Messages of congratulations flooded in from actors, politicians, and others on social media after Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu, 21, won Miss Universe 2021 after defeating contestants from 75 countries on December 13.

Many celebrities and politicians rushed to greet the new Miss Universe on Twitter, but they were unaware that they had all tagged a fake account in their messages.

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It was a fake Twitter account mentioned in tweets by celebrities. Many people had fallen prey to the phoney profile trap. However, given how easy it is to come across a sea of false social media handles imitating celebrities, the fact that Twitter had granted a blue tick to a fake handle was noteworthy in this case. 

As soon as the news of Harnaaz reclaiming the throne after 21 years spread, a Twitter handle @harnaazsandhu03 sprang on the scene, claiming to be Harnaaz’s official account. Many of the photos and videos on the account were from the Miss Universe 2021 pageant, leading many to believe that this is Harnaaz Sandhu’s true Twitter handle.

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Meanwhile, a slew of phoney accounts popped up and were quickly banned by Twitter, causing a stir. As word spread, Harnaaz wrote a story on her verified Instagram account @harnaazsandhu_03, clarifying that her official Twitter handle is “@HarnaazKaur” and that her account name is Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu. She also included a link to her Twitter account in the piece. 

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Shashi Tharoor later removed the preceding tweet and retweeted photographs of Harnaaz with the caption, “Delighted to congratulate Miss Universe @HarnaazKaur Sandhu in person on her triumphant return to India. She is very excited to be back in India for the New Year holidays & India, of course, is proud to welcome her. Undoubtedly, India is proud to welcome her. She is just as poised & charming in person as on the stage.”