Filmmaker-actor Tigmanshu Dhulia recently witnessed the ugly side of social media, when his Instagram account was hacked, and was used to dupe his costume assistant. “I have an account on Instagram, but I am not very tech-savvy and don’t engage with it,” he says, recalling that the hacker asked his assistant for Rs. 800 on the pretext that his online payment app wasn’t working. Unsuspectingly, the assistant transferred the money, only to receive requests for additional funds totaling around Rs. 4,000.

Alarmed, Dhulia filed a police complaint, and the matter is being investigated by the cyber cell. “It’s quite shocking and disappointing to see malicious acts targeting innocent people. I wonder what’s the reason behind such actions,” Dhulia exclaims.

Following this encounter, the 56-year-old admits that he is forced to take extreme measures to ensure his safety online. “I’m not using Instagram at all now, and the police are handling the investigation and recovery process for my account. I plan to follow up with the cops in a week about the progress,” the The Great Indian Murder director states firmly.

As a precautionary measure, he has uninstalled Instagram on his phone, but has vowed not to return to the platform for the time being. He says, “I find social media very useless; it’s a waste of time. Having a blue tick or maintaining my social media presence doesn’t bother me. I want social media out of my life.”

Dhulia is also apprehensive regarding potential misuse of his own social media accounts, especially since he comes from the film industry: “Being in this industry, I can’t help but think about how the hacker could have tarnished my image in other ways.”