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Fake identities: Manti Te'o scandal and 6 other Internet hoaxes

7. Sidney Ackerman: NFL catfishing

Jake Turcotte/CSMonitor
While only some Internet hoaxes are exposed, it seems that they are common on the Web. The perpetrators behind them often assume fake identities and trick people into believing the elaborate stories and characters they create.

  • By Steph Solis

Just a week after the Manti Te’o scandal was revealed, NFL.com reported that several Washington Redskins players were duped by a woman assuming a fake online identity.

A Jan. 24 article on NFL.com states that a woman under the pseudonym “Sidney Ackerman” had reached out to Redskins players on Twitter as @RedRidnH00d.

The woman, who said she was a big fan, corresponded with some Redskins players for months through Twitter’s direct messaging feature. She used photos belonging to online adult entertainer C.J. Miles on her social media accounts. In some instances, she sent separate photos of Miles to their cellphones, without indicating that they weren’t hers.

NFL security conducted an investigation of “Ackerman.” In mid-December, Redskins Director of Player Development Phillip Daniel put up a memo in the locker room warning players to avoid @RedRidnH00d on Twitter and every other social media platform.

The Twitter account disappeared shortly before NFL.com published the story. Ackerman’s Facebook page was deleted on the same day.

“Ackerman” had more than 17,000 followers on Twitter, and she wasn’t the only fake identity NFL security came across, which seemed to give her followers a false sense of legitimacy. Another Twitter account, @RideAndDieChick, was using photos of Miles on the account and as of Jan. 19 was being followed by 22 NFL players and six NBA players. The account was deleted by Jan. 22.

Neither account could be verified by Twitter, though investigators confirmed that they were not from the same user, NFL.com reported.  

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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