Fellow Fans, Let’s Be Savvy Consumers on Social Media--Share the Hell out of this post, please.
Share the hell out of this post, please. This post was created in light of the rampant impersonations of L&O/ SVU cast members on Facebook, Instagram, & Zangi (Mariska Hargitay, Peter Scanavino, Chris Meloni, Kelli Giddish are the primary victims, but I've seen BD Wong and Ice T are now joining the ranks). This applies to ALL FANDOMS on ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. I'm especially furious because some of these scammers have included some of the edits I've created for my fanfics in their posts and more importantly, they are using the name of the Joyful Heart Foundation, a foundation that is near and dear to my heart, in their financial scams...so yes, I'm a little fired up about this.
Yes, it would be so cool and exciting to be chatting it up with your fav stars on Facebook, Instagram, etc.—but unfortunately, you’re most likely chatting with an imposter.
A VERY common ruse is for someone to create a fake celebrity account and then respond to a comment you made on a fan page. They start off by thanking you for being a fan and then ask you to directly message them or to click on a link. They proceed to politely chat you up and then gather intel on you including personally identifying information. Some impersonators will go as far as to ask for a picture of your driver’s license (a specific rouse that I have seen used is, “I bet your driver license picture looks better than mine…here’s mine, now let me see yours”). Other impersonators will attempt to get money and claim that they’re collecting donations for a charity (In the case of Mariska Hargitay, impersonators are using her Joyful Heart Foundation as part of the rouse). They’ll send you a link to a website that looks similar to the real charity’s or organization’s, but once you enter your credit card information, the impersonator gets access to your credit card and will max it out spending your credit and money on things that they want—said charity never sees a penny of your money. Other impersonators are sending links that are embedded with a virus. When you click on them (several are disguised as Zangi links), the virus collects personal data including but not limited to passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information, personally identifying information, and pictures. THEY DO ALL OF THIS SIMPLY BY LURING THEIR TARGETS (POTENTIALLY YOU) INTO A SEEMINGLY HARMLESS PRIVATE CHAT.
After calling a person out for impersonating Mariska Hargitay and trying to scam a grandmother age person out of money under a ruse using the Joyful Heart, the impersonator proceeded to private message me trying to convince me they are the real deal (as in the real Mariska Hargitay) and they sent me a copy of Mariska's driver's license. Who the heck is stupid enough to send a copy of any form of ID on social media? The real Mariska is a very intelligent woman and has more than enough brain cells than to do something that stupid. There are so many things wrong with the info on this driver’s license making it an obvious fake (Did you know that our brown-eyed Mariska Hargitay developed blue eyes overnight? She did according to this fake driver’s license!). The imposter was so adamant that they really were the real Mariska and they were really upset that I was encroaching on their money-weaseling operation. It is so scary how far these impersonators will go. Mariska has a job and a family and I highly doubt that she spends all her free time creating hundreds of profiles and trying to lure fans to privately communicate with her...which by the way is a shady practice in itself. If a celebrity actually would speak with a fan, they do it in a public venue (in person around others or on a public social media page), not in a private message on Facebook/Instagram, etc. or Zangi.
Anyhow, one of my besties will be on the SVU set this week for her internship and she's going to try to talk to Mariska (if she's on set that day) and get her take on all these profiles pretending to be her (as well as the ones claiming to be her managers), along with this fake driver's license that I received. Let's see what the real Mariska has to say about her impersonators.
Common Indicators of a Fake Profile:
Using a checkmark as a profile picture. Superscripted blue check marks after a username or handle PREVIOUSLY meant that the account was real and verified (today anyone can purchase a verified mark on certain social media platforms so the verified checkmarks are not really not all that meaningful anymore). Now sometimes impersonators are using checkmarks as their profile pictures hoping that you’ll just buy that they’re the real celebrity using verified account.
Using the words, “real,” “official,” “private chat,” “only [celebrity name]”, in the profile name or handle. For example, “The Real Mariska Hargitay,” “Official Mariska Hargitay,” “Mariska Hargitay Private Chat,” “Only Mariska Hargitay.”
When a profile name and handle do not match. For example, the profile name may say “Mariska Hargitay,” but the handle name says “@Lucy_ann.”
Profiles names or handles using the celebrity’s middle names when they typically do not use or are addressed by their middle name in everyday life.
The celebrity’s name being misspelled or using abbreviations. Some impersonators get reported so often that they are unable to use the celebrity’s correctly spelled name. For example, “Marishka” instead of “Mariska,” “Hertigay” or “Hartigay” instead of “Hargitay,” “MH Private Chat.” For Kelli Giddish, some impersonators are using “Kelly” or “Kellie” instead of “Kelli.”
Pages that claim to be “Fan pages” but use the first person “I” when commenting or posting on their profile page. Fan pages are pages created by fans—not pages created by celebrities/imposters to communicate with a fan base.
The celebrity’s communication skills are lacking or inconsistent from what you’ve heard in interviews or on TV. For example, if the celebrity’s native language is English, but the profile posts or comments indicate reflect syntax or grammar errors of a non-native speaker.
Begging for likes or follows on a profile page. Seriously, celebrities just don’t go on fan pages poaching people for likes or follows for their own profile. They also don’t beg for friend requests!
Profiles claiming to be using “Backup” accounts. Sometimes they will even claim they are using a backup profile account because of imposters---but in actuality they are just one of those many imposters!
Profiles that have posts that ask people to comment “Yes” if you want a show to continue or if you love/like them.
Use AI content and deep fakes. Deep fakes come in the form of both photos and videos.
Pronouns. If the pronouns on the social media page do not match the pronouns the celebrity is known to use or identify with.
Sending identifying documents as proof of who they are. These documents can look legit, but they are most likely just fakes. No one should ever send personally identifying information or documents out on social media.
Asks you for money/credit card, bitcoin, etc. Mariska Hargitay has a charity, called the Joyful Heart Foundation. Impersonators are trying to scam money under the ruse of this organization. If you want to support the Joyful Heart Foundation, go to the organization’s official website and make the donation directly. Celebrities don’t ever collect money on social media on behalf of a charity organization (even their own charity organizations). Never donate money through a link sent by a profile claiming to be a celebrity.
Profiles that claim to be a celebrity’s manager. Several seemingly ordinary profiles are posting messages on fan pages claiming to be a celebrity’s manager and if you want to contact the celebrity that they manage, click on a link (usually has a virus that collects your data). Some will also acknowledge imposters of said celebrity that they manage and falsely claim that the FBI is hunting these imposters down, but in the meantime they offer to put you in contact with said celebrity (who really is just another one of the imposters that the FBI is supposedly hunting down).
Profiles that send links claiming that you can communicate with a celebrity personally. Many of these scams involve Zangi.
Celebrities who are known technophobes or are so old that they probably never even operated their own personal email address that they managed probably are not going to create a social media account after they’ve retired from the business. They could, but it’s very unlikely.
These are just the bare minimum signs of a fake profile impersonating celebrities. There are some fake profiles that look really legit, but if you are contacted by one of them, stop and think. Sure, one might say thanks for being a fan, but a real celebrity will not go out of their way to lure you into a private form of communication, ask for personally identifying information, or ask for money. Be smart and safe fans!
When you see fake profiles, report them. It usually takes MANY REPORTS and MULTIPLE PEOPLE reporting the same profile for it to be deactivated by a social media platform.
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