Singer Daniel O'Donnell warns fans not to be duped by Facebook 'imposter' claiming to be him

SINGER Daniel O'Donnell is warning his legion of fans not to to be duped by people claiming to be him on social media.

The Donegal native says he does not interact with people on social media and that if people do receive messages or 'friend requests they will never be from him.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline he said the issue has come to light in recent weeks - following the death of his mother-in-law Marion.

"I'm not a great social media person but I have a Facebook page that usually is run by the record company - Majella's mother passed away and we announced her death (on Facebook)," he told Katie Hannon.

"Obviously, people kindly put up a lot of messages of sympathy," he added.

Daniel says a fake Facebook profile was subsequently set up that claimed to be him.

"It was me replying to these people who were sending messages of sympathy and engaging with them. These people (fraudsters) never sleep. It doesn't matter what the situation is - be it sad or happy or difficult or whatever, they are there trying to take advantage of people," he added.

While the fake profile did not request anything, Daniel says anybody who did receive messages should be cautious. 

"They weren't asking for anything other than then they were trying to engage with people and you don't know what that leads to - the engagement is the first step. When they sent a message of sympathy to Majella, my family and herself - it looked like I was writing back which I wasn't," he stressed.

Daniel is appealing to his fans to not let their guard down and to be aware that he is not active on social media other than for promotional and professional reasons.

"I never answer anybody on Facebook. don't answer me at all. Don't be caught - if somebody is writing to you make sure it is them - even if it's somebody you know, call them up and ask them did you send me a message?" he said.