CRANBROOK – MP Wayne Stetski would like to warn constituents about a phishing scam involving someone impersonating him on Facebook’s Messenger app. The scam involved the impostor sending a direct message to one of Stetski’s Facebook followers from an account using Stetski’s profile picture and the name “Wayne.” The impostor impersonated Stetski before trying to interest the constituent in a scheme related to the “department of health and human services.”
“Fortunately, in this case, the targeted constituent quickly deduced that this was a phishing scam, blocked the scammer and then reported them both to us and to Facebook,” said Stetski, the NDP MP for Kootenay—Columbia. “But we want to remind constituents and our Facebook followers to be vigilant. Our office does not initiate conversations with constituents or any Facebook users via Facebook Messenger.”
Facebook advises that the correct way to report an impostor account is as follows:
- The person who received the message should go to a desktop computer and visit https://messenger.com/
- Once they are logged in, click on the conversation on the left with the impostor account
- The impostor’s account should now be listed in the address bar. It will look like this: https://www.messenger.com/t/[ACCOUNT]
- Copy the entire URL and send to canadacyberthreats@fb.com
Stetski notes that other Members of Parliament have recently had similar experiences, and he wants to remind people to be extra vigilant on social media in the run up to this fall’s federal election, on October 21, 2019.
“These types of scams are becoming all too common, and typically end up victimizing those who are less critical of what they see and hear on social media and the Internet,” said Stetski. “There may be others out there who are interested in interfering with our democracy. Be critical about information you encounter on social media and if you doubt its origin, take steps to verify its authenticity. Don’t believe everything you see, hear or read.”
For more information on the Government of Canada’s proposed process to protect and defend electoral systems and processes for the 2019 General Election, visit this webpage.
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