The real Dave Gunning stands up
Nova Scotia musician says he's been target of rampant Facebook cloning
SYDNEY — Pictou County musician Dave Gunning found more than 20 fake Facebook pages in his name.
One even borrowed an image of his dog.
For the real, actual Dave Gunning, it means continuously reminding people the others are fakes and a scam.
“Like always, when I see these impersonators I report them and thanks to all of you who do the same,” he posted on his legitimate Facebook page.
“Please be vigilant. This is happening to lots of people, not just me of course. Don't be tricked into sending money or any personal information no matter what story is being spun.”
A lot of people on Facebook can relate to the fake profile conundrum — where their accounts are cloned — but perhaps not to that extent.
WORRIES FANS MAY BE SCAMMED
Gunning told the Cape Breton Post his suspicion, though not proven, is that one of his fans may have fallen victim to a scammer appealing for money — hence the heavy targeting of his account lately.
“They create these fake pages using my pictures posing as me,” he said. "They will send somebody a personal message."
The plea then is for financial help because the artist is supposedly too embarrassed they need help to do a new recording.
That's not him of course, as he would not do that.
“It's not a good feeling, that's for sure,” Gunning said. “It's frustrating.”
Though it's often easy enough to spot a fake account as it doesn't have followers or real activity, people do get tricked.
ONE CLUE IT'S NOT HIM
“I received a lot of messages ‘I wanted to check and see if it is you,'” Gunning said.
Gunning, who has 13,000 followers on his legitimate page, has responded to some direct messages, but said he doesn't reach out to people to start a conversation, so that's one clue it's not him.
“This same thing appears to be happening to other artists, musicians and others with followers. I am extremely lucky to have such loyal supporters and followers and I want to make sure that everyone is protected and keenly aware,” he said in one of his Facebook posts warning about the fake pages.
At the same time, musicians increasingly rely on social media, particularly Facebook to promote shows and let people know where they are headed to perform.
“It greatly helps sell tickets,” Gunning said. “It's a necessary evil right now.
"I think if I wasn't a travelling musician, I don't think I would be on (Facebook).”
REPORTING FAKE ACCOUNTS
Gunning said he's not satisfied with the way Facebook handles the fake accounts and said it should be able to find better ways to protect people's accounts.
“We are reporting these pages to Facebook and they are responding that they are not doing anything,” he said.
Even the check-mark symbol that was supposed to verify accounts has been replicated. According to
Facebook's own security explainers, verified badges are supposed to confirm a notable account is “the authentic presence for that person or brand.”
“These scammers just create a page that says ‘The real Dave Gunning.' You can't even outsmart them,” he said.
By way of example, here is Facebook's response to one fake Dave Gunning page he'd reported:
“Hi Dave, We reviewed the profile your friend reported and found that it isn't pretending to be you and doesn't go against our Community Standards. Note: If you see something on someone's profile that shouldn't be on Facebook, be sure to report the content (ex: a photo or video), not the entire profile. Thanks, The Facebook Team.”
“These people are creating Dave Gunning pages plus using my pictures, downloading my pictures off my profile,” Gunning said. “There's got to be some way (by Facebook) to filter that out. … Maybe they are working on a fix for it.”
PERIL OF LIVING ONLINE
Gunning frequently collaborates and performs with Cape Breton musician J.P. Cormier.
Cormier said he too has had his pages cloned, although not
to the extent of what Gunning is going through.
He blocks them and shuts them down.
“It's the peril everyone faces from living online. We're all forced to do it,” Cormier said. “Everybody I know has had some problems. When your entire life is contained on the internet, you're asking for it. None of us has any choice — no people anywhere.
“It's only going to get worse. Now AI (artificial intelligence) is so prevalent, we won't be able to even know it is happening. There will be videos of us on there saying things that it's even us. That's already happening.”
Cormier said artists like him make most of their living on the internet, such as on their YouTube channels.
“It's frightening how much power the internet has,” he said.
'SOME OTHER REASON'
Cormier said musicians like
him aren't on the global celebrity level and he wonders if it's someone specifically targeting Gunning because of past activism.
“If people are doing that to you, there's got to be some other reason than people cloning Taylor Swift and Beyoncé and that kind of s--t,” Cormier said, adding that he concerned for Gunning.
“(He's) is a hardworking man. I don't like it when people pick on him.”
But Cormier said it's impossible to stop it, as the internet is effectively lawless as it's too immense..
“It happens to every single person I know, even nonpublic figures,” he said of the fake accounts.
Facebook has become such a huge marketing tool, it's replaced many of the people who worked behind the scenes such as publicists and managers, Cormier noted.
“The only thing you can't get away with," he said, "is a booking agent."
“I am extremely lucky to have such loyal supporters and followers and I want to make sure that everyone is protected and keenly aware.” Dave Gunning