TO: Asheville Running Facebook Group SUBJECT: Matt Hayes is a Real Person FROM: Asheville Running Collective Detective Squad You may have noticed that the now infamous running store thread has been deleted. This action was not taken by the moderators of this page. Rather, it was removed by Facebook after the “Matt Hayes” facebook account was taken down. Let it be known: Matt Hayes IS a real person. Matt Hayes enjoys the outdoors. Matt Hayes is an urban planner. Matt Hayes lives in North Carolina. However, Matt Hayes does NOT live in Asheville. Matt Hayes does not use facebook. Matt Hayes did NOT post to the Asheville Running group to ask what running store he should check out. When reached by phone and email by Asheville Running Collective detectives, the real Matt Hayes was confused and startled to realize that someone had stolen his identity to create a fake facebook profile to ask about running stores in Asheville. He has since reached out to Facebook and the fake profile has been removed. As of this moment, the identity of the culprit is unknown. Detectives are still working tirelessly to crack the case. Here is what we do know (photos in comments): - A fake profile using the name Matt Hayes with a profile photo of the real Matt Hayes was created in May of 2014 (creep factor = 9). (Exhibit A) - Fake Matt Hayes profile include likes to various bands, TV shows, and several Asheville-area breweries (well played, Fake Matt Hayes). - Fake Matt Hayes posted the following message on the Asheville Running - Facebook page (seems innocent enough): (Exhibit B) -100+ replies later - various members of the running community plugged their favorite stores, and had side arguments, discussions, jokes, and trash talk. - Within all of these comments, there was no follow-up from Matt Hayes (first sign of trickery). Everyone wanted to know - Did Matt Hayes ever get “truly fitted”? Was he intimidated? Was he informed on stack heights, EVA densities, etc? Did he get the shoes for cheap? This is when the investigation into Fake Matt Hayes began. The investigation: - Fake Matt Hayes profile was found to include NO mutual friends of Scott Williams (second sign of a possible fake). - A reverse google image search of Fake Matt Hayes’ cover photo revealed it to be a stock photo from a Yosemite camping website (first break in the case! It’s a fake!). - Several businesses and schools saw a significant drop in productivity for two days while google searches were performed to identify the real Matt Hayes and find contact information. - First contact with Real Matt Hayes was made via a phone call to his place of employment. Unfortunately, this call ended abruptly when the investigating detective got nervous and hung up when Real Matt Hayes answered the phone (Nerves Factor = Jr. High). - A second detective soon reached Real Matt Hayes via email and obtained confirmation that Fake Matt Hayes was indeed… fake. (Exhibit C) - Real Matt Hayes was freaked out that someone would steal his identity for these purposes (running store advice), but stated that he had no leads on possible suspects. - Real Matt Hayes contacted Facebook to request the fake account be removed. - Fake Matt Hayes profile is removed (by Facebook or culprit) and FB post & comment thread is removed as a result. - Investigations continue. Conclusions on Case - An unknown subject created a fake Facebook profile using the stolen identity of a real person (bizarre and creepy). - Unknown subject posted an simple question to Asheville Running page seeking opinions on running stores. - Prevailing theory - unknown subject posted to Asheville Running with the intent of drumming up support or interest in one store over the others. - Public accusations will not be made without hard evidence, but the community is welcome to draw their own conclusions.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 00:07:01 +0000
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