Just Be For Real: On Impersonators, Scammers & Stolen Identities!
From Lo Carmen's Loose Connections · subscribed via aiste.ulozaite@gmail.com · original ↗ · unsubscribe
- The author’s Substack profile was impersonated by a scammer (@locarmenn) who followed subscribers attempting to deceive people
- Musicians’ identities are increasingly being stolen for romance scams, catfishing, and fraudulent impersonation on social media platforms
- Historical and contemporary examples of identity theft include fake Bruno Mars profiles that scammed a woman out of $100k, fake guitar websites, and AI-generated music theft targeting indie artists
- The 1968 case of fake Zombies bands created by a Michigan booking agent is explored, including how two members went on to form ZZ Top
- AI identity theft scams are now targeting the indie music community, with artists unable to prove ownership or remove false copyright claims
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Just Be For Real https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=328682&post_id=207745297&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2en9d&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo0MDQyNTYxLCJwb3N0X2lkIjoyMDc3NDUyOTcsImlhdCI6MTc4NjIzNTQzMiwiZXhwIjoxNzg4ODI3NDMyLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMzI4NjgyIiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.EEfNCtjscrx1O_mv-lXwBhz-fTJAQenQ4n7PMTK5uJMOn Impersonators, Scammers & Stolen Identities!
Lo Carmen https://substack.com/@locarmen Aug 9 https://substack.com/@locarmen
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Every decade has had its own world of scammers’n’fakes but right now feels especially fucked up. Some very believable advertisements
My social media algorithm is currently sending me non-stop ‘opportunities’ for artists of all stripes, funding, grants, bequests, competitions, scholarships, fellowships, residencies and retreats and obviously I linger on these long enough that that they send me more and more of them, especially complicated by the fact that I have my fingers in so many pies, making stuff-wise. But each time I allow myself to consider for a moment that one of these fortuitous prospects might be a good fit for me to apply for, some survival instinct kicks in, I decide its probably a scam, designed to get our entry fees, personal or bank details - its so easy to rip-off the hopeful and the desperate - and I keep on scrolling.
Last week, I was alerted to the fact that someone had created a fake version of my Substack profile and was following all my subscribers (thanks Chris Papps https://open.substack.com/users/145661831-chris-papps?utm_source=mentions ).
It truly pissed me off.
I write and work hard at making Loose Connections because I love to; its satisfying for my soul, gives me a weird sense of stability in a very unstable life and I enjoy challenging myself to keep coming up with ideas and exploring them, even though each post generally takes me hours and hours, and just the whole concept of building my own little Loose Connections world is meaningful to me really, and the idea that some cynical fucker could come along and trick people into believing they were me and stealing their money seemed really offensive.
However, not being a very angry person generally, and in fact being cursed with probably far too much empathy for people who do messed-up, bad things due to being misguided by their own hardships and miseries, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do beyond reporting them, which I did, as did some of you - thank you so much.
I was blocked by the perpetrator from being able to view the account at first, but then gave it another try and they must have unblocked me for probably nefarious reasons such as being able to copy more of my content, and I was able to send a self-righteous, aggrieved little message to the fake me, in which I found myself becoming strangely emotional about the invasion of my selfhood. Or something. https://substack.com/redirect/7cbc858d-6168-4b83-9162-7f6b6cdac03f?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo
I’m sure the scammer (@locarmenn with a lower case ‘l’ and a double ‘n’) had a good hard think and vowed to be an upright, honest citizen from here on before heading off to attempt to swindle someone else. My work here is done.
