Mumbai, 21 Feb

Mumbai police have registered a case after Bollywood actor Vidya Balan complained that someone was impersonating her using a fake Instagram account and email id and cheating people from the film industry, an official said on Wednesday.

According to the first information report (FIR) registered at the Khar police station here on Monday, the crime came to light on 16 January when a stylist associated with movies received a WhatsApp message from an unidentified number. The message claimed that the sender was Vidya Balan who wanted to discuss work with him.

Since the stylist had the actor’s contact details, he suspected something was not right about the message from an unknown number. He then informed Vidya Balan about the message, the official said. The actor told the stylist that she had not sent him any message and that the number did not belong to her.

Between 17 and 19 January, the actor learnt that someone had created a fake Instagram profile and a bogus email id claiming that it belonged to her and unidentified persons were using them to contact people from the film industry and others to “discuss work”, the official said.

Alarmed by the attempt to cheat others using her name, the actor asked her manager to approach the Khar police station. Accordingly, a written complaint was submitted on 20 January, said the FIR.

On Monday (19 February), the actor also lodged a complaint, resulting in the FIR for identity theft under Section 66 (c) of the IT Act, said the official, adding that a probe was underway.