TWO CFRB HOSTS VICTIMS OF IDENTITY THEFT CNW CFRB Morning Man Bill Carroll and evening host Jim Richards have fallen prey to a Toronto man who has been impersonating them on internet chat rooms for the past three to four years. The identity theft came to light Tuesday night on the Jim Richards Show when the man confessed on air to communicating with people on internet chat rooms using the names of Bill Carroll and Jim Richards.
To convince people of who he was, the man said he sent photos of Bill's wife and children and those of Jim Richards to the people he was chatting to on line. In some cases the individual had a three year on line relationship as Bill Carroll with people from as far away as Wisconsin and Australia. The man said he had been impersonating Jim Richards for the past six months.
CFRB has passed on the man's identity to the police.
This morning Bill Carroll told his listeners that he has never participated in any internet chat rooms. He said he felt violated by the man's actions and the use of photos of his wife and children on the internet.
The man said that he downloaded photos of Bill, his wife and children and of Jim from the CFRB website. The station has now issued a policy about not allowing photos of family members of staff to appear on cfrb.com.
The man told Jim he only used the identity of the hosts to chat with people on the internet. He denied using their identities to secure money, favours or services from anyone or any business. He also denied meeting any of the people he chatted with on line in person.
The scam came to light when the women he communicated with on the internet started e-mailing Jim Richards and Bill Carroll at the radio station asking why they weren't returning their e-mails. |