Daniel O’Donnell has warned of a sophisticated Christmas scam as fraudsters pose as him to steal money from loyal fans.
The social media scam, mainly based on Facebook, sees fake profiles claiming to be Daniel message his fans and ask them for money in exchange for meets and greets and personalised videos.
The country music singer says he has met people who have been affected by the scam and is urging people to look out for the fraudulent activity.
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Daniel said: “It’s mainly on Facebook and it has been going on for a long time. These fake pages are set up and comment something like, ‘Thank you for the support, if you want a private message from me click this link’. I’m told they can be brought away to another [site] and are talking to the [scammers].
“Very often they’ll say, ‘Could you send me money for whatever reason, if you’re a real fan you’ll send the money’. I know some people are sending money. I have met people who have been scammed.”
Daniel says he doesn’t run his own Facebook page so will never reach out to fans on this medium.
He understands how convincing scammers can be and has nearly been caught out himself in the past.
“I will never ask for money, I will never privately message anybody. I do not go on Facebook myself, my Facebook page is done by the record company. Unfortunately it is the way to promote now, you have to rely on social media,” the Donegal native said on Prime Time.
“As smart as somebody is, you are never smart enough for scammers. One time I got a message on my phone from a friend saying, ‘I’ve lost all my cards in Morocco’. Immediately I said it to Majella, ‘We need to help’. But it was a scam.”
Daniel wants his fans to know that the only thing they ever need to pay for is a record or concert ticket. He does meet and greets after every gig and makes personalised videos, free of charge.
He continued: “I’ve done meet and greets for 40 years for free, so I’m not going to start charging now. If you’re coming to a show, you don’t need to pay to see me afterwards. I’ll be there for as long as it takes afterwards.
“If you would like a message sent to you, I do videos for free. If I had to charge for that, I would just hang my boots up. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a great career, so I don’t need to charge for things like meet and greets.
“The only thing you need to buy is a ticket for a concert or a record, there is nothing else. I will never ask for money, or I will never come on to say ‘privately message me’. Because I won’t.”
English (US) ·