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@HaltonEMS Twitter account phony: paramedic chief by Michael Gregory Oakville Beaver Staff 29 | Thursday, December 18, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com A Twitter profile using the Halton Region paramedics' logo and claiming to be the socalled `official' account of local EMS was a phony, the Region and its paramedic chief said The @HaltonEMS account boasted 250 followers a week after being created Dec. 4. It was dormant, however, since Thursday after sending out 37 tweets in its first week. The profile was deleted on Tuesday night a few hours after the Oakville Beaver published this story on its website. On Friday, Halton Region Paramedic Chief Greg Sage wrote on Twitter that his and the Region's account are the "official voice" of local paramedics. The chief, however, did not allude to the existence of the bogus account. Responding to a follow-up tweet from the Beaver a few minutes later, asking whether the @HaltonEMS was also a trusted Twitter account, Sage said "that is a phony account impersonating #HaltonParamedics." Sage was unavailable for comment on Monday but Region spokesperson Andrea Montgomery confirmed the information to the Beaver. "We became aware of that Twitter account last week and obviously it's not the official account for paramedic services," Montgomery said. "We can't control who does what on Twitter and who creates an account... all we can say is to our followers, and anybody else, is that our accounts are Greg's and also the Region of Halton." The fake account prompted the Region to post on its website that the only account to be trusted are @RegionofHalton and @ ChiefGSage. "That's where people are going to find the factual, and up-to-date and accurate information... not off that other one," Montgomery said. "We just want to reinforce that message that this (@HaltonEMS) is not an official site." A private message sent to the @HaltonEMS Twitter account on Friday asking who was behind the profile was not returned. The account boasted followers, including municipalities, one hospital in Halton, media, and even other paramedic services, who all appear to have been misled. Much of the information sent by @ HaltonEMS was re-tweets from members of the media, the majority of which are freelancers, who have tagged the account in their Twitter posts. Others tweets suggested someone within the paramedic services could be behind the account. "We are on full alert today as snow moves through the Halton Region," @HaltonEMS tweeted on Dec. 11. A reply on Twitter sent later that day was in response to a member of the public thanking paramedics and Burlington Fire for their professionalism on an emergency call. "You're welcome! We try our very best to respond as fast as possible," @HaltonEMS said. Halton police said there is no legal basis for having the account taken down. According to Twitter rules and the Twitter Impersonation Policy, the Region could have applied to have the profile removed. "Companies and businesses should report accounts misusing their trademarks or brand by filing a complaint under our Trademark A screen capture of the @HaltonEMS Twitter page shows that it claims to be the `official' account of local paramedic services. Halton Region and its paramedics chief disagrees. | screen capture Policy," a section on Twitter's website about reporting impersonation accounts reads. That Trademark Policy clarifies that an account's profile should not use a trademark logo and the bio needs to "include a statement to distinguish it from the real company, such as `Unofficial Account,' `Fan Account,' or `Not affiliated with...." Further to the policy, Twitter says "the account should not, through private or public communication with other users, try to deceive or mislead others about your identity." Happy Holidays from... Oakville Denture Centre Free Parking Have a safe and healthy holiday season and we look forward to seeing you in the new year! 905-849-8646 · 1276 A Cornwall Road Oakville www.aptmedspa.com 358 Reynolds St. , Suite #11, Oakville