What To Do When Your Online Identity is Stolen: It happened to me:

At the end of September 2010, someone with malicious intent, entered my name, my email address (presented to be me), and posted the following on the blog of a well-respected local colleague/competitor named Ann* (*name has been changed)

A mutual acquaintance emailed me to let me know he had seen the blog and that a negative post like that didn’t seem like something I would do.

I was horrified.

I wondered why someone would target Ann* – and why were they using MY name?

Unfortunately for my professional and personal reputation, I was unaware of the post for over eight hours and dozens of respondents wrote how horrible and unprofessional I was.

What was I going to do?

If I were my own client, this is how I would counsel them:

1.    Attempt to contact all parties involved and acknowledge what happened.  Do your best to contact the target(s) via phone or in person to explain your account has been compromised. If this situation involves your business, immediately inform your CEO, VPs and Director of Marketing to come up with a crisis plan.

2.    The sooner the better: The quicker you can resolve the problem the less negative publicity will spread. If you ignore the situation, it will only get worse.

3.    When/if possible, keep your customers up-to-date on the status of how the problem is being resolved. Most of your loyal customers will rally on your behalf and everyone wants to see “the good guy win”.

4.    Be the “bigger person”. Instead of acting defensive or like a victim, decide what proactive measures you can do to resolve the situation.

Thankfully, I was able to connect with Ann* within 48 hours, and after a lengthy discussion we worked together to find out who did this and why.

I filed a report – in person – with the local Police Department and provided them with the IP address, a copy of the blog thread, and was told that the applicable charge is “sec 403 (c) of the Criminal Code: Personation with Intent – **someone fraudulently personates a person with intent to cause disadvantage to the person whom he personates or another person**”

Thankfully, everything fell into place within a few weeks:

• Ann* provided the IP address of the computer used at the time of the negative post.
• The Police were open to following up with the report, and they laid charges.
• The person who was responsible, admitted to doing it (his response: “it was just for fun”) and now has a criminal record.

Oddly enough, he’s a stranger that I’ve never met in person but had occasional, casual correspondence via Twitter and LinkedIn.

The news is currently inundated with stories about cyberbullying. Clearly this isn’t just affecting children. It’s happening to adults and their business reputations are also at risk.

There was nothing I could have done to prevent this impersonation from happening, but I did choose how to respond.

Working with Ann* and filing a Police report was the best way I knew how to handle this situation.

Let this situation be a lesson for us all: Don’t believe everything you read online, as people can falsify accounts.

If this happened to you, what would YOU have done?

Update: In October 2010, I filed a report with the local police department with all the documentation (including the IP address) of the violation below.

According to section 403 (c) of the Criminal Code (Canada), he was charged with “Personation with Intent”:**someone fraudulently personates a person with intent to cause disadvantage to the person whom he personates or another person**

On Wednesday, April 27, I received a written apology from the man who used my name to write nasty things on Ann’s* blog.

In his apology, he said it was “intended as a prank, quickly got out of control”.

I’m happy that justice prevailed in this situation and I often use this story in my seminars to showcase why you need to stay aware of your name, your business, your brand in Social Media.

And a reminder for businesses to create a Social Media policy. What would you or your business do if this happened to you?

Leslie

P.S. Many thanks to everyone who supported me and assisted me throughout this process.