NTV news anchor Smriti Vidyarthi has alerted her followers and fans not to fall for an online scam in which someone is impersonating her.

Vidyarthi warned that the person who has opened the fake account on Facebook and Whatsapp was using her pictures to swindle unsuspecting members of the public. 

“FAKE ACCOUNT ALERT: Hi everyone - it’s been brought to my attention that someone is impersonating me on Facebook and Whatsapp. The imposter is also using the accounts to solicit for money!” she posted on her Instagram page. 

She went on: “Please note that the accounts below are FAKE. Do not get conned into parting with any money. The matter has been reported to the relevant authorities.” 

She appealed to her colleagues, friends and fans to help her report to the Facebook administration for the fake account to be pulled down before it causes any more damage. 

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“In the meantime, please help me by reporting the profile on Facebook and click on ‘pretending to be someone’ then ‘a friend’ and put my name in. Thank you.” 

Sadly, as soon as Facebook clamped down on the initial account, another one was opened using her pictures harvested from her social media accounts. 

She vented out her frustrations at the fresh turn of events. 

“UPDATE FAKE ACCOUNT ALERT: The photographs and information and friends were removed from the first fake account, but the imposter has now created another account with new photos and new fake information about me.” 

Cases of fake social media accounts of media personalities and celebrities being opened and used to swindle unsuspecting members of the public has been rampant in Kenya the recent past.