Local hairdresser account posting charity and giveaway 'scams'

The Facebook profile, which goes by the name ‘Amy Louise Hair’, has been accused of being a scammer for posting 'fake' competitions, as well as sharing photos of children from The Little Princess Trust to post in a private Facebook group, claiming to have cut their hair.

This article is about the fake 'Amy Louise Hair' profile and not the real Amy Louise, also from Accrington which appears as 'Amy Louise' (@amylouisehairsalon) on Facebook.

The hairdresser shared a photo in the group of a girl, changing her name from ‘Lilly’ which is how is appears on the Little Princess Trust's official gallery - a section on the charity’s website featuring before and after photos of charity haircuts - to ‘Lucy’ in April.

The account also posted photos of another girl in the Facebook group claiming to have cut ‘Lola’s' hair when the charity’s website displays the name as Annabelle.

Amy Louise Hair’s posts receive hundreds of likes and comments directed towards the generous girls who braved the chop.

The Little Princess Trust stated it gallery is made up of a small team, therefore filtering through details of the mass supporters would be a timely process.

Responding to the situation, Phil Brace, chief executive of The Little Princess Trust, said: “Our Supporters’ Gallery is a place where we celebrate all those who help us provide wigs, free of charge, to children and young people who have lost their own hair due to cancer treatment and other conditions such as Alopecia.

“We can only provide our service thanks to our fantastic supporters and that is why we proudly created a space on our website to recognise the hard work and generous efforts of so many incredible people.

“We always ask for consent from supporters and parents to publish the images before we celebrate their achievements on our public forum – and trust that anyone viewing our website does so in a respectful and lawful manner.”

Various posts shared by the account contradict with the Little Princess Trust gallery in terms of location and dates of when the charity haircuts took place.

Hair competition from April 2020. Photo: Facebook

The person behind the hairdresser profile also frequently posts holiday competitions and free salon treatment giveaways.

However, a woman who was the winner of a competition in 2020, said: “She said she was going to do a lot of things but didn’t.

"I won the competition, but she never replied to me, she’s a fake person as well a fake hairdresser, too.

"She even posted a Halloween makeup look saying it was her own but was actually taken from Google.”

Holiday competition from February. Photo: Facebook

Another woman from the area was chosen as the winner for a holiday giveaway in February, with Amy Louise Hair saying: “You will be staying in a luxury swim up room with half board dining,” but the winner said after back and forth messaging about how to claim her holiday, she hasn’t received the prize.

Giveaway scams are common, and the tactic tends to be carried out through an account that impersonates a specific brand, celebrity, band, or business.

The potential victims of the scams are then asked to share personal details, fill out a survey or visit a malicious website and the unfortunate few that do will lose sensitive information or in some cases, money.

Amy Louise Hair, however, doesn’t seem to be taking money from people so it is unclear why the person is posting photos of other people’s charity haircuts and fake giveaways.

The person running the account has been contacted for comment but did not respond.

Despite the account claiming to be a local hairdresser, there are no contact details available online and to book a hair appointment the profile states you have to message on Facebook but weeks after messaging, has not yet replied.