Former RTE star Anne Doyle has become the latest victim of fake online stories – as she warns fans she isn’t on social media. The retired RTE newsreader has been targeted by scammers online and social media users have been plagued with malicious ads promoting fake stories of the popular star. But Anne said she isn’t sure what she should do to stop scammers from using her image, saying she doesn’t have social media. READ MORE: ‘I got into trouble for lifting my eyebrows’: Anne Doyle reveals why she grew a fringe in RTE news days She said: “They’ve been in circulation for a long time. I’ve no idea what they are. “But don’t come to me for advice on crypto currency, I’m not your woman. “They have nothing to do with me. I don’t know anything about it. “My understanding is that I am not alone in this. There are other people, it is not just me.” It comes just days after Ryan Tubridy fumed over his image being used to front fake Instagram accounts claiming to be the star. The ex-RTE star shared to his huge following that yet another fake account pretending to be him popped up on Instagram. The account uses a similar name to his @InstaTubridy moniker as well as the same image as the real deal. It even includes the same bio as the real Ryan – “Author – JFK In Ireland, Patrick and the President and The First Christmas Jumper”. And the fake account was gaining some traction, having amassed over 2,000 followers before Ryan Tubridy was given the details by his fans and he dealt with the deception. The former Late Late Show host said: “Honestly, the amount of these fake accounts is crazy, it’s like whack-a-mole trying to get rid of them but you spot them a mile away. Thank you for passing on the details, I appreciate it.” In 2022, Tubridy had previously pleaded with radio listeners not to fall for online ads that say he has invested in cryptocurrency. He called the creators of the ads “clowns” when speaking on his former RTÉ radio show. “My face shows up going, ‘Tubridy talks about his Bitcoin’,” he told listeners. “I don’t know what Bitcoin is!” he exclaimed. “So, whoever, whatever creatures in whatever basement in whatever country, or parts of this country, are cobbling together these things and sending them out, would you stop lads? Because it’s fake news.” In June this year, Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan revealed an imposter account was doing the rounds as she shared a snap of an account in her name with the same photo as her official account. She said: “I’m not sure what’s in the water this week but this isn’t me either.” Nicola has unfortunately seen her name and image abused by social media scammers before. In January 2023, Nicola warned fans of a scam circulating online and shared advice on avoiding becoming a victim to the con. The Bridgerton and Derry Girls star shared a scam message circulating in January 2023 that claims to be Coughlan’s online manager, “Emma”. The dodgy message claims that Nicola wanted to meet two “lucky fans” and that “Emma” was contacting the recipient to arrange a meet up to “express our gratitude”. In 2022, Facebook – now called Meta – was forced to apologise to Prime Time host Miriam O’Callaghan as part of the settlement of her High Court action over several defamatory and untrue adverts that were posted on the social media platform. Included in the settlement agreement, Meta Platforms Ireland, formerly known as Facebook Ireland, has agreed to establish an additional scam ad reporting tool which will allow Irish users to report more details on misleading adverts to a specialist team within Facebook for review. Speaking to RSVP, Miriam said: “It was stressful because it was going on for years. My mother kept saying ‘You will lose your house.’ “It was very expensive to take a case against them and I didn’t do it lightly. I tried everything to get the ads down, but my mum was coming out of Mass and people were saying they heard I left RTÉ to set up my own face cream.” The TV and radio star said she took action to protect her reputation but also “to make sure that there was some kind of new tool introduced, so other Irish people did not have to go through what I went through.”
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