Ahmedabad: A 19-year-old college student was alarmed after discovering that unidentified persons had allegedly created fake Instagram and Snapchat accounts using his identity and photograph without his knowledge. The impersonation came to light after family members and relatives received messages from the suspicious profiles.According to a complaint registered with Navrangpura police, the student, who lives in a paying guest accommodation in Navrangpura and is pursuing a data analysis course at an institute in the area, first learned about the fake Instagram account on Wednesday.The complainant stated that his elder sister called him at night and asked whether he had created a new Instagram account to contact her. After he denied opening any such account, she shared a screenshot. On examining it, the student found that the profile carried a username resembling his identity and displayed his photograph as the profile picture.The student then contacted the suspicious account through his sister’s profile. However, the fake Instagram account was deleted shortly afterwards.The matter resurfaced on Friday when his cousin contacted him on Snapchat and asked whether he had created another account to message her. She shared a screenshot of a profile carrying a username similar to his.Suspecting misuse of his identity, the student asked his cousin to block the account. He subsequently lodged a complaint on the cybercrime portal against unidentified persons for creating fake social media profiles using his photograph and identity.He has also approached police, seeking action against those operating fraudulent accounts.
