Ben Fogle has issued an urgent warning that someone is pretending to be him online and trying to con fans into sending him money while also offering marriage and a holiday.
The 48-year-old television presenter has been married to his wife Marina since 2006 and together they have a son named Ludo, born in 2009, and a daughter named Iona, born in 2011.
But some fans may have been hoodwinked into thinking that Ben is single and looking for a wife as the star has alerted followers that a fraudster is claiming to be him and offering him off as a groom.
Ben took to social media last week to let followers know of the dishonest activities and to advise fans not to engage with the fraudster.
He explained via Instagram : “If you have been direct messaged by someone pretending to be me, please delete it.
“As much as I would like to DM you by inviting you on a date, marriage or on holiday, or asking for your credit card details, it’s not really my style.”
He added: “As much as I would love to direct message you all, I hardly have time to message my own wife.
“Quite why someone would want to impersonate me still baffles me.”
Ben’s warning comes as a documentary on Netflix, titled The Tinder Swindler, has gripped viewers around the globe.
The one-off doc exposes a con artist who posed as the son of a billionaire diamond expert, seduced women via the dating app Tinder, and is believed to have duped women around the world into giving him $10 million (£7.4 million).
The documentary claims that Shimon Hayut, from Israel, went by the name Simon Leviev and pretended to be the son of businessman Lev Leviev.
He matched with a number of women via Tinder and then introduced them to his glamorous, private jet-setting and five-star hotel lifestyle.
But while he flew around the world, partied all over Europe, and wore the latest designer clothes, it is alleged his life was faked and it was female victims that were unknowingly funding his life.
One victim, named Cecilie Fjellhøy, was conned out of $250,000 (£184,000) after Shimon convinced her he was being pursued by ‘enemies’ and needed money from her in order to escape harm.
She took out loans and allowed him to use credit cards in her name, fearing he would be attacked if she didn’t comply with his near daily demands for money.
But while Cecilie was frantically transferring funds and fearing for her boyfriend’s life, he was using the cash to entertain different women around Europe and staying in luxury hotels.
He was eventually jailed for fraud related crimes – but released form jail after serving five of a 15 month sentence.
The Tinder Swindler is available to stream via Netflix now.
