Social media scammers set up accounts targeting Harry Potter stars
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SHAMEFUL scammers have set up a string of fake social media accounts pretending to be Harry Potter star Dominic McLaughlin, we can reveal.
Bogus pages - claiming to be run by his parents - have popped up weeks after it emerged the Scots kid actor will appear in HBO's TV adaptation of the famous book series.
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Scammers have set up a number of accounts in the child actor's name
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It comes after Dominic McLaughlin was announced as star of the HBO series
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The series is set to be released late next year
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Arabella Stanton, Dominic McLaughlin, and Alastair Stout will be in the main roles
Dominic, from Glasgow, beat thousands of others for the boy wizard lead role.
But weeks after he was announced as playing Harry Potter, online weirdos have now taken advantage of his rising public profile by impersonating him on the internet.
PR consultant Mark Borkowski warned the young actor's team should jump into action and protect him.
He said: 'The issue is that, particularly when you get thrust into the public arena these days, you become public property very quickly.
'And getting this break is going to be enormous. But, as we've seen in the past with other young stars, it's also a bit of a curse.
'The younger you are, obviously there's rules and regulations, but the badlands of the internet don't sort of grip the same principles.
'There's a huge Harry Potter fan base, as we know, and there's been a lot of expectation for this latest version of it.
'It will all come down to protecting him because of his age and allowing him to grow up against a backdrop of a huge amount of attention on him, both on and offline. And that is incredibly difficult to manage.'
One Instagram account in Dominic's name has dozens of photos of the actor, and hundreds of followers.
A bio says: 'Young actor. Playing Harry Potter in HBO's new series. Account managed by parents.'
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A string of posts claim to be documenting his journey with the account boasting of 'bringing my best to Harry Potter', 'another change to make a bit of magic happen' and thanking fans for their support.
Another 'parent managed account' in Dominic's name has links to channel HBO and streaming platform Stream On MAX.
Alex Dowal, of the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland, warned most social media operators are struggling to take down fake profiles.
He said: 'It's not actually a crime to set up a profile in someone's name.
'It goes against the terms and conditions of Facebook and Instagram. Unfortunately, the scale of policing that is virtually non-existent.
'It becomes a crime if you are seeking to benefit from pretending to be someone else.
'It probably wouldn't take long before some fake endorsements using his profile come out. That would consitute fraud.'
We told how the cast were revealed by Warner Bros last month with film bosses pledging a 'faithful adaptation' of the books by author and executive producer J.K. Rowling.
Earlier this week, the writer said she had read the first two episodes, adding: 'They are so, so, so good.'
A spokeswoman for Warner Bros Discovery said: 'We won't be commenting at this time.'
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