Shark Tank has allowed the shark founders some unprecedented exposure among their userbases, but it turns out that exposure can be a double edged sword.
Sugar founder Vineeta Singh has highlighted how fake news regarding her death and arrest have been circulating on social media. The Shark Tank shark took to X to share the update.
“Been dealing with paid PR about my death & my arrest for 5 weeks. Ignored it at first, then reported to @Meta several times, filed a Mumbai Cyber Police complaint but it’s not stopping. The hardest part is when folks panic & call my mom. Any suggestions,” she said.
Vineeta Singh shared screenshots of news stories which spoke of her death, arrest and bankruptcy. A Instagram ad was posted by the account of Preye Odede, a Nigerian singer, which said “This is a sad day for India. We say goodbye to Vineeta Singh.”
Another story had a photoshopped clipping of an Indian Express report which said “Vineeta Singh’s husband went ballistic when he learnt how much his wife earns”. The article also spoke of her death.
Another ad, again from the account of Nigerian singer Preye Odede, shared some photoshopped images of Singh, and spoke of her death. “What will happen to Vineeta Singh now,” the ad said.
And yet another ad claimed that Bank of India was suing Vineeta Singh for what she said on TV, again photoshopped as an Indian Express report.
Vineeta Singh, of course, is fine, and not being sued by any banks. But these ads have reached several people through Meta’s platforms, who attested to having seen them on social media on Singh’s X post.
It’s hard to tell why these ads are being run, or by whom. Such headlines are usually created by scam sites, which create sensationalized fake news stories on public figures to get people to click on them, and then look to monetize them in some form. The fact that a Nigerian account is being used to sponsor these stories also points in that direction. Vineet Singh, though, is also a prominent businessperson, and a business or commercial motive to this campaign can’t be ruled out. But while the police and cyber crime department will look to get to the bottom of these ads, these ads show that being in the public eye can bring with it its own set of pitfalls.