Wyoming country music star Chancey Williams was playing at a private event last year when someone showed up with tickets she had purchased.
An event manager asked the country singer if he had sold tickets for the private event.
Williams said no.
The ticket holder was turned away, unable to see Williams perform as she had hoped. She had no way to get a refund or even know where her money for the fake ticket had gone.
As Williams, one of Wyoming’s own country singers, has risen in stature, going from local star to national performer, scams have proliferated trying to take advantage of his fame.
They include ticket scams, invitations to donate to a so-called charity, or even Williams professing a secret love.
If you receive a direct message from Williams think twice before you reply.
Williams publicly announced on social media again this week that multiple fake accounts are being created across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook claiming to be him. He urged anyone who receives messages asking for money or claiming he wants a romantic relationship with him to block and report the imposters.
“We’ve put these posts up to warn the fans,” Williams told Cowboy State Daily in a phone interview. These scammers will make a fake page and start talking to them like they’re me. Then, they ask for money.
“We will never message you on social media,” Williams said. “It seems really hard to convince people [of that]. And it seems like it’s getting worse and worse.”
This week’s post was not the first time Williams warned his fans about fake pages and imposters. He posts about once a year, advising his fans to be vigilant about scammers, he said. But with AI becoming more ubiquitous and powerful, the number of fake accounts — and the scams they entail — seem to be increasing.
“We report these fake pages daily,” Williams told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s anywhere from people asking for money or free tickets or romantic relationships. You can’t really stay ahead of it. All you can do is tell the fans, ‘Don’t send anybody any money.’”
Manipulated Videos
In one video manipulated with AI, Williams appears to address a woman by name. An image purporting to be him says:
“Hi, Katie. I’m sorry about what happened. You know I have been honest from the beginning and would never lie to you. I have my reputation and career to protect.
I want you to know this is really me. It’s possible you get texts from these imposters, but they only pretend to be me.
"Other celebrities have these same experiences but I know how you feel. I’m only trying to prove to you that I’m the real Chancey Williams.”
Another video shows what appears to be Williams thanking his fans for voting for his song, “The Ballad of Uncle Don” on CMT.com and encourages people to vote as many times as they want.
The video is fake, although Williams’ song stayed at CMT’s 12 pack series No. 1 slot for five consecutive weeks.
Believable Messages
The scariest part about these scams, Williams said, is that the scammers “make it a little bit believable.
“I think this is just a tipping point for a lot of people in the public eye,” he said, “what to believe and what not to believe. If you halfway want to believe it, you will.”
Williams said he especially worries for people in the older generations, who may buy into scams easier with the latest technology that makes it difficult to spot a fake post from a real one.
The battle is also two-sided. While Williams and his team continually work to report fake pages, they often receive messages from social media platforms saying the fake posts do not violate community guidelines.
Yet when Williams tries to post his own music on the sites, he sometimes receives the message that he is not allowed to share the music because the music is copyrighted.
“This is my music,” he said. “These guys won’t take down these fake pages of me, and they won’t let me post my music because it’s copyrighted.”
The ordeal continues to be frustrating, but Williams chalks it up “the world we live in.
This week’s announcement on Williams’ social media pages plainly lays out the truth, calling the scams “insanely creative.
“Chancey doesn’t DM fans, but imposters do,” the announcement reads.
“If ‘Chancey’ in your DMs, professing his secret love … no, he isn’t. We love our fans, just not like that.
The announcement also lists Williams’ verified social media accounts:
Instagram: @chanceywilliamsybb
Facebook: /chanceywilliamsybb
TikTok: @chanceyw
“Obviously our fans are what make us, so we like to protect them,” he said.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
