Identity theft and Impersonation

Today, I and @fashtioluwa discussed the concept of impersonation and identity theft as seen in the world today while also sharing our personal experiences.

We recognise that it is almost impossible to avoid being impersonated as we can’t possibly control everything but we limit the amount of personal information shared on the internet so it wouldn’t be used against us.

Impersonation and identity theft has become a norm in the society especially on social medias like Instagram, twitter and many others. We see a lot of catfish accounts that imitate celebrities and influential figures.

While some are simply for fun and entertainment, the majority are used to tarnish the image of the real person as those accounts are often used to commit fraudulent acts in a bid to make money off their names and identity.

While my name is Kristoffer Quincy on every other platform such as read.cash, facebook, and on twitter, I couldn’t use kristofferquincy here on hive since it had already been taken by an impersonator.

It should be known that the username @kristofferquincy on hive is an impersonator and a fraud. This person created an hive account using my name and picture in the month of October 2021, copied my introductory article on read.cash and began making money off all my Axie infinity related articles.

I stopped playing Axie infinity and stopped writing about such but the impersonator began to translate previous articles to other languages and began publishing since he or she was out of Axie infinity related articles to copy. The user was discovered by hive watchers and was blacklisted.

I was accused of being responsible for the fraudulent action on joining hive last month and was surprised to see that there was already an account in my name and articles. On thorough investigation with Mr @jamerusell it was discovered that this person also created about twenty (20) other accounts using names and pictures of other writers on read.cash and began making money off their account as well.

A very surprising case of impersonation and damage of reputation. Impersonators are everywhere and cannot be completely avoided.
We simply need to be careful so we wouldn’t fall victims of scams using a stolen identity by double checking and verifying their identity by every means possible.

Feel free to share your experiencewith impersonators and identity thieves in the comment section. We'd be glad to hear it!

Regards!
Uchihanagato!

▶️ 3Speak