Last week, Pontiac Liberal MP Will Amos took to Facebook to inform the public of the importance of being aware of fraudulent activity on social media with a lengthy post.

On July 10, after being alerted of a fraudulent Facebook account bearing his name and his photo asking local residents to donate money to his riding, it was imperative to take action and let locals know what was true and what wasn’t.

In the post, a couple of pictures were shown along with a step-by-step list of how to detect a fake account compared to an authentic one and how to report someone spewing fake news on the web.

The post went on reminding users that official accounts always have a blue checkmark icon next to its name and that asking people for money via Facebook Messenger is a no-no for his riding.

If one notices a fake account posing as Amos, locals are urged to report it as a fake account and to send a screen shot of the page to Amos’ official Facebook account.

It’s not uncommon for impersonators to target politicians online, especially this close to an election.

Therefore, the population’s assistance when it comes to reporting and preventing this kind of fraudulent activity is always needed, according to Amos’ communications assistant Camille Roussell.

“We’re not alone,” she said. “A number of deputies have had people try to open accounts in their name and to talk to residents. It doesn’t affect us exclusively but it happens to many deputies right now.”

While Amos’ office has kept in touch with the individual who originally reported the fraudulent account, no suspects have been determined.

But, awareness of all forms of fraud on social media remains an essential priority, Roussell said.

“We can try to find them,” she said. “But sometimes it’s hard to find them if they don’t want to contact us or if they remain private,” she said. “That’s why we need the public’s help.”

“You have to be vigilant, she added. “We can’t know everything that goes on Facebook. But we can try to inform the public and explain to them how to report this and remind them that we don’t solicit money, that our phone numbers are displayed publicly. That’s all we can do for now.”

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