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On September 2, 2019, Australian model and social-media personality Emily Sears warned followers that a separate Instagram account was pretending to be her and sending direct messages. The reported account, identified at the time as @emily_sears_official, claimed to be an official channel for chatting with fans and families. Sears said it was not her account and urged people to report fake profiles that contacted them.
The documented incident is best described as social-media impersonation. Available reporting does not establish that Sears’s genuine Instagram account was hacked, that her password was stolen, or that her financial or government identity was compromised.
What happened to Emily Sears?
Contemporary reports from PerthNow and Yahoo Lifestyle Australia, both published on September 2, 2019, described a fake Instagram profile using Sears’s name and identity. The account apparently contacted users through direct messages and presented itself as her official place to chat with fans.
Sears shared a screenshot of one message publicly. Its wording invited the recipient to continue a private conversation and used awkward grammar, including an incorrect use of “fan.” The spelling was not proof by itself, but the combination of a similar username, copied identity and an unsolicited private invitation was a warning sign.
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At the time, reports described Sears as having more than 4.8 million Instagram followers. That was a 2019 figure, not a current follower count, and it does not show how many people the fake account actually contacted.
Was Emily Sears’s real Instagram account hacked?
There is no confirmed account takeover in the available coverage. The evidence describes a separate account impersonating Sears, not unauthorized access to her genuine profile.
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| What is established | What is not established |
|---|---|
| A separate Instagram account used Sears’s name and contacted users. | That Sears’s password or genuine account was compromised. |
| Sears publicly denied that the account was hers. | That her bank, tax, government or other financial identity was stolen. |
| She asked followers to report fake accounts that sent direct messages. | Who operated the profile, how many people were contacted, or whether anyone lost money. |
| Yahoo Lifestyle Australia identified the reported handle as @emily_sears_official. | Whether Instagram removed the account, investigated it or linked it to other profiles. |
“Identity theft” appeared in the contemporary headline, but many readers use that term to mean financial, government-document or credential theft. In this case, the narrower and more accurate description is online identity misuse or impersonation.
What was the fake account trying to do?
The message showed an attempt to make a private communication channel look official. That can be useful to a fraudster because a recognizable name and photographs may create trust before a recipient checks the account carefully.
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Influencer impersonation can potentially be used to solicit money, gifts, personal information, intimate material, cryptocurrency or a move to another messaging service. It can also support fake contests, paid-chat offers, investment pitches or romance scams. Those are general risks of this tactic; the available reports do not establish which, if any, was the operator’s goal in Sears’s case.
What warning did Sears give followers?
Sears said the account was not hers and would never be her account. She asked followers to report impersonating profiles, particularly fake accounts that contacted people through direct messages. Her warning was aimed at protecting potential targets, not simply at stopping others from copying her photographs.
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How to check whether a celebrity or influencer message is fake
- Compare the handle exactly. Look for extra punctuation, altered spelling, added words such as “official,” or a different account history.
- Inspect the profile. Copied photos, a recently created account, inconsistent follower activity and a feed made from reposted material can indicate impersonation.
- Verify through a trusted channel. Check the person’s established profile or official website rather than trusting a link or contact method supplied by the suspicious account.
- Do not move the conversation on request. Treat pressure to use a private messaging app, email address or unfamiliar website as a risk signal.
- Never send sensitive information. Do not provide passwords, one-time security codes, payment details, identity documents or cryptocurrency.
- Save evidence first. Capture the username, profile, messages and any payment instructions before blocking the account.
- Report and block it. Use Instagram’s in-app reporting option for impersonation, then block the profile.
If you already replied or paid
- Change any password that you disclosed or reused elsewhere and enable multi-factor authentication.
- Contact your bank, card issuer or payment service immediately about a transaction or payment request.
- Monitor accounts for unusual logins, password-reset notices or unauthorized charges.
- Report suspected fraud to the relevant law-enforcement or consumer-protection authority in your country.
Who is Emily Sears?
PerthNow described Sears as an Australian model based in Los Angeles and a prominent social-media personality. In her official biography, she describes herself as an Australian model and social-media personality and lists work associated with titles including GQ, Maxim and FHM. Those career details are presented as information from her own website.
Separate online-harassment incidents
Some 2019 entertainment coverage mentioned Sears’s earlier public response to unsolicited explicit images. In 2016, the Irish Independent and Us Weekly reported that she contacted some senders’ wives or girlfriends. That was a different online-harassment episode, not evidence about who ran the 2019 impersonation account or what it intended.
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What remains unknown
- The operator’s identity.
- The number of people who received messages.
- Whether anyone sent money, images or personal data.
- Whether Instagram removed or investigated the profile.
- Whether the account was connected to other copycat profiles.
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