Darius Rucker is fed up with online scammers pretending to be him.
The country music superstar and frontman of the rock band Hootie & The Blowfish, 59, took to social media to air out his frustrations over the impersonators who use his name and likeness to take advantage of fans. Rucker also took a moment to send out a warning to any of his followers to think twice before they respond to an account that appears to be him, but actually isn’t.
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“Hey y’all. I need to say this again because it keeps happening and it breaks my heart every time I hear about it,” Rucker began his lengthy message, posted on Wednesday, Oct. 15. “If you think you’ve been messaging or chatting with me, my team, or my family… You haven’t. It’s not me. These are professional scammers pretending to be me to take advantage of you financially.”
Rucker went on to say that he does “not have a fan club or fan card, and will NEVER contact you asking for money or [for] personal information.”
Darius Rucker Said to Always Look for the Verified Blue Checkmark
The “Only Wanna Be With You” singer also reminded folks that his real social media accounts include “a verified blue checkmark by them, and you can always confirm that it’s them by visiting my website.”
“Please do not communicate with any of these fake profiles, and instead report and block them,” Rucker added, putting out a call-to-action to his fanbase in hopes of putting a stop to professional scammers getting what they want out of innocent people.
“I never want to see anyone be taken advantage of. Please be aware and stay alert,” he captioned, concluding his message.
Fans and Friends Chimed in With Comments on His Post
Several people took the time to comment below Rucker’s post, including a few of his artist friends.
“WHAT?!?! You said we were running away to Barcelona together if I sent you 5k for plane tickets!!!!” Russell Dickerson joked while Joel Crouse added, “Well damn- whose car am I driving then?”
“It’s getting awful! Happening with so many artists,” one follower noted, while another person wrote, “Sad that we live in a world where we gotta worry about this.”
Darius Rucker Previously Called Out the Online Scammers
As he previously noted in his message, this isn’t the first time Rucker has had to call out scammers. Earlier this summer, the South Carolina native took to his official X account, writing, “Yo, don’t you have anything better to do than try to scam people? [You] guys are the friggin worse. [You] are not me and have nothing to do with me. Friggin losers man!!”
At the time, Rucker named one of his scammers, who allegedly went by the account Darius_Rucker15. However, that person seems to no longer exist on the social media platform.
Scammers aside, Rucker has had more celebratory news to share in recent days. Earlier this month, he announced his engagement to lifestyle and content creator Emily Deahl.
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“Thank you for showing me a level of happiness I have never known,” the couple captioned a joint post on Instagram, showing Rucker on bended knee asking for Deahl’s hand in marriage. “The day I met you, I knew I didn’t want to go another one without you. Now I don’t have to.”
Related: Country Star Confronts Critics After Falling Victim to ‘Brutal’ Online Comments: ‘It’s Pissing Me Off Today’
