The rise of online scams has become a growing concern, with cybercriminals exploiting advanced technologies to deceive users. Even the golfers and golf influencers are not spared from it. Something similar happened to Hailey Ostrom as well, and she took the liberty to address it to the fans. She told everyone that she got a message on Monday from one of the courses she plays that someone had come in and had been looking for her, and kept on saying that she asked him to contact her.

Ostrom could not recognize him. Initially, she did not understand the gravity of the situation and thought it would be one of her fans, and she let it go. However, the next day, that man showed up at her house. She said, “It was a very scary situation for me and I have never had anything like that happen before.” Being a public figure, most of her whereabouts are accessible online. The man took advantage of his position and took out every bit of information about her. It turns out that man had been messaging a fake Hailey Ostrom page.

He sent $50,000 to that account and that person stopped messaging him, and of course that got him furious. That was when he decided to appear in front of her house. She was so scared that she even messaged her parents to call the cops. Ostrom shared that the man left on his own free will. One of many people supporting the golf influencer was the OG Spiranac. Having faced something similar, Paige Spiranac knows how scary this can be. In October 2023, she had to deal with a 32-year-old fan, identifying as Eric, who became obsessed with her to the point of becoming a stalker. Eric has also stalked actress Olivia Wilde. 

To tackle that problem, the former professional golfer filed a restraining order in a Los Angeles court in June and was successful. She got a three-year restraining order. Sharing her concerns on the post, she commented, “I don’t know how many restraining orders or events like this need to happen before the platforms start taking this seriously.”

Many public figures shared their concerns. Karin Hart, who is also an influencer with over 200k followers on Instagram made a plea. She wrote, “I’m so sorry this happened to you and glad you’re ok. @instagram needs to do a better job of deleting spam accounts and identity verification.” While Lauren Thompson, who used to work with the Golf Channel shared her relief at Ostrom being safe. She wrote, “CRAZY!!! So so glad you’re ok!!”

Ostrom then clarified that she would never message her fans from different accounts, or ask them to follow her anywhere else. She also shared that she only has this official account, and is planning something in the coming week to tackle this issue. The golf influencer reports man fake accounts daily, but they are not taken down, she shared.

Sadly, scammers are everywhere, and Hailey Ostrom is not the only one who was impersonated by fraudsters. At first, it was Lexi Thompson, who became a victim of such an incident after Paige Spiranac. But it did not stop with her.

This English golfer warned the golf community in 2024

Earlier in December, even Charley Hull warned her fans about similar scams online. This was the third time she tried to save her fans from getting scammed on social media with her name. With an account in Hull’s name, the fraudster asked fans to pay them, and in return, they would get a meet and greet with her. 

“I mentioned this a few weeks ago but after an incident at a tournament recently, I feel the need to speak out again. I will never ask for money or gift cards in exchange for meet and greets or fan club membership. These clubs are fake and run by scammers. My team and I only use my official social media accounts, @charley.hull (Instagram) and @hullcharley (X) at ALL times, there are no exceptions. I am not on TikTok. There are SO many fake accounts out there claiming to be me, if you are contacted by them please please report it. Let’s all stick together so we can beat the scammers.”

There is no end to online fraud! In the world of fast-growing internet, please ensure that you think twice before you do something online. Stay aware, and stay safe!