Cole Thomas Allen (Image via Getty)

The name Cole Thomas Allen has suddenly gone viral online, but not for the reasons many posts are claiming. Hours after the incident at the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington, DC, stories began spreading in multiple social media posts linking him to college sports teams. At first glance these posts seemed genuine, but they were not true.A widely shared Facebook post also claimed that Allen had worked out with the University of Arizona basketball team and that his wife was also involved with the program. But there is no proof of this. The image used in the post contained obvious mistakes, including the wrong logo on the sweatshirt. That small thing exposed a bigger issue. Many of these posts appear to be created using artificial intelligence, designed to grab attention and push people to external websites.

cole tomas allen fake college game link as spread on facebook meta Viral scam posts related to the White House correspondents’ dinner incident have been removed

As more people began to look closely, a pattern became apparent. Several Facebook pages shared similar stories, each linking Cole Thomas Allen to different sports teams. Some posts also targeted NFL fans by linking them to the San Francisco 49ers. Others mentioned college teams without any actual evidence.These pages often had very few followers and mostly shared questionable or false news. The goal seemed simple. Each post includes a link that takes users to websites full of ads and AI-written content. According to a report by SFGate, these websites can earn thousands of dollars from clicks alone.Some users online immediately noticed the problem. “He’s attended 15 universities so far,” joked a comment below one post. That response revealed how far the false claims had spread and how unrealistic they had become.Social media company Meta has now started taking action. A spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the company is removing posts that break its rules. They also said that they are keeping an eye on how these scams are being created and shared. In another statement to SFGate, a spokesperson said, “It is deplorable when opportunists seek to take advantage of moments of tragedy.”Despite these efforts, many fake posts are still online. This makes it difficult for regular users to know what is real and what is not. The situation also seems familiar. A similar scam had surfaced months earlier following the death of Charlie Kirk, where false stories were also linked to sports teams to gain attention.For now, this case shows how quickly misinformation can spread, especially when serious news is mixed with popular topics like sports.