{"id":650436,"date":"2026-10-10T09:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T09:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/650436\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T09:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T09:38:15","slug":"more-and-more-scam-posts-about-the-late-singer-glen-hansard-are-appearing-on-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/650436\/","title":{"rendered":"More and more scam posts about the late singer Glen Hansard are appearing on X"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c\u2018SORRY HE DID what?\u2019 The clause in Glen Hansard\u2019s will that silenced the room.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, wouldn\u2019t that pique your interest?<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s designed to do just that, as this is the latest scam post featuring late singer Glen Hansard\u00a0that is doing the rounds on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Screenshot of the scam post. X<\/p>\n

X\n<\/p>\n

The Journal found at least 15 separate accounts posting the exact same scam this week, all of which seemed to be registered in Turkey, according to records. All the accounts have subsequently been removed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post usually contains a single sentence saying: \u201cHmm\u2026 there\u2019s definitely something interesting in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s accompanied by a blurred, fake still image of Hansard apparently playing his guitar. A \u2018play\u2019 button directs you to a fake article, purportedly by the Irish Independent, featuring the branding, header, and all the bells and whistles of the actual site.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Screengrab of the fake Irish Independent article.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Ireland learned of Glen Hansard\u2019s death on Tuesday morning, the tributes came fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not so fast \u2013 as Hansard\u2019s death was actually on a Wednesday in July, several weeks before this fake article dated Tuesday 8 September.<\/p>\n

The fake article goes on to detail various fake details about Hansard\u2019s will.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

The fake article then describes \u201caccess to an investment account holding \u20ac480,000\u2033, along with a screenshot of that fake bank account.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

The scam goes to attempt to convince people that Hansard had invested in a trading platform and had turned\u00a0\u20ac250 into \u20ac480,000.<\/p>\n

There is even a fake letter enclosed with the will, written to Hansard\u2019s wife Maire, saying that he wants her to invest in the same platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted you and Christy to have something that doesn\u2019t depend on me being alive and able to play,\u201d the fake letter reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust the system. I tested it for three years. It works.\u201d<\/p>\n

It then ends with a more \u2018Hansard like\u2019 appeal \u2013 \u201cAnd please, buy Christy a guitar. A cheap one. The cheap ones have more soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is even one last attempt to convince the reader that it is legitimate \u2013 saying that fake Irish Independent had conducted an independent investigation into the platform, finding it to be \u201clegitimate\u201d and \u201cfully operational\u201d in Ireland.<\/p>\n

These types of hoaxes have been around so long that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)\u00a0has already issued a public warning about them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And this isn\u2019t the first time something like this has happened<\/a>, using Glen Hansard specifically as bait.<\/p>\n

But these new scams are different in the fact that the frontman for the scam is someone who has passed away.<\/p>\n

As our FactCheck Editor Stephen McDermott writes, \u201cgiven how the methods of online scammers have evolved in recent years, it likely means we\u2019ve entered an era where even the dead are seen as fair game to con people out of money\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike other fake endorsements, Hansard isn\u2019t around to debunk it or sue social media platforms to stop them from hosting these posts (as people like Miche\u00e1l Martin and Denis O\u2019Brien have done); instead, that responsibility will likely fall to his grieving partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Another X post.\n<\/p>\n

With more scams popping up each day, the CCPC has reminded us<\/a> that \u201cscammers are skilled at appearing knowledgeable and trustworthy, with professional-looking websites and a carefully crafted proposal.\u201d<\/p>\n

They advise always checking if a firm is regulated on the Central Bank of Ireland register, and never investing in something you don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201c\u2018SORRY HE DID what?\u2019 The clause in Glen Hansard\u2019s will that silenced the room.\u201d\u00a0 Now, wouldn\u2019t that pique…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,275857,109247,61,40203,60,40204,58,9448,606],"class_list":["post-650436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-fake-posts","tag-glen-hansard","tag-ie","tag-investment-scam","tag-ireland","tag-scam","tag-social-media","tag-will","tag-x"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}