{"id":217378,"date":"2026-03-13T01:50:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/217378\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T01:50:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T01:50:30","slug":"sf-woman-named-alysa-liu-suspended-from-instagram-for-having-same-name-as-olympic-superstar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/217378\/","title":{"rendered":"SF woman named Alysa Liu suspended from Instagram for having same name as Olympic superstar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) &#8212; As the Bay Area celebrates Olympic figure skating phenom Alysa Liu, a young woman in San Francisco is quietly catching some of the fairy dust.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">That&#8217;s because she is also named Alysa Liu, spelled exactly the same way. And she&#8217;s feeling the ripple effects of the superstar&#8217;s fame.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But as she&#8217;s finding out, it&#8217;s not always a good thing: Liu has apparently been deemed an imposter on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Oakland&#8217;s own figure skating star Alysa Liu dazzled the world with gold medal performances at the Winter Olympics in Milan. Then she returned home to throngs of Bay Area fans eager to show their love.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">This is the other Alysa Liu, a tech worker in San Francisco.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">MORE: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/meta-restores-user-accounts-admits-were-removed-error-7-side-inquiry\/17443293\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">7 On Your Side helps restore Facebook, Instagram accounts erroneously linked to predatory behavior<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;When she did win the gold medal&#8230; they&#8217;d say &#8216;Oh, congrats on the gold.&#8217; I&#8217;d say, &#8216;I can&#8217;t take credit for that but I&#8217;m really happy for her,'&#8221; Liu told 7 On Your Side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">She&#8217;s heard over the years of the young skating phenom from the East Bay who shares her name. Now the skater has reached super stardom, admired by her fellow Gen Z members, including Alysa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I feel like more inspired to be like her and&#8230; be more positive, in the way that she is, sort of because we share this, this part of our identity, like our names,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Now that Alysa Liu (the skater) has won gold, this Alysa is getting online attention meant for the superstar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I would get&#8230; message requests from people who are trying to contact Alysa. And not only that, but I think somehow they found my number online too. So I just text them like, &#8216;Hey, this isn&#8217;t the Alysa you&#8217;re looking for,'&#8221; she explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">MORE: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/bay-area-software-rep-lost-176k-savings-accepting-remote-job-she-thought-facebook\/18444685\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bay Area software rep. lost $176K of savings after accepting remote job she thought to be with FB<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Fans have offered congratulations, asking to meet, leaving adoring voice messages like this one she played for 7 On Your Side: &#8220;&#8216;Leave a message!&#8217; (Scream) We love you Alysa Liu&#8230; bye Alysa Liu, I love you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">It&#8217;s become annoying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">And worse, her name caught the attention of Meta.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I logged into my account and just for some reason, it said that I had been suspended from Instagram and that I had 180 days to appeal this decision, or else I would be banned permanently,&#8221; Liu said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">It happened the day after the famous skater reportedly posted a story on her own Instagram, warning of scammers creating fake accounts in her name.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">MORE: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/7-side-investigates-helps-restore-more-facebook-instagram-accounts-erroneously-linked-predatory-behavior\/17734871\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More Facebook, Instagram accounts falsely linked to predatory behavior restored by 7 On Your Side<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I was not contacting anyone or trying to, like, pretend that I was her. My account is private. I have very clearly in my bio that I&#8217;m from New Jersey. I went to Berkeley,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Liu says she&#8217;s had that Instagram account for 15 years, ever since grade school, about the time the young skater was here at the Oakland rink, training for a future that would reach the stars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;So definitely, I think her popularity and fame has, like, just exploded, very suddenly,&#8221; Liu said. &#8220;I love her, but yeah, I think it definitely was&#8230; the impetus for, like, me getting banned from Instagram,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Losing the account was a shock.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;It&#8217;s like, kind of like a home base for all these really cherished memories that I have. Snapshots of my life at different points in time&#8230; And so when I thought about possibly losing it, I was really sad,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">MORE: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/facebook-wouldnt-remove-hacker-bay-area-womans-account-paid-meta-help\/15456227\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook wouldn&#8217;t remove hacker from Bay Area woman&#8217;s account &#8212; until she paid Meta for help<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Liu filed an appeal but Meta denied it, saying her driver&#8217;s license wasn&#8217;t enough proof of her identity<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Liu contacted 7 On Your Side. We told Meta that this Alysa Liu is no imposter, and a spokesperson agreed to try to restore her account.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">So far, it&#8217;s still in limbo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;The parts of sharing the name that are a little bit negative are the parts that I would not like. Like, I would like to have my Instagram account back!&#8221; Liu said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">We&#8217;ll be keeping track.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Take a look at more stories and videos by <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/7onyourside\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">7 On Your Side.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">7OYS&#8217;s consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord\/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/shopping\/7-on-your-side-faq\/10866\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Please review our FAQ here<\/a>. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company \/ agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, please allow 7 to 10 business days for a response.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA hsDdd DbOXS oklLN GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/abc-news-live-local-watch\/11513295\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Now Streaming 24\/7 Click Here\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR WAUrb hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770671872_43_11518842_247-NOWSTREAMING_1280x720.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) &#8212; As the Bay Area celebrates Olympic figure skating phenom Alysa Liu, a young woman&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[99696,37038,37039,99688,99693,99694,7948,99695,99689,96341,99691,99692,101,103,102,104,106,105,273,37040,99690],"class_list":["post-217378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-99696","tag-7-on-your-side","tag-7oys","tag-airline-tickets","tag-capital-one","tag-capital-one-travel-rewards","tag-consumer","tag-credit-card-rewards-points","tag-fixing-name-on-air-ticket","tag-hopper","tag-how-to-fix-name-of-air-passenger","tag-lufthansa","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-sierra","tag-stephanie-sierra","tag-wrong-name-on-boarding-pass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}