Nickelback fans thicken it.
First, he had to defend his favorite band on the internet with clowns, who mercilessly mocked the group for years.
Now, they are catfish.
Devotees from the Canadian rock group are being approached on the pretext of band members Chad Kröger, Ryan PK, Mike Kröger and Daniel Adair. Some are looking for love; Money in the form of bitcoin or iTunes gift card to others. None of them are genuine, but committed supporters respond anyway, on the off chance that their celebrity crush is on the other side of the screen.
It has gotten so bad that in July, the band tweeted a message to remind followers to keep their guard up. “Friendly Reminder’s only official Nickelback Twitter account is here, as well as Mr. @Daniel adair, “He wrote.” To find out if this is the real deal on all social networks, look for the blue checkmark. Report whatever accounts you are claiming.
Queens resident Nicole Godza has been contacted on Instagram, Facebook and Google Hangout over the past year with several profiles pretending to be frontman Chad Kröger. She follows the band on her verified Instagram account, and was part of a Facebook fan group where fake accounts have been contacted by several other members.
“A profile with the handle of @chad__robert_kroee_ and for messaging me to follow my page and thank you for the love and support of me and all your Nickelback team. October. (Although that account no longer exists, less At least a dozen phonies have popped up in its place.)
The 48-year-old translator immediately became suspicious. “There were red flags,” she told the Post. The account was not verified, had no profile picture and only had 70 followers. Still, he continued the conversation, curious about the person who contacted him, whatever it was. “I suspected it would be him, so I asked him the basics about it,” she said. “This couple did not.”
The account was “flirting with me from the beginning,” and even said he loved her, said Godza, who is single. “This man can be any woman in the world,” she said Avril Lavigne’s ex-husband. “Why would he go online and look for the weirdo?”
Kröger and Nickelback did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.
However, Godza said that she never believed she was talking to the real Kröger, but that she was in contact with the account almost everyday until the new year, when she decided to break off the communication. Fake Chad would not send pictures of himself, get on the phone or make a video call with Godza, claiming that it was against his manager’s rules to talk to fans.
She also tried to extort money from him: both Facebook and Instagram accounts claimed she was required to pay about $ 13,000 in bitcoins to ship a trunk to her house, and Chad wanted an iTunes gift card on the hangout Tha Godja said her managers forbade her to “make money”. Knowing that he was being maligned, he refused.
“I think a good rule of thumb is that if someone is hiring a manager, they don’t need your money,” “Promotions: Why are scammers, griffers, and con artists taking to the Internet – and why are we following back?” Told The Post. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
While it’s unclear why Nickelback fans are being specifically targeted, Bluestone said age may play a role. After its launch in 1995, the band’s popularity increased to the late Aughts. “Those who have not grown on the Internet are slightly more susceptible to scams. In general, older people make better targets for scammers, ”she said.
Their devotion to the group is also an important factor: Online fan clubs give scammers “a pool of potential victims who respect the band and want to help them,” she said.
And despite the obvious warning signs, die hard fans often inadvertently Want to To ignore them. “Everyone wants to be an exception to the rule; Bluestone said that people can talk to themselves in anything, especially when it is something they care deeply about.
While like verified celebrities Ben Affleck And Matthew perry Contacting fans on the dating app Raya, scam experts say that you should always be on your toes: “A fake Ben Affleck is the technique of making videos,” she said. “Unless you are seeing it face to face with your eyes, there should always be a dose of doubt.”
The accounts have since reached back to Godja, and she continues to talk to him every day, hoping to reveal her true identity to him. She has reported Facebook and a hangout account, and some have been taken down, although catfish are making more.
“I feel bad that they give the band a bad name,” said Godza of Scammers.
“I’m really sad. I’ll never know [Nickelback] Personally, but I don’t think these people deserve it. “
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