People who follow the career of Daniel O’Donnell on social media would have been terrified over the last few days.

Rumours circulated online that the famous Irish singer was unwell, while scammers pretending to be him messaged fans asking for financial help.

“One went up as if it was me writing, and then the other one went up as if it was Margaret, my sister, writing about me,” Daniel told The Hard Shoulder.

“The others that have been sort of just people saying that they’re me and, say there was a post put up on our Faceboook page about me going to do a show or me going to do something, then almost immediately there would be a fake page put up as if it was me answering.

“Then saying, 'If you want a meet and greet, or if you want this or if you want that, private message me if you want to talk to me privately'.

“It’s just really to get hold of people and once I think they get them away from that site, they can converse with you in a different way or a different place.”

Daniel warned fans to never give money to someone claiming to be him, and said he never arranges or charges for meet and greets after shows.

Main image: Daniel O'Donnell and The Hard Shoulder host Kieran Cuddihy in Newstalk studios. Picture by: Newstalk