Subscribing to Loose Connections is the best way to be for real, warm the cockles of my slightly deranged heart and get future missives straight to your inbox… Upgrade to paid https://substack.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.pNc8KsR2MyTKIwdtf4GX-8ore5mXvg6VlVqGNQVIdy0?&utm_medium=email&utm_source=subscribe-widget-preamble&utm_content=207745297
Last night I started watching ‘Song Sung Blue’, the sweet and funny Neil Diamond-inspired biopic set in the world of musicians who pretend to be other, far more famous musicians, featuring a fabulous cameo from my buddy Jayson Warner-Smith as Earl, “the one and only Elvis impersonator in all Milwaukee”. The lead protagonists (played by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) make the important distinction that they are going to be ‘interpreters’ of Neil Diamond songs rather than ‘impersonators’. https://substack.com/redirect/96832328-c21d-40a5-926b-b4f5d19bf773?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo Jayson Warner Smith as ‘the only Elvis impersonator in Milwaukee’
Though they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, in these dark, fake news days, keeping a hold of your self, your likeness, your sound, your music. your voice is increasingly challenging. My social media feed is also full of musicians I know (or know of) warning their followers to beware of fakes and scammers. Over the last few years I have also shut down multiple social media accounts pretending to be me, though why someone would bother with such small fry as me I do not know. Musician’s identities are stolen to catfish and entangle unsuspecting fans in romance scams. A scammer named Chinwendu Azuonwu tricked a Bruno Mars fan https://substack.com/redirect/219415d9-0039-41f7-8818-a2cfeacbf1a2?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo in her 60s into believing she was engaged in an online love affair with the singer while he was on tour, and that he wanted to quit the tour to be with her. She gave him over $100k for various ‘tour expenses’. https://substack.com/redirect/d7e73f5c-ded8-4a82-ada1-3c6553b01e2b?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo
Fake profiles targeting musicians pretend to be high profile managers, journalists, A&R label scouts, podcast producers, gig bookers etc. Generally its easy to spot, but as its getting easier and easier to fake things well, all communications should be regarding with a high degree of scepticism. https://substack.com/redirect/33e0cf76-deab-4ce2-8c29-0b7f1f360bc9?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo https://substack.com/redirect/2b728cb7-f969-4df4-8140-67f00f57a9d7?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo https://substack.com/redirect/c0c7817b-5cb0-438e-b790-c7b9769fd750?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo
There is an entire fake website, Wylde Audio https://substack.com/redirect/d87dacf2-bb30-4ec4-b139-97d78a1944ec?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo, dedicated to selling fake guitars designed by heavy metal guitarist Zakk Wylde, taking advantage of the fact that he sells his actual official custom guitars via the Schecter https://substack.com/redirect/ef1e587a-c6bf-48fa-984f-4bce88e172a7?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo site, leaving his name vulnerable to misappropriation. Weirdly none of the links go anywhere that works but the claims that Brad Paisley and John Mayer are big fans of the brand make for enjoyable reading.
In one of the wilder rock tales of stolen identities, a small timebooking agent in Bay City, Michigan, created three fake versions of UK band The Zombies in 1968, and set them to work all around the country masquerading as the real thing, complete with half-hearted English accents. The real Zombies, broke and disheartened, had disbanded after their album failed to do any business at home, and didn’t even know that their single ‘Time of the Season’ was roaring up the charts in America. Members of one of the imitation bands - Dusty Hill and Frank Beard - went on to become ZZ Top, although they don’t mention their brief period as fake Zombies in any of their official histories. ‘The True Story of The Fake Zombies https://substack.com/redirect/8884fec4-143d-4c60-a921-cb2abd7c77e8?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo’, the podcast that meticulously investigates this incredible act of deception is brilliant. https://substack.com/redirect/f06cc8b4-0f40-46b8-8e23-651646916df0?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo
It’s still a maddening, sickening Wild West out there in terms of owning, keeping and claiming your rightful identity. There’s now outrageous AI identity theft scams targeting the indie music community. One folk artist, Murphy Campbell, has had her own videos of her own versions of public-domain traditional songs scraped and copyright claimed by fraudsters calling themselves ‘Murphy Rider’ who also fed her voice into AI generators and created ‘new’ ‘Murphy Campbell’ music. There’s nothing she can do about it - proving ownership of music is often a matter of who got there first in terms of making a claim and an ouroboros in terms of getting false claims corrected - a situation I am personally only too aware of having being involved in fighting fake claims made on my father’s music for many years with little satisfaction. Yet. I still believe in my heart of hearts that truth will prevail, but maybe thats the result of being brought up on happy endings. https://substack.com/redirect/a10a3d5d-1667-499e-93ff-6bb5ed2574b4?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo
Recently I find myself constantly humming the main refrain of the beautiful Leonard Cohen song ‘Be For Real https://substack.com/redirect/1ff4cfa5-9f0d-4d4c-8f61-1248ca7acff3?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo’, from his 1992 album The Future - back when the concept of such a destination undoubtedly could not have been envisioned as quite this dystopian.
The X Files were right - Trust No-one! And also I want to believe. Stay sharp out there kids! x
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About Lo Carmen https://substack.com/redirect/f9c675ec-94fc-4516-950e-77f11b32e30b?j=eyJ1IjoiMmVuOWQifQ.eQ7fdunsrr5G0SPH_YBWhXThD91mm79ainbcqOh8tbo
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