Country musician Daniel O’Donnell has spoken out about recent fake news stories involving him and his family, warning people about scammers taking advantage of vulnerable fans by posing as him.
The 63-year-old singer has recently commented on the “ridiculous” false stories involving himself, his family and other Irish personalities that have been circulating on the internet.
Daniel told The Sunday World newspaper, “At the minute there are all kinds of stories going up about all sorts of strange things. Last week, Majella was pregnant at 65. It is so ridiculous you’d hope people wouldn’t believe it”.
The singer was left to upload a “warning video” after scammers used AI to generate photos of Daniel in a hospital bed.
In the video, which was up on social media, he reassured fans that he is safe and well and that any information and photos circulating claiming that the singer is in the hospital are not real.
“Please ignore any of these things that you see on Facebook. I am very well,” he said.
“We can’t do much about these scammers, but all we can do is let you know not to engage with them. Never reply to them, and above all, never ever send them money”.
Daniel recently spoke about how a woman in America got caught up in the scam. “People think it’s me they are talking to on Facebook, and it’s very plausible,” he said.
“A lot of the time (the scam) is that I am going to meet them and they are going to come away with me. They send on thousands.”
The Donegal star and his family have to warn fans not to engage with such content continually.