I discovered on Twitter today that Integrated Media Strategies' account has been impersonated. Our account name is @coherentmedia. The impersonator is @zobugelexuci. I have reported the fake account to Twitter both in my personal capacity - because the tweets on that account are mine - and in a professional capacity, because that account is contravening my copyright through the use of my logo and tagline.
It brings up a few points - the first is to do a regular review of your accounts. At least annually is a good idea. We do so more regularly, but many small businesses don't build the time in, period. The second is to check if you are receiving unusual email. The internet can turn up strange activity, but by this I mean if you are getting out of the ordinary requests to connect on social media, follow up and check to see the source, or why. Often it will be innocent, but if not, it's worth catching it before it can do real damage.
In my instance, they had cloned my company logo and Twitter account header, bio and even website URL. If you do discover a fake account, report it immediately. On each social media site, visit support. In the case of Twitter, they have a page on How to Report Violations. If you have received a direct message or tweet from this fake account, please contact me so I can pass it on to Twitter.
Note that there is a distinction between a parody account and an impersonator. One is protected by free speech, the other is not.
Update:
Twitter has deleted the fake account.
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