MySpace celebrity impostors exposed

NEW YORK, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- The social networking Web site, MySpace.com, has 100 million members, including celebrities and a few fakes, but two Internet sleuths are separating them out.

U.S. poet Bryant McGill, 36, discovered a MySpace profile for an author he recognized as an impostor, The Wall Street Journal reported.

MySpace rules forbid impostors, but has no verification procedures. Users must only provide an e-mail address, name, gender, birth date and password.

McGill and comedian Jim Karol decided to set their own MySpace page called "100% Verified Celebs and MySpace Personalities," which checks out profiles at no cost.

Individuals can apply to McGill and Karol for a seal of approval. They are then quizzed to see how easily they can answer relevant questions.

The duo has verified 167 celebs so far, from actor Gary Busey to Cher, winner of the television reality show, "Beauty and the Geek."

"I am getting obsessed with figuring out who is real and who is fake," Karol said.

Some celebrities don't worry about impostors. "Fan sites help promote the show virally," TV talk host Carson Daly said. His official MySpace profile has 29,000 friends.

Karol and McGill can be reached at myspace.com/bryantmcgill or myspace.com/ jimkarol.