Grace Wolstenholme attempted for five months to convince Meta to remove the fake page, which was replicating her content to generate income
Grace Wolstenholme, a 20-year-old social media influencer with cerebral palsy, claims that Facebook declined to act when scammers exploited her content to create a counterfeit account and profit from her followers. Despite having 1.3 million followers on TikTok, she has refrained from posting videos on the platform after receiving advice from the police. Wolstenholme’s TikTok and Instagram content was being stolen and reposted on Facebook by an individual posing as her.
The fraudulent Facebook account was registered as a creator, allowing fans to send stars and gifts that could be converted into money. Facebook pays creators $0.01 (£0.008) for each star they receive. This means that if a creator receives 100 stars, they would earn $1.00. Despite the small fee per star, it can accumulate into a significant source of revenue for creators with large followings.
It is uncertain if the scammers have received payments using this method, but the fraudulent account has amassed 50,000 followers since its inception. Despite Wolstenholme’s efforts to have the account removed over the course of five months by reporting it to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, as well as to Action Fraud, an organization investigating scams and cybercrime, Meta only took down the account on Wednesday, the same day it was brought to their attention by The Guardian. Meta did not provide a comment on the matter.
In January 2024, Wolstenholme discovered the imitation account and reported it to Meta using the platform’s in-app tools. Impersonating someone else is against Meta’s community guidelines.
After realizing that the individual behind the fake account was trying to profit from it, Wolstenholme sought assistance from the police in January and again in March. She was advised to contact Action Fraud and to take a break from social media. On April 14 of this year, she reported the account to Action Fraud and received a response a month later. Action Fraud stated that it could not “identify a line of inquiry which a law enforcement organization in the United Kingdom could pursue.”
Wolstenholme mentioned that taking a break from TikTok resulted in a significant financial setback.
She elaborated, “TikTok is not just my job—it’s also a mental health distraction for me. I enjoy posting and spreading awareness about cerebral palsy. Despite being a common disability, there is still a lack of knowledge and understanding about it. I am dedicated to raising awareness about my disability.”
“I did my best to inform people that the Facebook page was not mine by posting daily Instagram stories about it and encouraging everyone to report the page. I even created a TikTok video informing everyone, ‘The Facebook page is not me, they are stealing my content, please report it.'”