15 years. That’s how long I’d been building my Facebook presence from grammar school friends to medical school colleagues, from former patients to the professional community I’d cultivated as a medical oncologist. Two years ago, I converted it to a business page to share evidence-based cancer information.

Then scammers stole my identity to sell fake cancer cures, and Facebook banned me while they stayed active.

The impersonation

It started with a message from a follower: “Dr. Troso, I didn’t know you were selling supplements?” I wasn’t. But there it was, a page using my name (slightly altered), my photos, my credentials, my branding. Scammers were impersonating me, a medical oncologist, to prey on desperate cancer patients.

I reported it. Again. And again. The page would disappear, then return days later like a recurring malignancy.

So I escalated. I posted warnings on my legitimate account with screenshots: “This is not me. Do not buy anything from this page.” I mobilized my network, friends, family, colleagues, patients, to mass-report the fraud. We sent a legal letter to Meta demanding action against someone impersonating a licensed physician to sell fraudulent medical products.

Then came the suspension. Without warning. Without investigation. Without the chance to explain I was the victim.

I had one opportunity to appeal. The moment I tried, Facebook permanently banned me.

The scammers selling fake cancer cures in my name? Still operating.

This isn’t an isolated case.

When The New York Times contacted me for their September 2025 investigation, “The Doctors Are Real, but the Sales Pitches Are Frauds,” I learned I wasn’t alone. Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. Caroline Apovian, Dr. Gemma Newman, all victims of AI-generated deepfakes promoting dubious products. Dr. Newman’s own mother believed the fake video was her daughter.

A CBS News investigation found over 100 AI-generated doctor videos across social media, many viewed millions of times. The technology has become so sophisticated that scammers can create convincing impersonations from just a LinkedIn profile.

Out of desperation, I paid someone on Fiverr over $260 to remove the fake page. It failed. Worse, that person then harassed me for positive reviews. When you’re a victim of one scam, you become prey for others.

Today, I still receive messages from people asking for refunds for products they never received, bought from someone pretending to be me.

The two-headed crisis

We’re facing parallel threats to medical authority online. A JAMA Network Open study documented 52 U.S. physicians spreading COVID-19 misinformation across social media, with 80 percent posting vaccine misinformation and a median reach of 67,400 Twitter followers each. The “Disinformation Dozen,” including at least four physicians, accounted for 65 percent of anti-vaccine content on major platforms in 2021.

When real doctors spread misinformation and scammers impersonate real doctors, patients lose the ability to distinguish truth from fraud. Research on cancer misinformation shows social media creates “perfect environments” for promoting unproven treatments, exactly what happened with my stolen identity.

Meanwhile, state medical boards have been largely ineffective. A Minnesota Law Review analysis found that despite widespread physician misinformation during COVID-19, only 21 percent of boards took any disciplinary action. California disciplined zero physicians for COVID misinformation from 2020 to 2022.

The platforms won’t police themselves. The regulators can’t or won’t act. And physicians are caught in the crossfire.

What physicians must do now

I refuse to accept this as the new normal. We need concrete action at three levels:

• Legislative action: We need federal legislation requiring mandatory verification systems for medical professionals on social media platforms. Not optional blue checkmarks, robust verification confirming licenses through state medical board databases, flagging unauthorized use of physician credentials, and imposing penalties on platforms that fail to act. If financial services can verify identities to prevent fraud, health care deserves the same protection.
• Medical community mobilization: Our professional organizations, AMA, ASCO, specialty boards, must treat this as the crisis it is:
  • Physician protection task forces: Dedicated support to help doctors combat impersonation and navigate platform appeals.
  • Peer verification networks: Industry-led verification systems platforms can integrate.
  • Collective action: Use our numbers. Demand meetings with platform CEOs. Make noise that can’t be ignored.
  • Rapid response: When a colleague reports impersonation, mobilize immediate peer support.

  The scammers are organized. We need to be more organized.

• Platform accountability: Meta, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, implement physician verification systems within six months. Provide transparent content moderation with human review for medical accounts. When you suspend a verified physician while leaving their impersonator active, you’re complicit in medical fraud. Publish quarterly accountability reports: how many impersonation reports received, actions taken, response times, accuracy rates. If you’re doing a good job, prove it.

The stakes are too high.

Every day we remain silent, more patients are defrauded. Every day platforms fail to act, medical credibility erodes further. Every day medical boards treat this as someone else’s problem, we lose ground to scammers and misinformation peddlers.

I lost 15 years of digital life because I tried to protect patients. I’m still locked out while fraudsters operate in my identity. I still receive messages from their victims.

This should enrage every physician reading this.

Medicine is built on trust, between patients and physicians, in scientific evidence, in our ethical obligations. Social media platforms are systematically destroying that trust through negligent enforcement that enables impersonation and algorithms that amplify misinformation.

My white coat was weaponized against the very patients I took an oath to protect.

Join me in demanding accountability. Contact your medical organizations. Support verification legislation. Share your own experiences. Protect your colleagues.

It’s time physicians fight back.

Tiffany Troso-Sandoval is an oncologist.