Kenyan singer Nyashinski has said a Twitter account offering people money is not his.
The artiste, real name Nyamari Ongegu, spoke up after the Twitter parody account with the username 'OfficialShinksi' asked Kenyans to send their phone numbers so he could send them money.
“Tumeni number niwatumie kakitu kwa M-Pesa. 1hr chance,” read the tweet.
Hours after hundreds of Kenyans on Twitter sent their numbers via the comment section, Nyashinski tweeted with his real account and warned fans about the impostor.
"This is NOT Me. Please stop sending money!" Nyashinksi wrote.
This is NOT Me. Please stop sending money! https://t.co/FAav3xxWZZ — Nyashinski (@RealShinski) December 14, 2021
On Saturday, December 11, a day after his wedding, the singer reported the parody account after a tweet made by the impostor got a lot of engagement.
"You are the best part of my life, I cannot explain how much I love u Zia Bet. She said "Yes" Today," read the parody's tweet accompanied by love heart emojis and an engagement ring emoji.
The tweet, pinned on the impostor's account, received 17.5k likes, 1.2k retweets, and 315 comments.
You're the best part of my life, i cant explain how much i love u Zia Bet. She Said "Yes" Today ?????????? ????#Nyashinski pic.twitter.com/xxVh7tb92Z
— Nyashinski ? (@OfficialShinski) December 10, 2021
In response, Nyashinski wrote; "Who verifies Twitter, like seriously. And who is this clown??" and reported the account to Twitter and Verified.
However, this is not the first time that the 'Mungu Pekee' singer has had to warn Kenyans of the parody account.
The first time Nyashinksi reported the account was in November 2019, after the impostor tweeted, "Did you know that satan marked his children with dimples and forehead," accompanied with laughing emojis.
Nyashinski then wrote, "I am in no way associated with this Twitter account. It is a fake account."
I am in no way associated with this twitter account ????????. It’s a fake account. ???? pic.twitter.com/UpPmvOIjZu — Nyashinski (@RealShinski) November 7, 2019
In February 2020, the impostor made a fake tweet saying Nyashinski and his wife were expecting their first-born child.
"My wife and I are expecting our first born in few weeks time. I am gonna be a daddy soon," read the fake tweet.
The singer refuted the claims and responded to the tweet with one word, 'Clown' and an emoji of a clown.
Clown ???? https://t.co/lEt2DggSdM — Nyashinski (@RealShinski) February 17, 2020
In July the same year, the parody account posted a video of Nyashinski and Zia and captioned, "Other guys will try your Girl regardless. Its up to her to remain Solid. Zia Bett."
The singer reposted the tweet and wrote, "FAKE ACCOUNT! FAKE ACCOUNT!"
FAKE ACCOUNT! FAKE ACCOUNT! https://t.co/wK6Qns75lc — Nyashinski (@RealShinski) July 27, 2020
A look at the two accounts shows the impostor has 20.5k followers while the real singer's handle has 125.2k followers.
However, it is easy for Kenyans on Twitter to easily get duped given that the fake account is more active than the real one, and neither of them is verified.
A quick check also shows that Nyashinski's real account (RealShinski) joined Twitter in September 2013, while the parody account (OfficialShinski) joined the platform in March 2016.
Nyashinski is one of the many celebrities who have had to deal with impersonators conning their fans on social media.
Other celebrity social media accounts, including Nameless, DJ Pierra Makena, Catherine Kamau, Habida, and Maina Kageni, have been targeted by hackers. In most instances, the hackers demand a ransom to hand back the accounts.
In some rare cases, the hackers use the compromised accounts to share inappropriate content, significantly impacting the victims' image and others conning unsuspecting members of the public.
In January 2020, for instance, hackers took over one of music's all-time greats, Mariah Carey's Twitter account, before posting racist slurs and dissing her long-time nemesis, Eminem.
