A9's Identity Theft on SNS/Social Media Sparks #ShownotShou Campaign

There have been fake accounts of Show, Tora, and Saga of A9 coming up across Instagram, Youtube, and LINE. Of course, as in any fandom, there are several "roleplaying accounts", but this situation, in particular, has gotten out of hand because the real Instagram accounts of Show and Tora were deleted by Instagram offices. Two of the fake accounts on Instagram (@a9_shou, @a9_tora) are listed as "private" and @a9_saga is public. They continue to be active since they have claimed to be real accounts from the members.

According to Show, these accounts have been negatively affecting A9 and DIAWOLF's reputation and has since demanded that his account be unfrozen and given a verified badge. These fake accounts have been known to harass fans by cursing them out, asking for money, or intimately interacting over LINE. Yesterday, Show finally brought the situation to everyone's attention by tweeting the following:

The identity theft a9_shou has continuously harassed my fans, and I wish to have my real account, show_a9dw unfrozen with an official badge. Instagram, I pray that you take action against this ongoing issue.

— Show A9 DW (@SW_A9) 2018年2月3日

Additionally, A9's staff addressed the issue of identity theft via an official statement by warning that these accounts are not really the band's, and they absolutely do not have LINE ID's that they would publicly share nor would they ever ask individual fans for money. You can read their statement below:

Thank you for always supporting A9. We’d like to take a moment to talk about  social media (social networking sites) the members are involved in.
Only the sites listed here (the band's website) are official. There are, however, third party sites, made up by individuals who say ‘this is a secret, this is my private account,’ but they have no such thing.
They absolutely do not have private LINE IDs.
There have been reports that these accounts have asked for money
The members of A9 would never do such a thing; and we urge you not to follow such sites/accounts as there’s a possibility of getting caught up in criminal activity.
In addition to this, we cannot assume responsibility for any trouble caused by these matters.
Thanks for your consideration/continued support,
A9 Staff

The original statement can be through the following tweet:

【メンバーSNSについて】
A9各メンバーが行っているSNSについて皆様へお願いです。
下記リンクよりご一読くださいませ。https://t.co/mRWXqj7WV0

— A9_OFFICIAL (@a9_official) 2018年2月3日

Ever since Show's tweet, fans have started to take action, calling out the fake accounts. Unfortunately, these fans only experienced further verbal harassment by these accounts. As the situation continues to unravel, the hashtag #Shownotshou has been used to spread the word as fans contact Instagram on behalf of A9 and DIAWOLF. Screenshots of interactions with these fake accounts have been uploaded to Twitter, such as the following listed below. (Courtesy of @VelesseinRose on Twitter)

In response, @a9_shou and @a9_tora stated that Show claimed his private account was fake because he wanted to avoid cyberbullying. While cyberbullying is a serious matter, identity theft is a form of cyberbullying and their reason is seen as hypocritical as they have also been harassing fans.

Below are the fake accounts, which fans have urged others to block and report in the #ShownotShou campaign (you can click to view the accounts).

Fake Accounts:

And these are the member's real/known social media accounts. They are listed on A9's HP.
Note: Show and Tora's Instagram accounts have been frozen by the company, and therefore are struck-through.

■ 将 / SHOW
Twitter→https://twitter.com/SW_A9
Instagram→https://www.instagram.com/show_a9dw (Frozen)

■ ヒロト / HIROTO
Twitter→ https://twitter.com/hrt_a9
Instagram→ https://www.instagram.com/hiroto_a9/

■ 虎 / TORA
Twitter→ https://twitter.com/tora9amano
Instagram→https://www.instagram.com/tora_a9 (Frozen)

■ 沙我 /SAGA
Twitter→ https://twitter.com/saga_a9
Instagram→本人は未開設

■ Nao
Twitter→ https://twitter.com/nao_a9
Amebaブログ→http://ameblo.jp/nao-a9/


You can help Show and Tora get their accounts back by reporting the fake accounts and contacting Instagram. If you have the members added on LINE, it is recommended that you remove the accounts immediately.

Source: Show's official Twitter, A9's Official Twitter, A9 HP,
Translations by Rob
Special thanks to @VelesseinRose on Twitter for providing screenshots!

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