Former Ireland rugby star, Tommy Bowe, has said he is working closely with Meta (formerly Facebook) as he has become the latest victim of online scammers. Images of the Virgin Media star, who hosts Ireland AM with Muireann O’Connell and Alan Hughes, being escorted away by gardai have been circulating on Facebook. The former Ireland international said he is doing whatever he can to raise awareness to ensure people do not click the dangerous links on Facebook. READ MORE: Red-faced Tommy Bowe struggles with sex toy that has ‘mind of its own’ The host said: “I’m trying to track them and get them taken down by Meta. That’s an ongoing process at the minute.” Captions that accompany the image reads: “The accusations against him were confirmed.” Tommy said: “It’s not nice to have your face put out there. I think most people will see that it is a scam and not legit but I have heard of people who have clicked the links, who have been taken through to some website that has been set up about me encouraging people to buy cryptocurrency or whatever else. “It’s not something that you want to have your name put alongside and I’m doing whatever I can to try and raise awareness, asking people not to click on it. It is a scam and I’m doing my best to try and get them taken down,” he added. It’s not the first time Tommy has been forced to debunk fake images purporting to be of him. In August of this year, Tommy’s image was placed on a fake copy of the Irish Examiner which shows him being “arrested” by gardaí as part of an anti-terrorism training exercise in 2017. Another post showing him in the Ireland AM studio, from one of the pages which contained the Garda image, contains the simple caption: “He’s been hiding it for years. The truth came out live on air.” The images are just the latest in a long line of fake celebrity endorsements and pictures that appear regularly on social media. In the past, fake images depicting Ryan Tubridy, Anne Doyle, Graham Norton, Lucy Kennedy, Doireann Garrihy and Miriam O’Callaghan have appeared online. The link sends users to websites with the aim to scam them out of money, usually by enticing them to buy cryptocurrency or engage in some other form of fake investment. In February last year, Facebook apologised to Miriam O’Callaghan and both parties reached a court settlement over false and misleading advertisements that appeared on the platform. The ads featured damaging and untrue claims that suggested O’Callaghan had left her job with RTÉ’s Prime Time programme to promote skin care products. Likenesses of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar have also appeared in fake adverts on mainstream websites claiming that he is trading cryptocurrency. And last week, Tanaiste Micheal Martin launched legal action against Google over the use of his name and image in scam financial advertising online. A spokesperson for Mr Martin confirmed that he has initiated legal action against the tech giant, saying that it is not acceptable for his name and image to be used to “extract money from people”. “The Tánaiste believes it is neither acceptable nor tolerable that persons unknown can use his image and name online in an effort to associate him with financial products he has never heard of and seek to extract money from people, using his name,” the spokesperson said. Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Tommy Bowe warns fans to be on their guard as scammers use fakes images of him being ‘arrested
