The Department of Telecom alerts the public about con artists impersonating Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Scammers have been using the persona of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to deceive people on social media during the nation’s continuing cricket craze, the Department of Telecom (DoT) said on Friday, cautioning people against falling for the ruse.

In a post on X, the DoT warned that con artists are using the well-known batter and former captain of the Indian cricket team to pose on Instagram and demand money.

“Hello, this is MS Dhoni. I’m sending you a private message.” Right now, I’m outside of Ranchi, and I can’t find my wallet. Would you kindly make the transfer?600 via PhonePe so I can take the bus back home? I’ll return the money as soon as I get home. See the screenshot of the Instagram message that DoT posted.

Dhoni’s “selfie” was also included in the mail as “proof.”

Watch out for con artists attempting to defraud you! The Department of Tourism shared a viral post on X that has had 332.1K views. “If anyone claims to be the legendary @msdhoni seeking bus tickets, it’s a googly you don’t want to catch,” the DoT said.

It continued, saying, “Report them faster than @msdhoni’s stumpings on Chakshu at #SancharSaathi.”

The purpose of the DoT’s Sanchar Saathi site is to assist Indian mobile users in tracking down and blocking misplaced handsets, identity theft, and falsified KYC via the CEIR module.