Got a Facebook Message from Testament’s Chuck Billy? You’re Likely Being Scammed
I don’t know if you know this, but the internet can be a pretty shitty place. Aside from all the racist, homophobic, transphobic, and just generally dangerous shit that goes on all over the web, you’ve got people trying to make a quick buck at your expense. Scammers use all kinds of tactics and apparently they’re now directly targeting our fellow metalheads.
In a recent Facebook post on the band’s official page, Testament warned that some scammers were creating fake accounts posing as both frontman Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson. In their warning, they said fans were getting direct messages from those fake accounts looking to sell rare merch and trying to find out personal information in the process.
Their warning to fans sums up the whole thing pretty clearly:
“Hey everyone – it has come to our attention that there are several fake Chuck Billy and Eric Peterson Facebook pages that are constantly commenting on this page; making fans feel like they’re talking to the real person, offering merch, offering conversation. Not only should you be careful because these could be hackers absolutely trying to gain access to your money or something personal – but THESE ARE FAKE ACCOUNTS.
“You will never get messages/comments from Chuck or Eric wanting to know personal information about you (no matter how seemingly mundane), or offering to sell you merch/stuff from their private collections. It just won’t happen. Most of these accounts simply copy and paste posts from the Testament accounts and from the real member personal accounts so it should be pretty obvious but for some reason they end up gaining a couple thousand followers and probably make a few of you believe they’re the real deal.
“Be aware and be safe out there, people – the Internet is a dangerous place! Please report and block all unofficial pages. Thank you all! Thrash on!”
You’d think by now this should go without saying, but never give out your personal information over the internet to anyone. Doesn’t matter if it looks like your own mother’s asking — confirm that the person you’re talking to is actually the person you think it is before sending anything. And even then, don’t send it via social media if you can help it because hackers can get into those accounts pretty easy.
And let’s be real here — do you really think Chuck Billy or Eric Peterson would just message you, a rando on the internet, for anything? A little common sense will go a long way.
