Beccy Cole appears to have become the latest victim of AI, with the country musician taking to social media to share a wild story about being the subject of a catfishing scam.
Cole told fans of her recent incident in a six-part series of videos shared last week, in which she recounted how a female fan – referred to as “Lady Fanny from Omaha” – got in contact with her management, informing them she was “just wondering if Rebecca is going to contact me”.
As Cole’s management team began corresponding with Lady Fanny to inform her that she hadn’t in fact been chatting to the musician (who, for one thing, doesn’t refer to herself as Rebecca), Lady Fanny doubles down, revealing they had been communicating via Google Chat, and providing photos which had been sent to her as proof.
Cole herself points out these images had been lifted from her personal Facebook page, and recalls how her team apologised to Lady Fanny for any distress that this information may have caused her, noting that such incidents are a daily occurrence.
“I've been there before, I've been catfished,” Cole explains. “That's a whole other story, but I know that people using my name have catfished others. They've asked for money, they've asked for sex.
“Secondly, saying that it's a daily occurrence, of course. I have had so many people get in contact thinking that they were talking to Beccy Cole. I've had people fake cancer, I've had people fake accidents and say they're contacting me from hospital just to get attention.
“So I know how this works, and I watch a lot of Catfish; I quite like that show,” she adds.
However, Lady Fanny only continues, sharing more images and refusing to believe that she has not in fact been chatting to Cole. However, it gets to a bizarre point when Lady Fanny offers up an image which had been sent as ostensible proof – one which Cole herself claims is AI-generated.
“That's not my teeth, those aren't my ears,” she explains. “There's a gold earring in there – I never wear gold – and it's not my skin. That's not really even my nose, that's not my hair.
“So that's really scary. AI has made Lady Fanny of Omaha believe that she has exclusive photo of Beccy Cole.”
Ultimately, the story ends up continuing without ever coming toward a satisfying conclusion. While Lady Fanny also claims that Cole's uncles have sent her messages ("I'm sorry, but if they can make a fake Beccy, can they not make a fake Beccy's uncle?"), any attempts to help her met with increasing hostility and anger, with Cole eventually deciding to share her story as a way of explaining the situation and warning any other fans of being potentially caught up in a similar experience.
“Please be careful and know that you're not talking to a real person,” she warns Lady Fanny. “Be careful out there.
“I'm sending this out there. If anybody else thinks that they are engaged with me or another singer-songwriter, country artist for that matter, just have a think about it and get it verified,” she adds. “And when you do get it verified through the proper channels, believe them.”
Of course, Cole isn’t the only artist to have been the victim of AI-generated forgery. Just last month, Kate Ceberano was the subject of a fake tribute to late actor Sam Neill, with a faked image of her crying accompanying a real tribute she shared to the screen icon.
In August 2025, Crowded House issued a warning for fans not to be fooled by a video in which a fake version of Neil Finn spruiked a treatment for men suffering from erectile dysfunction.
“We're not sure where this came from but please don't be fooled,” they pleaded, helpfully adding, “Neil's never had trouble with erections.”
View Beccy Cole’s full series of videos on her social media pages.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
