How to Find Out Who Owns an Instagram Account

Ivana Kotorchevikj

Written by Ivana Kotorchevikj Social Media / Instagram

Linkedin Published 2 years ago / updated 3 months ago - 4 min read

With over 1.2 billion monthly active users on Instagram, it’s unavoidable that there are many fake Instagram accounts on the platform, unfortunately. When creating their profile, users can choose any name and username they want, which makes it really easy to create a fake account.

This is why it’s not really straightforward to find who is truly behind an Instagram profile. It might be a bit tricky, but there are several ways to uncover the real person who owns the account. Below, we’ll show you how to find out who owns an Instagram account.

How to find out who owns an Instagram account

1. Deep-dive into their Instagram profile

The first way to track down who really owns an Instagram account is to do a deep dive into their profiles. Check out their following and followers lists, mentions, and comments. You might find familiar Instagram users among the people they follow or who follow them, to help you figure out the person who created the account.

If the account is fake, they usually have only few or no followers, but they follow lots of other accounts. If you happen to spot people you know among their following, followers or comments, you might reach out to them and ask them who the account owner is.

2. Use people search engines

Another way to find out who owns an Instagram account is to use third-party web apps like BeenVerified, Spokeo, and PeopleLooker. These platforms have huge databases that scan social media networks to find the person behind a specific Instagram account.

All you need to do is go to one of these search engines and enter the username in the search bar. The apps will provide a report with possible profiles that match the username and personal information about the account including name, phone number, email address, physical address, criminal records and profile photos when available.

These services are usually on a subscription base, but most offer a 7-day trial period.

3. Track their IP address

You can also track down the person behind an Instagram account by using their Instagram profile IP address.

You can track the Instagram IP address by creating a location tracking URL. When the user clicks on it, it reveals their IP address. For this, you can use the web app Grabify IP Logger.

1. Go to the Grabify IP Logger website.
2. Create a customized URL.
3. Then start a conversation with the user whose IP address you want to discover, and send them the link.
4. When the person clicks on this URL, their IP address will be recorded on the Grabify website.
5. Refresh the Grabify page and the IP address will be displayed.

4. Do a Google reverse image search

If the user has a profile picture or any other picture they have posted on Instagram, you can do a reverse image search on it.

1. First, download the picture from Instagram.
2. Then, go to Google Images.
3. Click on the Camera icon next to the search bar.

4. Click on the ‘Upload an image’ button and select the picture you wish to perform a search for.

This method may or may not provide reliable results. However, the search results may offer links to social media profiles associated with the user and give you a hint about who owns the Instagram account.

5. Cross-check other social media platforms

Many people tend to use the same username across different social media platforms. Try searching their Instagram username on other platforms like Twitter or Facebook. You may find useful information about the owner of the account, including name, email, location, etc.

Final words

Above we’ve covered several ways you can find out who owns an Instagram account if you suspect that the profile is fake, or you want to know the real identity of the person behind the account.