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Ashwin Thwarts Impersonation Scam; Patidar’s Recycled SIM Recovered

Cooperation between cricket teams and law enforcement highlights hidden dangers of phone-number reuse

Overview

  • Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel that he recognized a scam when a fraudster posing as Devon Conway asked for Virat Kohli's number, tricked the impostor with a false contact and promptly blocked the account.
  • Rajat Patidar’s former SIM, which had been reassigned to a civilian in Chhattisgarh, was retrieved by local police and the Madhya Pradesh Cyber Cell after the new user received calls from Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
  • Ashwin verified the scammer's identity by cross-checking Conway’s number in the official CSK WhatsApp group before dismissing the fake account.
  • The episodes have drawn attention to how recycled numbers and saved profile metadata can inadvertently link new users to previous owners’ high-profile contacts.
  • Teams and authorities are now tightening identity verification and recovery procedures for phone-number changes to prevent similar privacy and security breaches.