Governor Martyn Roper

Governor Martyn Roper alerted the public on Thursday that a scammer has set up a fake LinkedIn social media account purporting to be his.

Mr. Roper wrote on Twitter that someone was using the fake account to solicit funds on the governor’s behalf.

“This is clearly a scam so please don’t be fooled,” the governor wrote in his tweet.

The Governor’s Office later issued a statement about the fraudulent account, saying a number of people had been contacted from the bogus account requesting contributions to support a charity.

The statement read, in part: “The account entitled ‘Governor at Cayman Islands’ is wholly fabricated. If anyone receives this type of communication from an account by that name they should ignore it, especially any correspondence which suggests donating money to a fund. The Governor would never use social media for such a purpose.”

- Advertisement -

The governor noted that he has had a LinkedIn account for several years, which carries his official title, “Martyn Roper, OBE, Governor of the Cayman Islands,” which has more than 500 followers.

According to the Governor’s Office, the matter has been reported to both LinkedIn and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.

The RCIPS is reminding the public to exercise caution when using any social media platform, including LinkedIn. Individuals should also be wary of requests from public figures which seem suspicious, especially if these include solicitations for financial details or other personal information, the police warned.

Governor Roper is the latest of several Cayman Islands officials to have a social media account hacked or duplicated.

In the past, Facebook pages purporting to belong to Premier Alden McLaughlin have been created by individuals trying to solicit funds. In April last year, Mr. McLaughlin told the Cayman Compass, “There’s been hundreds of similar instances – Facebook, Instagram and others – over the past few years.”

Last year saw a spate of scammers falsely using the names of local officials, including Premier McLaughlin and Attorney General Sam Bulgin among others, in bogus fundraising efforts.

Anyone who suspects they have received messages from bogus accounts should contact the RCIPS Financial Crime Unit by emailing [email protected].