Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has an impersonator — on Twitter. Someone created a Twitter profile under Bing’s name, uploaded a photo of the former basketball star, and started tweeting. The faker frequently tweeted about current city events and until recently, journalists believed the site reflected Bing’s personal opinion and quoted the tweets in stories.

The impostor tricked journalists at The Detroit News, MLive.com, our own MichiganMessenger.com and others.

The Detroit News reported the rogue site last week. A spokesperson for Bing told The News last Thursday that Bing is working to have the site shut down and may even turn to the city’s law department for help.

The impostor is knowledgeable about city business so when Bing would make an announcement, his fake twitter page was updated accordingly. With tweets like “A Cobo Hall deal is really close!” and “I think it would be smart for the state to give my office control over Detroit Public Schools…” the site was entertaining, often accurate and updated frequently.

Bing’s real Twitter page has posted three updates since his victory in the May 5 special election.

At least now we know the 65-year-old Detroit Mayor is not really a Twitter fanatic.