Having been airlifted to a hospital in his home of Costa Rica last week for emergency operations on his spine, former Of Mice & Men vocalist Austin Carlile has warned fans not to send money to an impostor posing as the singer and targeting fans of the band in a new scam.
As Rock Feed reports, Carlile took to Instagram to make fans aware of the con, which involved a sponsored social media post under his name selling a T-shirt with Carlile’s face on it, claiming that 25% of profits would go to a suicide prevention charity.
Having warned fans away, Carlile was understandably pissed, adding “this is so spineless because I actually AM struggling with medical bills”.
Austin’s surgery is a consequence of his ongoing battle with Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 5000 people, and can be life-threatening if not properly treated. Despite his band’s success, the exorbitant cost of ongoing treatment is clearly causing a strain for Carlile, and incidents like this must only serve to make things even harder.
