Derek Griffiths, who played Freddie the mechanic on Coronation Street always seemed a really nice bloke in interviews he gave about his life. And so when a Twitter account appeared in Derek's name, verified with the blue Twitter tick as an official account, there was never any reason to suspect that it wasn't Derek himself online.
Indeed, his interactions with other, current members of the Corrie cast seemed genuine and honest too. We interacted with him too - but sadly, it turns out that we were all fooled.
It turns out that the Twitter account @DerekGriffiths (which has now been suspended) was run by a scammer who conned people, including celebrities, out of their cash. The fraudster, pretending to be Derek Griffiths, offered himself for "Auction". In return for donations to a charity, the person pretending to be Derek Griffiths would offer himself for lunch with celebrity fans. Actor and comedian Paddy McGuinness has been conned out of £600 and goodness knows who else has been taken in by the scam too.
It is reported today that Paddy McGuiness has contacted specialist detectives at the City of London police. While the Twitter account has been suspended, Derek's fake website still exists.
It just goes to show that a blue tick on Twitter means absolutely nothing, so never be fooled. And never, ever, donate to anything but an official charity, if you want to make a charity donation.
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