Several leading Irish figures have been impersonated on Facebook by a fraudster.

Author John Banville, Irish Times editor Geraldine Kennedy, celebrity chef Rachel Allen  and journalist Fintan O’Toole are among those who have had their identities stolen.

Banville stated he found it “quite creepy” and that he wants Facebook to take it down right away.

The Facebook impersonator has granted an interview to the Sunday Tribune newspaper and has stated that his intention is to “skewer and embarrass” the individuals concerned.

“I can’t tell you who I am because I’m in the writing game” he said, vowing to continue. “No matter what page is taken down I save everything by sending compilations from one email to another.”

He stated his aim was to embarrass those well known people.

Celebrity chef Rachel Allen also expressed outrage that her Facebook identity had been stolen, as did historian Diarmuid Ferriter, who has also had to deal with a fake persona on the site.

Facebook said it was now looking into taking down the offending pages.

“We will look into taking those down,” a spokesman said.