The successes of social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Skype to mention a few has not come without its pros and cons. Many celebrities have enjoyed immense benefits from these platforms – sales, promotion, interaction and engagement directly with their fans. However, some of the bitter pills these platforms have left many celebrities to chew includes the criminal impersonation by internet fraudsters. The protective screen of anonymity on some platforms provide combined with ignorance on behalf of some ‘promoters’ has made it easy for wily individuals to interact personally with their would-be-victims before sweet-talking them into parting with hard earned money.
The aim of this piece is to establish who a celebrity is, what it means to be an impersonator and consequently outlining the steps taken by fraudsters to achieve success in their impersonating ‘trade’ of public figures online. Hopefully, this information will help the reader become knowledgeable of such nefarious activities and employ a level of wariness whenever he/she comes in contact with such social media profiles.
A celebrity is a person whose distinct role and contribution in his area of specialty has been noticed by the public, is unique and his action stands him out from the pool of crowd that engage in the same endeavor. A musician, a politician, an actress, a fashion icon etc. For this fact, brands, businesses and individuals are drawn to such individuals because of their fan following to partner on various marketing, media, PR or even speaking activities. This would require making contact with said ‘celebrity’. In Nigeria, most celebrities aren’t in the Yellow Pages or even listed in a booking agency, so this ‘contact process’ usually (if no one knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows Wizkid’s cousin’ss gateman) starts with a simple Google search, email and or maybe a phone call to a ‘number’ listed on their social media. This major loop-hole in the contact process is the space that our impersonator and would-be-victim usually are introduced to themselves.
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