MUMBAI: Singer Armaan Malik was in a huge shock when he learnt that a social media user was posing as him and extorted lakhs from several women by blackmailing them with their obscene photos.

Fortunately, the culprit has been nabbed by police. On 29th May, the Coimbatore Rural Police arrested the 30-year-old man, who has been identified as Mahendra Varman.

The accused is a native of Ulundurpet in Villupuram District and is fluent in languages like English, Hindi and Tamil. He created a fake Facebook account by the singer's name and befriended several women. When he managed to gain the trust of some women, he asked them to send their nude pictures to him. He then used the photographs to blackmail them and extort money from them.

An officer from the District Crime Branch (DCB) of the rural police was quoted as saying by The Hindu, “The accused created a fake Facebook profile of Armaan Malik by downloading the singer's pictures from his original Facebook and Twitter accounts. He sent friend requests to several women which many of them accepted. The accused gained the trust of some of them and made them share their nude pictures via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. He later used those pictures to blackmail them.”

The DCB official added, "The actual number of women cheated by the accused and the money he had defrauded from them are yet to be found out. He had received money through net banking and money transfer apps. A mobile phone and a tablet seized from the accused have been handed over to the court."

Singer Armaan Malik was shocked to read the news. He took to Twitter and urged his fans and followers to not believe anyone pretending to be him on social media. Take a look below:

I am really shocked to read all these news articles... urgent request to all my fans - please don’t believe anyone pretending to be me on social media, don’t fall prey to such dirty tricks!!pic.twitter.com/3P7T6ULgU0

— ARMAAN MALIK (@ArmaanMalik22) May 30, 2019