Everything that glitters online isn’t gold, golf stars warn fans of scams and catfishing With the recent antics from fraudsters, the golfing community and fans have been dealing with a concerning scenario. A few months back, The Athletic created an Instagram account to conduct a survey. They created the account under the name of Rodney, pretending to be a 62-year-old golf fan. The survey account was created under the username ‘@lpgafanatic6512’. That account followed verified accounts for female golfers alongside a few other accounts that appeared official. Within just minutes, @lpgafanatic6512 received a text from an account that appeared to be of Nelly Korda’s. ADVERTISEMENT “Hi, handsomeface, i know this is like a dream to you. Thank you for being a fan”, read the text. The survey was conducted to get an idea of how catfishing has been impacting the realm of this sport. These situations are becoming increasingly worrisome, especially for fans and social media users who struggle to tell what’s real from what’s fabricated. Reflecting on this scenario, the World’s No. 1 female golfer stated, “It’s been taken out of my hands being able to communicate freely with fans.” Korda further explained, “Because I don’t really know their intentions.” ADVERTISEMENT Several fans have turned out to be the victims of online scams over social media. Fans, who were convinced that they were conversing with the real athletes, later blamed the golfers after falling into traps of fraudulent activities. And it’s not just happening masked behind the name of Nelly Korda. Charley Hull, Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie West, Morgan Pressel, Jennifer Kupcho, Hannah Gregg, and Korda all have publicly posted warnings regarding such incidents to make sure that their followers are safe. Golf influencers Paige Spiranac and Hailey Ostrom, too, have dealt with such scenarios of online scams and shared their concerns. Share this with a friend: Link Copied!