Victim of Dublin homophobic attack blasts fake fundraising account

Evan Somers warned his followers of the scam, saying “Do not send any money to anyone, I will not be looking for any money at any stage.”

Ireland . Written by Alice Linehan.

Evan Somers, the victim of a fake fundraising scam.
Image: Instagram: @sevan11_

Following a horrific homophobic attack in Dublin last weekend, a fake fundraising account appeared on Twitter posing as the victim and appealing for money. The account used the name and photo of the victim, Evan Somers, who was verbally and physically assaulted on Dame Street in the early hours of Sunday, April 10.

The fraudulent account posted a tweet in the hopes of scamming generous donors wishing to help with Evan’s recovery costs. It read: “If you’d like to help with any of the expenses, I’ve got Cashapp and Apple pay. Currently trying to get back into my Paypal and Venmo. Let me once you’ve sent anything. Thank You.” The scammer also shared details of a Cashapp account and iCloud email address.

On Tuesday afternoon, once Somers caught wind of the fake fundraising attempt, he took to his own Twitter account to warn his followers, tweeting: “This sick person is trying to scam people into sending them money by pretending to be me.

Do not send any money to anyone, I will not be looking for any money at any stage and all communication will come from this account in general.”

The 23-year-old initially took to Twitter to describe the homophobic assault he was victim to on Sunday. He stated: “Last night a stranger called me a f****t before beating the s**t out of me. He left me with a fractured eye socket, 2 fractures in my ankle, a dislocation in my ankle & some other minor injuries.”

Evan remained in hospital on Tuesday after undergoing surgery as a result of his injuries.

The LGBTQ+ community was shaken by the events which took place near The George and Gay Spar, with many taking to social media to express their solidarity. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar expressed his views, tweeting: “Shocked and appalled that an assault of this nature occurred in our capital city.”

After receiving an outcry of support, Evan once again returned to Twitter to say, “Really feeling the love right now, thanks everyone […] I appreciate each and every one of you, I feel a lot less alone right now and my faith in humanity is just a little bit restored”.

In a separate statement to GCN, he said: “Love always wins and we have a long way to go until we are well and truly equal. What happened to me could happen to any of your LGBTQ+ family or friends so it’s important to be safe but also continue to always be proud.”

© 2022 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.

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