Last year, Ashley Suarez learned that someone had reposted images of her showing off dresses and different hair styles on Instagram without permission, but replaced her face. This imposter, who went by the name Elizabeth Reid, used the images to build a big social media following—and to make money by accepting gifts from fans, and from pornography.
“I was getting sent a lot of these videos, because people would recognize the background as being my own, because I made most of my TikTok's in my parents' home,” says Suarez, who earns a living from modeling and promoting products online thanks to her nearly 500,000 followers on both Instagram and TikTok. “They were like, 'This looks just like your video, but it's not your face.'"
