Impersonation in Saudi Arabia: Fake Account in Your Name, Penalty

Your cousin calls and asks: “Did you get the two thousand?” You never asked him for anything. A few minutes later you discover an Instagram account with your name and photo, messaging your followers one by one with a story about an emergency and a bank account number. Two of them have already transferred money. You now have two tasks at the same time: stop the account from deceiving more people, and keep what is needed to trace whoever is behind it.

The short answer: using your name to take people's money is a crime. The Anti-Cyber Crime Law punishes it with up to three years in prison and a fine of up to SAR 2 million, and the Anti-Fraud and Breach of Trust Law raises the ceiling to seven years and SAR 5 million, with the harsher penalty applied. What to do now: save the evidence, then report to the platform and the security authorities, and anyone who transferred money must contact their bank immediately.

When is impersonation a crime in Saudi Arabia?

Not every account that looks like your name is a crime. Similar names are normal, and a parody account that clearly says it is parody is different from an account that makes people believe it is you. The question is: what did the account do with the borrowed name? Did it ask for money? Did it attribute harmful statements to you? Did it use your private photos? The answer decides which legal provision applies.

What was built on the name and photo matters more than the name and photo themselves. An account with your photo that asked for nothing and posted nothing is very different from an account that used it to take money from people you know.

What is the penalty for impersonation to obtain money?

Paragraph 1 of Article 4 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law punishes anyone who obtains, for himself or others, movable property or a document or a signature on it, through fraud, using a false name or claiming a false capacity. The penalty is up to three years in prison and a fine of up to SAR 2 million, or one of them.

But that is not the only ceiling. Article 1 of the Anti-Fraud and Breach of Trust Law punishes anyone who takes another person's money without right through lies, deception or creating a false belief, with up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to SAR 5 million, or one of them. Article 9 of the same law states that if the act is also a crime under other laws, the harsher penalty applies. So a person whose fake account collected money from your contacts may face the higher ceiling.

The first provision requires that money or a document was actually obtained. If the account has not obtained anything yet, Article 10 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law punishes attempt with up to half of the maximum penalty, and Article 4 of the Anti-Fraud Law does the same.

What if the fake account did not ask for money?

The impersonator may use your name to post content that harms you or others. Here, paragraph 5 of Article 3 applies: defaming others and causing them harm through information technology, punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to SAR 500,000, or one of them. If the fake account came from hacking your real account, unlawful access and any resulting change or deletion of data are covered by Articles 3 and 5.

What to do in the first hour

1. Take screenshots of the fake account's page: the name, username, photo and bio, and copy the link.
2. Ask everyone the account messaged to screenshot the full conversation, including the bank account number it asked for.
3. Post a short warning on your real account that the named account does not represent you, without accusing any specific person.
4. Report the account to the platform using the impersonation option, after saving the evidence.
5. Anyone who transferred money must contact their bank immediately with the transfer receipt, and file a report themselves, because they are the person who lost money.

Do not try to hack the fake account, and do not pay anyone who claims he can “close it” or reveal who owns it. The first is a crime, and the second is usually a new scam.

A fake account with Majed's name and photo messaged his relatives with an emergency story. His cousin transferred SAR 2,000 and his uncle SAR 3,500 to an account in another bank.

Majed took screenshots of the account page and saved its link, and collected screenshots of the chats and the transfer receipts from his cousin and uncle. Each of them called his bank the same day and filed a report as the person who lost money. Majed filed a report about the use of his name and photo, then reported the account to the platform and posted a warning on his real account.

Because the account obtained money through lies and false belief, the act falls under Article 1 of the Anti-Fraud Law, together with Article 4 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law, and the court applies the harsher penalty.

Where do you report impersonation in Saudi Arabia?

The Law of Criminal Procedure requires criminal investigation officers to accept reports and complaints for all crimes (Article 27), so a police station is always an option, and many people use official electronic channels such as the Kollona Amn (“We Are All Security”) app. Investigation and prosecution of fraud crimes belong to the Public Prosecution (Article 10 of the Anti-Fraud Law). Attach to your report proof that the account is not yours, such as the creation date of your real account and how you normally communicate.

This is general information based on the official Arabic texts of Saudi laws, which prevail over any translation. It is not legal advice for your specific case.

Practical solutions for both sides

If you were impersonated or deceived by the fake account:

• Save the evidence before asking the platform to close the account, because closing it may remove it from your view.
• Ask everyone who transferred money to file their own report, with the transfer receipt and the receiving account number.
• Warn your contacts with a specific message about the fake account, and do not publish the name of someone you suspect.
• Claim your private right (compensation) in the same complaint if your reputation or money was harmed.

If you are accused in an impersonation case:

• If your bank account received the money and you did not know, collect statements and messages that prove this. A person who lets someone else use his account may be questioned for helping.
• Do not contact the victims with pressure or promises before speaking to a lawyer.
• If you received money from an unknown source, do not use it, and inform your bank.
• Article 8 of the Anti-Fraud Law allows the court to exempt from punishment a person who reports the crime before it is discovered and before harm occurs.

If an account appeared in your name, or you sent money to an impersonator, send the links and receipts on WhatsApp and we will help you organise the report and the claim.