Vidya Balan files FIR against impersonator who promised work for money, warns followers on insta stories

Vidya Balan identity theft case: Bollywood actress Vidya Balan filed an FIR with Mumbai Police, and alerted friends and fans to a digital impersonator pretending to be her on social media and messaging services. (Photo: Screen grab from Neeyat)

Bollywood actress Vidya Balan filed an FIR at the Khar Police station, Mumbai Police, against someone who created a fraudulent Instagram account, email and WhatsApp number, using her name to dupe people. The imposter who allegedly posed as the actress, falsely promised work opportunities to people and extorted money. The FIR was registered under Section 66 (C) of the IT Act pertaining to punishment for online identity theft. The crime is punishable with a jail term of up to three years and a fine up to Rs 1 lakh.

The impersonation came to light when a fashion designer Vidya Balan had worked with earlier, got a message in January, from an unknown number. When she communicated this to Vidya Balan, the actress realised there was something wrong. This led her to take legal action, especially when she came to know from other industry acquaintances that similar messages had been sent from a fake email and Instagram account to them bearing her name, too.

Vidya Balan highlighted this serious case of digital impersonation on her social media stories and requested her fans and followers on Instagram to report the fake account and block it to avoid further damage.

On the work front, Vidya Balan recently co-posted on Instagram along with Kartik Aryan that she will be seen in the horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.

Actress Triptii Dimri who was noticed and appreciated for her work in director Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal and earlier OTT release Bulbul, will also be joining Vidya Balan and Kartik Aaryan in this third instalment of the franchise. Vidya Balan was absent from Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, starring Tabu, Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani, that went on to become a massive blockbuster.

The actress who was last seen in the 2023 whodunit Neeyat, is looking forward to her next film Do Aur Do Pyaar, with Ileana D'Cruz, Pratik Gandhi and Sendhil Ramamurthy.