounts
• Grindr catfish reports