Chris Pratt is pissed. Earlier this week, the Guardians of the Galaxy star discovered someone had set up a phony Facebook account pretending to be him. Pratt immediately warned fans that the "pervy dude" behind the profile was using his likeness to catfish various women, and that he was on a mission to get the account taken down.
"It’s confirmed: somebody is trying to pretend to be me on Facebook (and maybe other social media platforms) apparently hitting on a lot of different female fans, trying to get their numbers and who knows what else. I’m not joking," Pratt wrote on Instagram.
The 38-year-old actor went on to call the imposter’s behavior "reprehensible," and said he "would like to punch them right in the GD mouth."
Pratt then urged his 3 million-plus followers to look for the "verified" checkmark. "If there is no checkmark by my name, that person is an imposter," he wrote. "I’m sorry."
A Facebook spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the fake profile was taken down shortly after Pratt’s Instagram post.
"Claiming to be another person on Facebook violates our Community Standards, and we have a dedicated team that’s tasked with helping to detect and block these kinds of scams," the spokesperson explained. "We’ve developed several techniques to help detect and block this type of abuse."
Celebrity impersonation has become a serious problem on social media. Though some accounts are obvious parodies, others have been used to commit criminal acts. Earlier this year, an Australian man was arrested and charged with 931 child sex offenses after he was caught pretending to be Justin Bieber on various online platforms. Authorities said the 42-year-old man was using the singer’s likeness to solicit explicit photos from children under 16.
Queensland Detective Inspector Jon Rouse said the case underscored children's vulnerability online.
"The fact that so many children could believe that they were communicating with this particular celebrity highlights the need for a serious rethink about the way that we as a society educate our children about online safety," he said following the arrest.
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