Someone on Medium stole my brand!

Summary

A Medium user discovered their brand and identity were stolen by an impersonator on the platform, leading to the creation of a fake profile that left spam comments, prompting the original author to take action and request assistance from followers and Medium's moderation team.

Abstract

The author of the content, a Medium writer, expresses outrage upon finding that someone has stolen their brand and identity on Medium. The impersonator, known as "lookman2713," created a fake profile using the author's photo and government name, leaving spam comments on other users' replies to the author's stories. The author's initial concern was that their Medium account had been hacked, but they soon realized it was a case of identity theft. After confirming their own account's security and finding the impersonator's profile empty, the author reached out to their followers and Medium's Help feature for support. The fake profile was reported and eventually removed by Medium moderators, but the author remains vigilant and asks followers to report any future instances of impersonation to protect their growing brand.

Opinions

The author is deeply upset and angry about the identity theft, emphasizing the personal connection to their brand and the potential damage to their reputation.
The author initially feared their account had been compromised, leading to a brief moment of panic and immediate action to secure their Medium and associated Google accounts.
There is a sense of betrayal and insult at the poor imitation by the impersonator

Someone on Medium stole my brand!

I’m pissed! Update: the Medium moderators removed the account. Followers, please let me know if another faux-profile appears.

Screenshot of an offender using my brand

I usually check Medium several times a day. I strive to become a more successful writer who is widely read on and off this site. One of the best techniques to build readers on Medium is to read and comment on other people’s work. This has served me well…until today.

A great online ally alerted me to a comment that was left on her reply to a main story of mine that looked familiar but was…odd. She sent me the link to the Medium reply with a concerned note about the content. Needless to say, I went bat$#!+ crazy over this revelation. It looked as if someone had hacked into my Medium account and left a spam reply to her. In the screenshot of the comment above, I see my picture and my name as listed on Medium.

I freaked out! I started researching how to update my password on the platform! Come to find out, first from the settings section of my profile, then from the search results in Medium’s Help feature, that Medium doesn’t store passwords.

Screenshot of Medium Help

Well, this sent me into a frenzy of investigating the security of my Google account that’s associated with my Medium account to ensure that it’s secure. I signed out of every device listed under the account which had an inactive status. I was about to fall down the rabbit hole of deeper security changes when I had an epiphany. I finally looked at the profile name in the Medium link of the suspicious comment. What the heck is a “lookman2713”? I clicked on the profile picture. The landing page was empty.

At this point, I was furious! I finally recognized that this thief had swiped my brand! This jerk has stolen my photo and my government name! Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but poor imitations in the form of spam comments are insulting to my followers. In addition, it’s damaging to my fledgling brand which has risen every month since I began this writing journey.

If you appreciate my work on Medium, please report the profile of this “lookman2713” as well as anyone perpetrating valid authors on this site.

Thank you!

Digital Identity Theft

Someone on Medium stole my brand!