Update (Jan. 31, 2016) It looks like all stolen photos have been removed!! Hurray! I contacted Eco Cloth Diaper about this issue, and was told that the person or people behind these accounts are “affiliates” of Eco Cloth Diaper, thus earning a commission when people click through on the link posted on their Instagram accounts. I am happy to see the stolen photos taken down, but would not personally shop via those links or via Eco Cloth Diaper based on this incident, which really left a bad taste in my mouth!
A big shout out to a couple of Funky Fluff Ambassadors, who spotted this odd and irritating Instagram phenomenon:
A diaper reseller, Eco Cloth Diaper, is stealing cloth diaper photos from diaper makers and parents and posting them as their own.
Why? Well, in the hopes of gaining followers, of course! Cloth diapering parents love to follow the accounts of cloth diapering friends, not to mention brands and shops. Posting these pictures tricks people into following the accounts associated with Eco Cloth Diaper.
This is different than re-posting. This is not the same thing as, for example, Funky Fluff re-posting a picture of a baby wearing Funky Fluff. (By the way, I do this for Funky Fluff, but I always ask permission first, and credit the original poster.)
The culprits:
A full list of profiles is being compiled on Instagram on this post. Add any you find there and I’ll update here as I can!
@AbigailMortlock and @ErinCMclean: (these were the first two brought to my attention, since then we have discovered many, many more)
Update: Add @EllaRichards86 to the list and ClothDiaperingBasics.com
Update: @JuliaEPowell and DiaperCoverPattern.com
Update: @AliceRGriffin and ClothDiapersWithInserts.com
Update: @SiennaGWebb
@EmilyMcGuigan and ClothDiapersForBabies.com
@RuthWFranklin and AdjustableClothDiapers.com
@NiamHButler87 and ClothDiapersInBulk.com
@SherryXiao89 seems to be the ring leader (owner?) of this whole operation, but her account only features pictures of the diapers she sells. I would still be blocking her!
Update: Since they seem to be orchestrating this whole scheme, I would also block @ecoclothdiaper
What’s wrong with all these (and more) accounts?
Ok so off the bat, you see their more recent pics are just Alva-style diapers. But earlier in their feeds, you see: (I blocked out the pics where you can identify the child.) 
Abigail and Erin’s (definitely their real names) profiles both link to CheapClothDiaper.com (don’t worry, it’s a no-follow link so it won’t give them any search engine clout if you click it). [ClothDiaperingBasics leads to the same site, as do all the other bizarre URLs in the profiles shown above.]
Oh look! Kids wearing TotsBots Bamboozles! Seems so legit. This site then leads you to EcoClothDiaper.com, a pretty standard direct-from-China diaper site:
So what? So, the false advertising is definitely annoying. To the casual viewer, it may appear that Eco Cloth Diaper and Cheap Cloth Diaper sell beautiful, custom-made embroidery diapers and big names like GroVia, AppleCheeks and Funky Fluff. But honestly, if you take a look at their feed, you figure out the scam pretty quickly.
Luckily, neither account has many followers. The thing is, lots of IG users simply follow back those who follow them. These two accounts probably attempt to gain fans by following people who post about cloth diapers. Their names are totally innocuous, and anyone looking at their feeds prior to all the Alva pics would’ve assumed they were just cloth diapering shops or moms.
What can we do? I’m sure the vast majority of us are not under the illusion that social media is private. No surprise there. It’s just annoying for someone to take what doesn’t belong to them, particularly when the intent is clearly very shady.
They don’t seem to care about taking watermarked pictures, though at least a watermark allows people to know where an image originally came from. (They also post WAHM diapers with very visible tags.) 
According to Instagram’s terms of service, “You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on or through the Service or otherwise have the right to grant the rights and licenses set forth in these Terms of Use.” Clearly these Instagram users aren’t respecting the terms of service, but IG likely has bigger fish to fry.
People have been commenting on the stolen pictures, and even those comments haven’t been erased by “Abigail” and “Erin.” We can at least take comfort in the fact that they kind of suck at their scheme:
- Their photos aren’t hash tagged, so it’s unlikely people will stumble upon them;
- Some of their photos make no sense:
My beef is that unsuspecting parents are having their cute pics taken and re-posted without their permission, and that’s just annoying as f*ck.
Personally, I’m going to go back to watermarking all my pictures on IG (I’ve gotten lazy), and hopefully if you know any of the few followers these accounts have, you can warn them to unfollow.
If your photo is being used without your permission, report them!
The best action I can recommend for all of us at this point is to caution all the cloth diapering parents you know about shopping at Eco Cloth Diapers and for all of us to block related profiles! (Click the three dots at the top right when viewing the profile.) 
