Additional Director General of Police for Cyber Crime Wing in Tamil Nadu, Sandeep Mittal, has a warning for the users of the microblogging site X (earlier Twitter). In a post shared on the social media platform, Mittal revealed that fake news clippings and advertisements featuring singer Shreya Ghoshal are circulating on X. The cybercrime official also cautioned that these fake posts acting as “traps” are designed to lure the public. Mittal also noted that these deceptive posts use sensational headlines, misleading website links, and falsely display logos of legitimate news publications, including The Indian Express, to appear credible. He specifically pointed out that verified X accounts with a small number of followers (10 to 15) are promoting these scams. Mittal has even urged X to implement mechanisms to detect and block these accounts that are openly engaging in criminal activities.
What ADG Sandeep Mittal said about the scam
In his X post, ADG Mittal wrote: “Verified @X Handles, having 10 to 15 followers, promoting Shreya Ghoshal Ads are scam traps to lure public into cyber scams. Be alert, be safe……. @X should have mechanism to detect and block such handles openly indulging in criminal activities.”
Last month, the popular singer took to Instagram to announce that her X account has been hacked.
In her Instagram post, Ghosal wrote: “Hello fans and friends. My Twitter / X account is hacked since February 13th. I have tried everything in my capacity to reach out to the X team. But there has been no response beyond a few auto-generated responses. I am unable to even delete my account since I can’t log in any more. Please don’t click on any link or believe any message written from that account. They are all spam and fishing links. I will update personally through a video if the account is recovered and is safe.”
Apart from Ghoshal, other celebrities have also experienced cybersecurity breaches. Earlier this year, actor Swara Bhasker and comedian Tanmay Bhat reported that their X accounts were hacked and exploited to spread spam and phishing links.
