Indian Idol 12 fame Anjali Gaikwad accused of scamming people, singer denies claims

Anjali Gaikwad of Indian Idol 12 fame recently found herself on the wrong side of social media. As per a report, Anjali's Instagram account has been hacked by someone and the singer was even asked to pay a ransom of Rs 70,000 to get it back. The hackers are now allegedly tricking netizens online. On Thursday, a netizen shared screenshots of texts between him and Anjali Gaikwadi's official handle. "Lol Indian Idol contestant trying to trick people on Instagram from verified account," read the caption.

Now, Anjali has reacted to the accusations. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the teenager said, "My Instagram account has been hacked. It’s been 20-21 days. I don’t know how he did it. The hacker also called me and asked for a ransom of ₹70,000. ‘Paise do aur account lelo’, aisa mujhe call aaya. A few days later I even reported it to the cybercrime. But there is no update on it yet." She went on to add that she has received messages from several others online. "The hacker also started asking for money from a lot of people. Many are thinking that I’m asking them for money. People are thinking I’m tricking them. I have been quite disturbed. I’m receiving a lot of emails and messages from people. I’m clearing it with everyone individually. Some people are calling me fraud while a few are understanding that it’s been hacked," she added. Anjali Gaikwad became popular after participating in the singing reality TV show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs 2017. She won the contest as a mutual winner along with co-contestant Shreyan Bhattacharya. After that, she joined Sony TV's Indian Idol 12.