Friends and Family of Ryan Straschnitzki are disgusted after finding a fake Twitter and Go Fund Me Page using his name and image.
The original Twitter handle, @RyanStraz, showed an image of Ryan with his Humboldt Broncos jersey saying that he had set up a Go Fund Me Account to raise money for the families of his teammates.
Neither Ryan or anyone in his family created the account, causing an uproar on Social Media.
Ryan’s Dad Tom says he discovered the fake account around 5:30 this morning (April 30th) and immediately questioned it.
“I took a screenshot of it and phoned Ryan and he had no idea about it so he really freaked out about it. He would never do this and he expects no one else to do this but we have warned him that this could happen.”
The original Twitter handle and Go Fund Me Page was reported and deleted, along with another Twitter page under the name @Rstraschnitzki.
Tom says it was very hard for Ryan to take the news that someone would do this to him and his teammates.
“That’s not who he is at all and he was really worried about the teammates being mad at him. I said ‘no pal, it’s a fake account I’m thinking so we’ll take care of it.’ Took a little bit to calm him down because he wears his heart on his sleeve.”
While it is good news that the fake accounts have been found and deleted, Tom says he’s not overly surprised that this happened.
“I was prepared, he was not. At the end, Ryan kind of said, ‘well, I guess it’s kind of a learning lesson for the teammates if this happens to them,’ and I went, that would possibly be, yes. There’s always one in every crowd.”
According to Airdrie RCMP Cst. Dan Martin, this type of incident is considered fraud which could land those responsible in jail or paying a hefty fine.
Unfortunately, with this or any type of scam, it’s often difficult to find the perpetrator, as they could be living in another country.
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Tue, Apr 23, 6:30 PM
Part-time, Seasonal, Communications/Media
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