James Martin has issued a public warning to fans, following the creation of several scam accounts in his name. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the TV chef shared "a few important words" about the ongoing situation, as well as photos of the latest fake accounts.
"My team and I are seeing increasing numbers of fake 'James Martin' accounts, web pages and alleged management/PR Manager accounts," he began.
"As I have posted before…neither my management team or me will ever ask you to follow a 'private fans page', target you with requests via comments you leave on posts, ask you to transfer money, send personal information or buy vouchers etc."
© ShutterstockJames concluded: "Please only follow my official accounts. My meta accounts have blue ticks and you can check links to all my official accounts via the social media links shown at the bottom of my website.
"Please report and block any accounts or pages with suspicious posts, comments or direct messaging activity. Above all, stay safe and please do not give personal information to accounts like these."
Shortly after posting, James was inundated with messages of thanks from fans. Meanwhile, celebrity chef Raymond Blanc weighed in on the problem, writing "Hand in hand with @jamesmartinchef here. It's rife at the moment. Please be vigorous."
It's not the first time that James has been forced to warn his followers. In February 2023, the 51-year-old revealed that a fake account had been set up, with the user pretending to be his personal assistant manager.
“Please do not follow this account, or give out personal or financial details to it. It is not associated with me at all. @jamesmartinchef is my only Instagram account and is verified with a blue tick, as are all my social media accounts,” he clarified. “Stay safe all.”
James isn't the only celebrity contending with the rise of scam right now. Just last week, The Grand Tour's James May took to X (formerly known as Twitter), writing: "I realise that my face has appeared in a number of scam posts about crypto currencies and retirement planning.
© Photo: Getty Images"It's all [expletive], obviously, but, since I'm here, my genuine financial advice is to say '[expletive] to it', and go to the pub."
James noted: "It seems @JeremyClarkson is also appearing in these scam ads. He, too, is not really dispensing fiscal advice. And shouldn't.
"Now @RichardHammond is also supposedly at it. There's grifting, and then there's stretching credibility to the point where it snaps, flies back, and hits you in the plums."
