Singer and rapper Badshah has reportedly told the police that he had paid Rs. 75 lakh to enhance views and likes on social media. The crime branch had been questioning him for some days.
A social media company issued him a receipt showing that it was an advertisement. Based on Badshah’s statement, the police have summoned officials of the company too. The police have claimed that several Bollywood personalities and celebrities paid such companies to increase the number of their followers. The celebrities have benefited from bots, a software application which runs automated tasks over the Internet. While some bots are legitimate, others are malicious.
Badshah also told the police that Chtrbox social media influencer company had misused his name and hence he had even issued a legal notice to the company. Police will also summon officials of Chtrbox. Statements of the directors of Chtrbox were recorded last week.
The scam came to light after singer Bhoomi Trivedi last month complained that someone had opened a fictitious Instagram account in her name. After Bhoomi, Koena Mitra had also complained that fake Instagram and YouTube accounts in her name were sharing obscene content. The police had arrested Abhishek Dawde and Kashif Mansoor for running a fake influencer racket on social media. The police is on the lookout for a Sahil Khan in Koena Mitra’s case as he is reportedly behind the fake accounts of the actress.