Background:
In this post I show an example of someone misusing social media to deceive Mk7 enthusiasts, creating a fake profile on YouTube to trick people into believing they are interacting with me.
Last summer during an ongoing discussion about intercooler performance with Tony from DataDrivenMQB he sent me a screenshot of some criticism of a video he made that was posted by somebody who was impersonating me:
The impersonator was thorough, using my name, reference to the Mk7, and even pulling an image from my website, to use on their Channel on YouTube.
In this first instance, the impersonator was interacting with somebody (Tony) whom I had been corresponding with for over a year before the trolling commentary appeared and it was readily apparent to Tony that there was something fishy about the posting.
Latest actions:
This weekend I was tipped off that the impersonator was again harassing enthusiasts while posing as me.
This time the impersonator was trolling and antagonizing multiple people.
Spotting the fake:
The dead giveaway with this person is the trolling.
In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online or who performs similar behaviors in real life.
Wikipedia
In contrast, I have two purposes when commenting on social media content, to provide information or to clear up misinformation.
To this end, making personal attacks on other people like this imposter did is unproductive, and so I don’t.
Actions:
If you come across comments from this person or somebody else impersonating me online, please post a link to the content in the comments below, or send me an email, so I can investigate the matter.
References:
If you are wondering if impersonating someone on YouTube is allowed, no it is not:
Not only does impersonating someone violate YouTube’s policy, it brings potential real world penalties:
In general, impersonating someone—online or offline—is unlawful and can result in criminal or federal charges if it involves false representation with certain consequences. Individuals may also face civil liability for impersonating someone online.
Minc Law
Pretty sad how they have to resort to childish petty tactics.
I’ll report em if I see em. Sorry that’s happening.