As the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls near, a fake account of Luv Sinha – the Congress candidate from Bankipur – is gaining traction on Twitter. Currently operating under the username Luv Sinha (@Luv_Sinha143), the account was set up in February 2019 and had 3,727 followers at the time of filing this report.
Luv Sinha who will be contesting against BJP MLA Nitin Navin, is the son of popular Bollywood actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha.
HOW DO WE KNOW IT’S A FAKE ACCOUNT?
A quick analysis of this account raised several red flags which made it clear that this is an imposter account of the politician.
1. Not the Official Twitter Account of Luv Sinha
We noticed that the aforementioned account was not verified by Twitter and did not have any prominent name in the followers’ list. Sinha’s official Facebook page directed us to a link to his original Twitter account.
With over 34,000 followers, Luv Sinha’s official Twitter handle (though not verified) is followed by several politicians and journalists and was set up in 2009.
2. Retweets Parody Accounts
As we glanced through the timeline of the imposter account, we noticed several occasions when the user had retweeted content shared by parody accounts of public figures.
3. Username Changed from Nazir Mansoori to Luv Sinha
While scrolling through the account we came across a reply which indicated that the earlier username could be Najir Mansoori (@Najir_Mansoori).
We then searched with ‘"#NewProfilePic" (from:@Najir_Mansoori)” and came across a host of different profile pictures under the existing ‘Luv_Sinha143’ account between March 2019 to September 2020.
An archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
4. What are most of the tweets in the account like?
An analysis of Luv Sinha’s account shows the users he has interacted with the most and the hashtags he has used while tweeting. These include interactions with troll accounts.
Evidently, an imposter account of Luv Sinha has cropped up in the run-up to the state elections.
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