By James Wood

City councillor shutting down old social media account after impersonation attempt

May 23, 2017 | 11:43 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Bill Cocks is having an identity problem.

Cocks, a retired lawyer who currently serves on Medicine Hat city council, was the victim of an identity theft, with his Facebook account appearing to be duplicated.

The user of the account would send messages soliciting money to other Facebook users. It is unclear as to whether or not any members of the community ended up handing over funds.

Reached on Tuesday, Cocks said he had been aware of the identity issue.

“I’m aware through friends, both in the Facebook sense and personal sense, that something is going on there, somebody has hacked into that account and is talking to people,” said Cocks.

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“They thought they were talking to me, and then they realized that they weren’t.”

He indicated he had been aiming to “consolidate” his social media profiles, after ceasing to use the impacted account in the summer of 2016.

“I meant to delete it a while ago, I just need to get that done,” said Cocks.

Cocks said he wasn’t familiar with the messages being sent by the rogue account, and plans to close his former Facebook profile down in the wake of the apparent duplication.

“Facebook is a bit of a double edged sword,” said Cocks.

“It’s good in one way, and not so good in other ways. You put a bunch of personal stuff out there, and if people hack into it, it can cause problems.”

Cocks says he does not plan to call police about the apparant duplication of his account.