Remember that guy who posed as Kanye West on Twitter a few weeks ago? All it took him was a post or two about how great he was ("just putting out G.O.O.D music ya know") and suddenly he had just about 8000 subscribers ready to lap up a whole slew of faux-Yeezy micro-comments. Heck, the imposter even pretended to pray for Kanye's late mother. Outrageous? yeah. Shocking? Not so much.

More these days than an overblown current affairs segment, online identity theft is becoming a serious issue. We've all recieved (and hopefully ignored) those emails from supposed Zimbabwean royalty asking for refundable cash donations, but as the internet grows and grows many have not even had the chance to be duped so obviously. These days, identity theft probably wont reveal itself in much less than an inflated credit card bill or even a wayward personal networking profile.

And thats where the crimes seem to be getting more and more malicious. With little more than a name and perhaps a blurry digital photograph, false Facebooks and misleading Myspaces can be made. The scary thing is that there is so little protection one can take lest some online pesk actually manages to masquerade as someone else.

Late last week it seemed that the musical identity thieves were at it again, this time posing as Jesse Keeler (better known in electronic circles as JFK)- one half of MSTRKRFT. With a fake email and an account on the highly popular Erol Alkan forums the imposter posed as Keeler and posted inviting people to download the long awaited MSTRKRFT album: 'Fist Of God', in its near entirety. In a climate where high profile album leaks are seemingly the norm for acts with a fanatic fan base (think the Whitest Boy Alive and Antony & The Johnsons in recent months), the surprise here was not the leak itself, but rather the method in which it was delivered.

In an online response delivered to blogs worldwide, many of whom duped into believeing the link was actually at the bequest of the 'KRFT boys, Jesse explained the risk artists take in delivering any sort of advance copy of a record- even to trusted sources. While 'Fist of God' is not due for release until March, promo copies had been sent to select industry-types as far back as September.

So the record leak was old news, but that it was delivered by someone masquearding as a well-respected musician has been much more surprising. Perhaps the imposter was a rabid fan keen to show off the fruits of his torrent-searching skills, or maybe he lamely sought the illusion of fame for a few blog-minutes. Most likely the motivation was a combination of either reasoning, but the fact remains that acts like this rip off artists' livelihood.

As JFK said in his already widley-circulated letter, album leaks are commonplace these days- but if you are a fan of the band then at least follow his own lead and buy the record when it does come out.

"I downloaded Human After All and the Justice album and got the physical product afterwards," he says. "I'm downloading a Diana Ross and Supremes discography torrent while im typing this."

"Glad you like the record." He finishes. "We dont make music so we can hide it away in an ivory tower.. we made that record for you and hopefully we can get all sorts of people who would never listen to this shit into it."

So MSTRKRFT have taken their latest album leak in their stride, stifling the forum-impersonator with a quick response and having offending links removed post-haste.

At the end of this, while people like the Kanye West impersonator may dissapear into the online woods some identity thieves may not be so lucky. "We're gonna find out who is responsible and take care of it our way," say those fiesty canadians in this latest case. "I got a hunch," says JFK

The imposter better watch out in then. He may just find himself on the other end of more than just a virtual talking to in this case.