A fake liberal influencer who went by the name of “Erica Marsh” on Twitter (now known as “X”) is revealed to have stolen the pictures of a conservative Florida mother. The real woman’s name is Courtney Ballesteros and she has absolutely no connection to the popular online persona. At the peak of “Erica Marsh”, the account had nearly 130,000 followers. The account was banned a few weeks ago.
Elected official Matt (who is ironically enough, from Florida) interacted with the most popular tweet from “Erica Marsh.” The tweet in question was about black people being unable to succeed in a merit-based system. A reporter from CNN asked Ballesteros to read the tweet and react to it on camera. She was speechless. Ballesteros is a conservative and voted for Trump in the most recent election.
An expert appeared on CNN to say that the person behind the account, who is still currently nameless, is most likely an expert and not at all an amateur. Countless scams such as “Erica Marsh” happen every day. And although these scams happen at a smaller level, sometimes the impact is much more tremendous.
Romance scams have bilked unsuspecting people out of millions, if not billions, of dollars. Horror stories of elderly people losing their homes to scammers using stolen pictures and fake identities exist all over the internet. The “Erica Marsh” scandal is simply a large-scale example of the type of scam that people fall for on a daily basis online.
SOURCES:
How a real Trump supporter unknowingly became the face of a fake liberal Twitter account | CNN Politics
Who is Erica Marsh? Woman tells CNN her photos used for fake account – Deseret News
Video: How a Florida mom unknowingly became the face of a fake Twitter account | CNN Business
Twitter suspends Erica Marsh account after questions are raised – The Washington Post
