Sonu Nigam and Tillotama Shome alert fans as fraudsters misuse their identities to ask for favours

Hindustan Times

22-04-2025

Singer Sonu Nigam and actor Tillotama Shome have become victims of fraudsters misusing their identities to seek favours. Taking to their respective Instagram accounts, Sonu and Tillotama Shome shared posts and alerted their fans. (Also Read | Khushbu Sundar receives message from hacker who took over her Twitter account; requests authorities to take action)
Tillotama said she recently became a target of an online impersonation scam. She alerted her followers after learning that a fraudster was allegedly using her identity to seek favours from others. She shared a screenshot from a WhatsApp chat, which revealed that an unknown person was using a still from her Bengali-language film Shadowbox (Baksho Bondi) as their display picture on the messaging platform.
While clarifying that the phone number being used does not belong to her, Tillotama asked the fraudster to stop impersonating her to extract favours from the people she knows. "This is not my number. The photo being used as the DP, is of our film @bakshobondifilm. It was since removed. To whoever you maybe, please don't use my name to ask the people I know for things. STOP," wrote Tillotama.
A post shared by Tillotama Shome (@tillotamashome)
A post shared by Sonu Nigam (@sonunigamofficial)
On Instagram, Sonu clarified that no one from his team has ever reached out to anyone for any reason. He also cautioned his fans and followers if they are approached by someone on his behalf.
Sonu wrote, "Important. It has come to my attention that someone has been misusing my identity online. Please note that no one from my team has ever reached out to anyone on my behalf for any reason. If someone claims to be from my management and contacts you out of the blue, please treat it with caution!"
Sonu clarified that he isn't active on X (formerly Twitter). "Also, I have not been on Twitter/X for the last 8 years. A few accounts that people may believe to be mine, are actually being run by someone else, often posting controversial things under my name. If you come across such fake accounts or messages, please REPORT AND BLOCK," he added.
The singer thanked his fans for their support. He concluded his note, 'Thank you to those who've flagged the issue to me. And thank you so much, my extended family, for your continued support and understanding." Sharing the post, Sonu wrote, "I just wanted to take a moment to clarify something important. If you come across any suspicious/fake messages under my name, it would be great if you could report or block the account. Thank you everyone for your support and understanding (folded hands emoji)."
This incident follows closely on the heels of singer Shreya Ghoshal and actor-politician Khushbu Sundar's accounts getting hacked on X.