Al Roker has something important to share with fans, and folks will want to pay attention to his warning.
On March 26, the Today show host filmed a segment that revealed a surprise scenario he unknowingly found himself a part of. Al explained on the air how a friend saw an ad of Al promoting a blood pressure device to help with hypertension (a.k.a. high blood pressure), and forwarded him the link for it. While that normally wouldn’t have caused an issue, Al disclosed a major twist: he’s never been diagnosed with hypertension, and most certainly didn’t do an ad for the product.
As it turned out, Al’s image was used as part of a scam. His likeness was used in a video that used language and audio which sounded legitimate to those watching it, and he was shocked by what he had witnessed.
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“I see and hear myself talking about having a couple of heart attacks,” he stated about the snafu in the video posted on Instagram. “I don’t have hypertension! … It’s frightening. You know, we used to say ‘Seeing is believing.’ Well, that’s kind of out the window now.”
Given how fans are aware how Al’s health has wavered over the years, they couldn’t help but get fired up about his image being stolen for a medical condition he doesn’t have.
“I’m gonna be sick … DON’T YOU DARE DO THIS TO HIM,” one person wrote in the Instagram comments. “Oh no I really sat there and listened to the whole video. I am so upset,” another agreed. “Wow. This is awful,” a different follower added.
Even though Al was unfortunately part of a scenario like this, it brings to the forefront how internet users need to be careful when going online. Luckily, there are some ways folks can stay safe on the internet — and they’re easier to do than most may think.
“Never take what you see as proof unless posted and used by the actual person,” says Alec Scherma, a test engineer at the Good Housekeeping Institute. “This day and age, you really have to pay attention, because fake news is a real thing now. Even with all this, you can still get scammed.”
As for what Alec recommends people do to protect themselves on the internet, he says users should be aware of the types of phishing that are out there. Additionally, people should make sure they don’t have the same password across things in case of a scam and verify that numbers and websites are the correct ones before calling or inputting information. After all, places that handle confidential information (whether it’s a bank, or something similar) are never going to call out of the blue to get information they can access in their databases.
