Fake Facebook profile takes former Indian cricketer Sandeep Patil by surprise
Patil informed about the same to the BCCI, who suggested filing a police complaint.
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Fake accounts on social media platforms- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many others- have become a rather common phenomenon. This time around, it was Sandeep Patil, the former Indian cricketer, who got targeted. Patil, also a former national chairman of selectors, filed a complaint on Monday against an unknown person for creating his fake profile on Facebook.
He was at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana on Monday, August 19 when one of his friends informed him that someone had opened a Facebook account using his name. The person also asked for contact numbers from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and other famous personalities. Sandeep was clear cut in saying that he doesn’t use social media at all.
Perpetrator targets Sandeep Patil
“I don’t have Facebook, Twitter or other social media accounts. One of my friends called me recently to ask why I was asking for the contact numbers of my cricket colleagues over social media. That’s when I realized that someone was misusing my name,” the retired batsman was quoted as saying in an interview with mid-day.
Immediately after he got to know about the mishap, Patil informed the same to the world’s richest cricket board, which suggested filing a police complaint. On Sunday, August 25, Anand Yalvigi, another former cricketer, told Patil about the fake Facebook profile.
“I received a friend request from this Facebook account and found 13 people in the mutual friends list. As soon as I accepted the request, this person began chatting with me and asked me BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary’s contact. He then asked me the number of Dina ma’am (female veteran cricketer Diana Edulji),” Yalvigi mentioned.
“He also asked for my number which I gave but the way he was chatting with me was weird. I found it suspicious and immediately contacted Patil who confirmed it wasn’t him so I immediately blocked the account,” the veteran added.
It has also been learned that the accused contacted Gautam Bhimani, the renowned commentator, and asked him to give Sunil Gavaskar’s number. He was desperately insisting on the number and his restlessness alerted Bhimani.
An officer from Shivaji Park stated that an FIR against an unknown person has been registered under section 66 (C) (fraudulently using another person’s identity) of Information Technology Act.
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