A child actor is the latest target of a Twitter impersonation, ABC News reported.
The fake Twitter account for actor Collin MacKechnie, 15, had been running since May and quietly gained 100 followers with posts of publicity shots and intimate family photos of the Vancouver teen.
The account has also shared information that only the Supernatural and Vampire Dogs actor would seemingly know. Fans asked him questions about his work, and he answered them, so most didn’t need to question it.
The problem? MacKechnie had never been on Twitter, and the person who impersonated him, and soon the account started to post suggestive and incorrect information.
“It’s creepy to think there’s enough out there about me that someone could make all this up,” MacKechnie told ABC News. “They could search out my name and open and click on pictures from my friends’ Facebooks and take everything.”
The impersonator started to tell female friends that he would meet with them.
MacKechnie’s parents eventually learned about the fake Twitter account and contacted everyone from local authorities to the fans and the person behind the fake account. The parodist outed himself on Oct. 21.
“I feel wickedly guilty (and wickedly proud) and for what its worth, i’m sorry. All this coming from a big fan of Collin myself,” the impersonator tweeted. He urged his followers to impersonate an upcoming actor and called the experience a “great ride.”
MacKechnie made his own Twitter account and most of his tweets so far have been warning fans of the fake account and answering questions about the situation.
“im guessing that he google searched my name and just posted them,” MacKechnie tweeted to a fan who wondered where the impersonator found the photos he posted.
It is against Twitter’s Impersonation Policy to portray yourself as another person in a “confusing or deceptive manner,” though they make an exception if you clearly identify yourself as a parody, commentary, or fan account. People who do not adhere to the policy can be permanently suspended from Twitter.
The fake account has since been deactivated.
Photo via VampireDogDVD/YouTube