We can also start bombarding sales@ecoclothdiaper.com with emails… Maybe they’ll get the message? Make sure you aren’t a fan of their Facebook page, too: https://www.facebook.com/EcoClothDiaper/
(Update) I messaged the Eco Cloth Diaper Page about the issue and got the following response: 
If you’ve spotted other profiles like this, let me know so I can update the list!
April P says
@juliaepowell is another one!
Amanda says
sherryxiao89, I suspect is one. Thanks for the heads up!
Bea says
SherryXiao89 iao does have an instagram page, but she only posts pictures of the diapers they offer. She doesn’t even post pictures of children wearing their product.
Lindsay says
She is part of the company, so I would definitely block her!
Eva says
Thanks for posting a blog article. <3 I posted about this in several groups and having to type it out again for every update on a phone gets time consuming real fast. Now I can just share this link.
Leahanna says
Sofiacroll is one. ?
ariel says
samanthabarr88
Morgan Gervais says
That pink Santa diaper is mine! I am so angry that my photos are being stolen and use to generate business for China crap diapers. There are SO MANY accounts I don’t even know how to go about getting them down. 🙁 and I haven’t even been able to look through to see how many different pictures they have taken!
Deja Allison- Sunshine Fabric and Designs says
My black lives matter and Marley designs have been posted on all the accounts. I have reported them all.
This is why I watermark images.
So many people think its for free advertisement but in this day and age we need to protect ourselves against these attacks. At least most of my images can be linked back to me.
I pray the rest of the WAHM companies and people effected by this get justice and FAST!
Amy says
This is infuriating. And disgusting. Posting diapers you don’t actually sell is one thing (although I’m totally pissed off for all the hardworking WAHMs whose names and products are being dragged through the mud) but stealing the pics of the babes is just despicable.
P.S. How do you watermark your photos?
Lindsay says
There are tons of free apps that you can use, I personally use iStamp+ – but any photo editor that allows you to add text will do!
Amy says
Thanks Lindsay!
Jordan says
What exactly do you mean by watermark your photos? I usually post my account name on my photos is this sufficient? Maybe I’m just out of the loop on the correct lingo!
Amy says
I think that’s what they mean. That’s what I’m looking for at least.
(P.S. Are you the @theclothway Jordan? If you are, hi! Although if you’re not, hi anyway, and nice to meet you!)
Lindsay says
Ya, watermark would be having your name, your website, your account, anything on your photos. I always, always neglect to do this on IG, but I always do it on my website.
Elizabeth Parker says
*sigh* Tried to share this information before someone got sucked in, not knowing what they were getting into when they asked about a cloth diaper co-op, posted in the All About Cloth Diapers Chat group, and the person posting immediately got defensive. She claims to have done “actual” research and essentially called this all lies. -_-
Lindsay says
Ummmmm I am struggling to see what part is lies… Hey, Eco Cloth Diapers might legit sell cheap China diapers, but there is NO DOUBT they are marketing it a totally sketchy way that is contrary to IG policy.
Elizabeth Parker says
The post was deleted shortly after I commented here. I might be new to the cloth world, but I have been doing research to make informed decisions before buying. Companies like this seem to prey on those who do not know better, (granted, some knowingly buy from them to cut down on their costs). I was trying to inform the person asking about it so that they knew what they were dealing with.
Marlete Ledford says
I think @ALISHAHANCOCK might be another one…
Ariel's Custom Designs says
@emilylmcguigan @dorthypatton both stole watermarked photos of my cloth diaper keychains.
Ariel's Custom Designs says
Thank you for the article and helping us all stay aware! Always watermark you photos!! 🙂
Sam says
As soon as I blocked these pages on my Instagram @GRACIEAHUNTER added me with similar pictures, but didn’t know if this page is linked, but have no idea if it’s a trusted site or the same as these others.
Jess F says
@Sofiacroll @emilydcurtis @aslishahancock @caitlyncounsel @dorthypatton @mollyopotts @gracieahunter @juliaepowell @skyepriddle @samanthabarr88 @sherryxiao89 @niamhbutler87 @ruthwfranklin @emilylmcguigan @siennagwebb @alicergriffin @mildredvroman @francessadams are all picture stealing profiles that I know of right now.
nina mackrain says
I just had another one follow me, her profile was just made this morning but I forgot to record the name.
Kelsey S says
Alicergriffin doesn’t appear to have an account anymore so hopefully she got the hint….
Thank you for posting this. I am very selective of the photos I post on social media as there is so many weirdos out there. But you would think bum shots would be pretty safe……some people….
Stephanie says
So frustrating since more and more keep popping up.