Facebook Scammers are Targeting My Followers

By Martin Eastwood

Over the past number of weeks, new fake pages have been popping up across Facebook pretending to be me. While some people have told me I should be flattered by this, I’m afraid I cannot be because this activity is extremely harmful and here is why.

Every Monday evening for past couple of years, I host a LIVE Game Show on my public Facebook page. I give away prizes and people would know me for this. However, a bunch of scammers have now identified this as an opportunity to scam my followers out of their details & their money, using my brand and name.

Facebook Scammers are Targeting My Followers

Here is how it works:

1 – Fake pages are set up using my name and image.

2 – The pages comment under my posts, and directly contact my followers who engage with my content. They tell them that they have won a prize and invite them to click a link to a website to claim it. This is not just any fake website, it is website in my name that uses my image, to further convince the person that they are dealing with me. Here is the website:

3 – I have heard from a reliable source that this fake website links to an alleged website that allows you to view movies and tv shows for free. This is where the scam kicks in. The follower is asked to download a sponsored movie first, so they can then claim their prize. To setup your free account you have to give them your credit/debit card details. Shortly after this they will start taking direct debits of various amounts from your credit/debit card. It is believed that this linked website has been doing the rounds for a few years and should have been shut down by now.

I have been contacted in PM’s and comments by dozens of followers telling me that they too have fallen victim to this scam.

When I first reported this to Facebook in June 2020, no corrective action was taken and I received a generic response. I am extremely disappointed by this as it means my audience is still at risk of a breach of their information going forward and I will not stand by and see this happen. I am now calling on Facebook to do three things:

1 – Remove the fake accounts.

2 – Verify my real page with a blue tick so my followers can tell which account is the real one.

3 – Be more responsive in dealing with fake accounts on a case by case basis, as opposed to just sending out generic responses when they are not appropriate. Particularly when people’s safety and reputation are at risk.

MARTIN EASTWOOD is an Entrepreneur, TV & Social Media Personality & Public Speaker. His company Wide Variety manage the online marketing of businesses across Ireland and abroad. You can connect with Martin on the social media links below.

Twitter: twitter.com/martineastwood1

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/martineastwoodentrepreneur

Facebook: facebook.com/OfficialMartinEastwood/

Instagram: instagram.com/martineastwood1/

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@martineastwood1

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