Facebook scam targets music fans, leaving artists feeling ripped off

SAN FRANCISCO - A scam unfolding on Facebook involves posts that pose as well-known musicians' accounts. 

The scammers are selling T-shirts and other merchandise, often without the knowledge or permission of the artist. 

Susan Zelinsky, who performs as Susan Z, is a long-time Bay Area musician, well-known and most popular in the North Bay in solo performances, bands and teaching. 

Her income is an important part of her family finances. 

"They are using my name to try and sell their shirts," she said. 

She and many other musicians have been victimized by scammers using their names, reputations and fans to sell merchandise on Facebook for which the artists get nothing.

"A lot of my friends are all in the same boat. They get tagged and they are also having their identity stolen," she said. 

This trending scam is possible with artificial intelligence and bots that can determine a musician’s popularity and then target posts to likely fans and friends hopping from contact to contact. 

"And then, my name was suddenly being used to sell the T-shirts as well," Zelinsky said. 

Will Magid is also a successful regional musician who's been hijacked as well.

"People or robots, I'm not totally sure on the internet that have taken my brand and made shirts and hats and they sell them online," Magid said. "My guess is, they're not even making them until they have a sale and even then, they might not actually produce the goods or distribute them."

In this case, Will's dad is a true expert, tech analyst and journalist Larry Magid. 

"Well, there are an enormous amount of things being sold on social media that are one kind of a scam or another," Magid said. "But all they really want is your name and credit card number or your address, either to steal your money or to help steal your identity. You do have to watch it on Facebook, that just because it's appearing on Facebook doesn't necessarily mean that Meta has vetted it properly."

"They just keep coming and coming and coming and no matter how many times you report it to Facebook that it's a scam," Zelinsky said. "It’s a fraud, nothing seems to get done. I've been reporting it for months. Now, friends are telling me they've been reporting it for many months as well."

Zelinsky said she believes the tech giant has a responsibility to stop it. 

KTVU reached out to Facebook and its parent company, Meta, for comment on this story, but has not yet heard back.