Reporting a fake teams account

Question

How do I report a fake account? They claim to be a celebrity but they aren’t who they say they are?

Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for sharing your question. I understand how unsettling it can be when someone pretends to be a celebrity or someone you recognize. This kind of impersonation is taken seriously by Microsoft and falls under their external spam, phishing, or brand impersonation protections in Teams.

Teams includes built-in safeguards to detect and alert you when an external user might be impersonating someone or a known brand. You may see a warning when accepting chat requests from external accounts, which helps you proceed with caution. If you suspect an account is fake, you should block the user to prevent further messages and report the impersonation through Teams. This helps Microsoft investigate and take action.

You can report a concerning message directly by hovering over it, selecting More options (…) and choosing Report this message. You’ll then select a category such as “Security risk – Spam, phishing, or malicious content” and submit the report. Additionally, if impersonation extends beyond messages—such as profile or account misuse—you can escalate the report to Microsoft via their Security Response Center at https://msrc.microsoft.com/report/.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Best Regards,

Noel

Answer 2

To report a fake account on Microsoft Teams, you can follow these steps:

1. Report the User: In Microsoft Teams, you can report a user by clicking on their profile, selecting the option to report, and providing details about why you believe the account is fake.
2. Contact Microsoft Support: If the account is impersonating a celebrity, you may want to contact Microsoft Support directly to report the impersonation. You can find the appropriate contact methods through the Microsoft support page.
3. Use the Feedback Option: You can also use the feedback option within Teams to report the issue directly to Microsoft.

It's important to provide as much information as possible when reporting, including screenshots and any relevant details about the account in question.