Think it is easy being a celebrity on social media these days? After all, you would have millions of followers and probably get lots of fan mail. There is one huge issue with celebrity identity management on social media today. It is fake or imposter accounts. The problems created by these phony impersonator accounts are actually creeping into real life.
Some celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Neymar Jr. have hundreds and even thousands of impersonator accounts. These accounts are creating problems for the celebrities and their fans. Many people have been duped by these fake accounts.
Country singer Kip Moore has said that women send him letters on how he supposedly talked to them online. Some music fans have even claimed that their favorite artist was going to marry them in online conversations. Many fans later bash these music artists at concerts for their supposed behavior.
Of course, it was not the real artists or celebrities that these unknowing fans were interacting with. They were communicating with impersonators who fooled them. This problem has gotten so bad, that many celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey regularly post videos on social media to warn their fans of imposters. These videos often mention that these scammers are trying to solicit money from them for a charitable cause or some supposed special event.
There are fake celebrity accounts on every major social media platform. This includes Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The problem is so bad that the social media companies admit that they are overwhelmed. One of the major problems is the ease of creating fake social media accounts. One can easily create a fake profile, with the same name of a celebrity.
Social media companies take down millions of fake accounts every month. This is still not enough to stop people from using counterfeit accounts for nefarious reasons. Research has shown that a lot of these fake social media accounts come from West Africa. A group of online scammers known as the Yahoo Boys is believed to be behind a sizeable number of the fake accounts.
There is no doubt that celebrity identity management needs to improve. People have lost money and gotten divorced due to supposed interactions and solicitations with celebrities online. One way to protect yourself from these fake accounts is to make sure you are following an official page. If you are not sure whether a page is legit or not, it is best not to follow it. After all, there are hundreds of fake accounts. Chances are it is going to be another imposter account.
